Print Size: 6" x 8" (Frame Size: 16" x 20")
This sketch for a residential alteration explores a type of 16th century English Revival architecture which, by the 1920s, had become so popular in the northeast United States and so fueled by earnings on Wall Street that it was dubbed “Stockbroker Tudor.” Here, the architect “updates” a 2-story house with prominent feature elements to achieve a certain baronial grandeur and at the same time the simple massing of a cottage. Half-timber framing, a formal entrance, and a large central bay window are all important contributors, as is the decorated chimney (already issuing smoke from the fireplace in this would-be homey remake). The large self-containing roof might have been even larger as the sketch tests longer eaves and gutter profiles. Flurries of other quick pencil studies – impromptu clarifications during conversation -- include various window details and molding profiles. There is also a quick calculation: 20,000 x .06 = 1,200.00, presumably the per-brick-cost of the new façade with its stepped entrance bay and ornamental chevron patterning. Whatever the merits of the proposed alteration, the sketch presents itself as the architect’s most persuasive tool, using a skilled combination of straight edge and free-hand delineation, in graphite and colored pencil, to explain an evolving concept.
