Furniture Design

Samuel McIntire and his influence on houses design and architecture in Salem.

Adding more new pages, this time on Samuel McIntire, a Federal era architect, interior designer, and furniture maker in Salem, Mass. Divided into two parts, a biography and a look at his architecture.

To introduce the topic and provide some background this is an excerpt from “Early American Craftsmen” by Walter Dyer.

In no single spot are there more treasures of architectural craftsmanship to be found than at Salem, Massachusetts. Salem was a prosperous seaport. Her citizens from the early days of the eighteenth century amassed comfortable fortunes in the fisheries and the overseas trade, and they spent their money at home, building houses comparable in elegance and good taste with the best manor houses of Virginia. The doorways and interior woodwork, particularly the mantels, paneling, and stairways, exhibit a remarkable feeling for classic detail and a restraint and care in workmanship seldom found elsewhere.

This interior woodwork was almost invariably made of white pine which grew in abundance along the New England coast, and which offered an excellent material for carving. It was nearly always well seasoned before its use and was kept protected by white paint; as a result it has resisted the effects of time to a remarkable extent But the most noteworthy thing about it is the workmanship — the skill, ingenuity, and technical knowledge displayed in its application to specific needs.

Unquestionably the skill which these carpenters acquired in wood carving and ornamental work generally was due largely to their training in the Salem shipyards, where fine carving and accurately fitted and proportioned work was always in demand. They learned their trade amid conditions calculated to develop it to its highest plane. Many of the details, in fact, strongly suggest marine cabin work. But beneath it all lay the true spirit of craftsmanship inherent in the Yankee artisan — the impulse to do things as well as they could be done.

At first one is inclined to marvel at the knowledge of styles which these wood workers evidently possessed. Most of them were Yankees born and bred; they did not travel; they never saw the best examples of English Georgian work. But they were not illiterate men. They knew how to use books, and it was from books as well as from their masters that they doubtless drew a large share of their inspiration. The Salem period from 1785 to 1810 reflects strikingly the influence of Robert and James Adam, whose books on interior decoration appeared in 1783 and 1786. The Salem master carpenters had access to the best architectural books of the period, but they were not slavish copyists. They adapted the best that they found, and the style suffered not in its translation at their hands.

The names of most of these artists in wood have been forgotten, but one stands out preeminent as master of them all — Samuel McIntire. It was he who impressed his personality most definitely on the architecture of Salem from 1782 to 1811. He designed nearly all of the best houses of that period. To him more than to any other is due the credit for the heritage of classic workmanship still to be seen in the historic homes and public buildings of Salem.