Second Empire architecture

Second Empire is an architectural style, most popular between 1865 and 1880, and so named for the "French" elements in vogue during the era of the Second French Empire. In a significant variation it is sometimes called the Napoleon III style. While a distinct style unto itself, some Second Empire styling cues, such as quoins, have an indirect relationship to the styles previously in vogue, Gothic Revival and Italianate eras. This style originated in Paris during the late 19th century.

Second Empire in France

• Palais du Louvre (1852–57 additions), Paris, Louis Visconti and Hector Lefuel, architects.
• Most buildings on the Champs-Élysées (1852–70), Paris.
• Élysée Palace (1853–67 renovation), Paris, Joseph-Eugène Lacroix, architect.
• Hôtel du Palais (1854), Biarritz.
• Musée de Picardie (1855–67), Amiens.

Second Empire in the United States

In the United States, the Second Empire style usually combined a rectangular tower, or similar element, with a steep, but short, mansard roof; the roof being the most noteworthy link to the style's French roots. This tower element could be of equal height as the highest floor, or could exceed the height of the rest of the structure by a story or two. The mansard roof crest was often topped with an iron trim, sometimes referred to as "cresting". In some cases, lightning rods were integrated into the cresting design, making the feature useful beyond its decorative features. Although still intact in some examples, often this original cresting has deteriorated and been removed. The exterior style could be expressed in either wood, brick or stone. More elaborate examples frequently featured paired columns as well as sculpted details around the doors, windows and dormers. The purpose of the ornamentation was to make the structure appear imposing, grand and expensive.

Floor plans for Second Empire residences could either be symmetrical, with the tower (or tower-like element) in the center, or asymmetrical, with the tower or tower-like element to one side. The McAlesters [see references] divided the style into five subtypes:

• Simple mansard roof – about 20%
• Centered wing or gable (with bays jutting out at either end)
• Asymmetrical – about 20%
• Central tower (incorporating a clock) – about 30%
• Town house

The architect H.H. Richardson designed several of his early residences in the style, "evidence [Ochsner, see references] of his French schooling." These projects include the Crowninshield House, Boston Massachusetts, 1868, the H.H. Richardson House, Staten Island, New York, 1868 and the William Dorsheimer House, Buffalo, New York, 1868.

Leland M. Roth [see references] refers to the style as "Second Empire Baroque." Mullett-Smith [see references] terms it the "Second Empire or General Grant style" due to its popularity in building government buildings during the Grant administration.

The style was also used for commercial structures, and was often used when designing state institutions. Several psychiatric hospitals proved the style's adaptability to their size and functions. Prior to the construction of The Pentagon during the 1940s, the Second Empire-style Ohio State Asylum for the Insane in Columbus, Ohio was reported to be the largest building under one roof in the U.S., though the title may actually belong to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, another Kirkbride Second Empire asylum.

Second Empire was succeeded by the revival of the Queen Anne Style and its sub-styles, which enjoyed great popularity until the beginning of the "Revival Era" in American architecture just before the end of the 19th century.

Notable buildings

United States

• Old City Hall (1862–5), Boston, Massachusetts, Bryant and Gilman, architects.
• Terrace Hill (1866–9), Des Moines, Iowa, State of Iowa governor's residence.
• Alexander Ramsey House (1868), St. Paul, Minnesota, Sheire and Summers, architects.
• St. Ignatius College Prep (1869), Chicago, Illinois.
• Baltimore City Hall (1869–75), Baltimore, Maryland, George A. Frederick, architect.
• First Union Station, Atlanta, Georgia (1871-1930), Max Corput, architect
• City Hall Post Office and Courthouse (1869–80), New York City, Alfred B. Mullett, architect.
• Illinois State Capitol (1869–89), Springfield, Illinois.
• The Old Executive Office Building (1871–1887), Washington, D.C., Alfred B. Mullett, architect.
• Philadelphia City Hall (1871–1901), John McArthur, Jr., architect.
• South Hall (1873), University of California, Berkeley, David Farquharson, architect.
• Hamilton-Turner House (1873), Savannah, Georgia, JD Hall, architect.[2]
• United States Customhouse and Post Office (1873–84), St. Louis, Missouri, Alfred B. Mullett, architect.
• Central Hall on the Hillsdale College Campus (1875), Hillsdale, Michigan.
• George W. Fulton Mansion (1877), Rockport, Texas.
• Spring Hill Ranch House (1881), Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Strong City, Kansas.[3]
• United States Post Office (Hannibal, Missouri) (1884–8), Mifflin E. Bell, architect.
• Grand Union Hotel, Saratoga Springs, NY
• Gilsey House (1869-1871), a former hotel in New York
• Caldwell County Courthouse, Lockhart, Texas. Designed by Giles and Guidon and completed in 1894

United Kingdom

• Langham Hotel (1863–65), City of Westminster, London.
• 95 Chancery Lane (1865; former Union Bank of London Limited), London, England, F.W. Porter, architect.
• National Bank Belgravia (1868), Victoria, London, T Chatfeild Clarke, architect.
• Criterion Theatre (1874), Piccadilly Circus, London, Thomas Verity, architect.
• Cambridge Gate (1875), Regent's Park, London, Thomas Archer and Arthur Green, architects.
• Western Pumping Station (1875), Chelsea, London.
• Garden House (1879), Chelsea, London, J.T. Smith, architect.
• Former Brighton & Hove Co-operative Supply Association Furniture Depository, 75 Holland Road, Hove, East Sussex (1893), Thomas Lainson, architect.

Canada

In Canada, Second Empire became the choice of the new Dominion government in the 1870s and 1880s for numerous public buildings and the provinces followed suit.

• General Post Office (1873, razed 1958), Toronto, Henry Langley, architect.[4]

Australia

In Australia, especially Melbourne this style became popular during the boom years of the 1880s. Many grand buildings exist today, particularly many of Melbourne's town halls.

• Bendigo Town Hall (1859), Bendigo, Australia.
• Melbourne GPO (1859–87), Melbourne, Australia, A.E Johnson, architect.
• Kew Asylum, also known as Willsmere (1864–71), Kew, Victoria.
• Princess Theatre (1866), Melbourne, Australia, William Pitt, architect.
• Parliament House (1868), Brisbane, Australia.
• Sydney Town Hall (1869–89), Sydney, Australia.
• South Melbourne Town Hall (1879–80), Melbourne, Australia, Charles Webb, architect.
• Royal Exhibition Building (1880), Melbourne, Australia, Joseph Reed, architect.
• Former Records Office (1900), Melbourne, Australia, S.E. Brindley, architect.
• Chief Secretary’s Building (1890–95), Sydney, Australia, Second Empire additions by Walter L. Vernon, architect.

Argentina

• Buenos Aires Central Post Office (1911–23).

References

• McAlester, Virginia & Lee, A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1986
• McCue, George and Frank Peters, A Guide to the Architecture of St. Louis, University of Missouri Press, Columbia, Missouri, 1989
• Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, H.H. Richardson:Complete Architectural Works, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1984
• Roth, Leland M., A Concise History of American Architecture, Harper & Row, New York, 1980
• Scott, Pamela and Antoinette J. Lee, Buildings of the District of Columbia, Oxford University Press, New York, 1991
• Smith, D. Mullett, A.B. Mullett: His Relevance in American Architecture and Historic Preservation, Mullett-Smith Press, Washington, D.C., 1990
• Stern, Mellins and Fishman, New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age, The Monacelli Press, New York,1999
• Whiffen, Marcus, American Architecture Since 1780, The M.I.T. Press, Cambridge Massachusetts, 1977