The First Modern House in Annapolis

More from my article on 86-88 State Circle in Annapolis Maryland, a duplex built by Alexander Randall in 1878.

The architectural ornamentation of the building is animalistic. The terracotta ridge roof tiles are like
vertebra. The terracotta fish scale siding is a taut skin. The stepped windows in the side stair hall take
pleasure in the muscular mechanical movement of legs and feet climbing stairs. The pediment on the porch roof does not align with the front door so the path from sidewalk to front door has a zigzag dance that celebrates biped ambulatory movement. The stucco panels of this pediment and the pediments at the gable ends of the main roof hold a key to the spirit of this building: oyster shells were pressed into the stucco during construction. The shells were tightly spaced, with the mother of pearl facing out. Most of the shells are gone, only a pattern of holes and some shell fragments protected by overhanging eaves remain. In classical architecture, pediments were filled with sculptures of heroic human exploits; think of the Parthenon “Elgin” marble figures.

However, here in Annapolis in 1878, the monumental space of the pediment is given over to celebrate the existence of nature, the beauty of Chesapeake Bay life, and the simple joy of eating.

The Alexander Randall duplex is “modern” architecture because it makes an emotional artistic statement: the wonderment of organic earthly life. The architectural spirit in this house links directly to the natural architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright in the 20th century and the biomorphic forms of architect Frank Gehry today.

The nature-celebrating architecture of 86-88 State Circle is diametrically opposed to the social status architecture of the five-part plan mansions. It is also in direct contrast to the architecture of balance and harmony at the U.S. Post Office on Church Circle (see Annapolis Home Magazine Vol. 2, No.1). It is marvelous to have in Annapolis the immediate comparison of such distinctly different architectural thoughts.

This is an excerpt from a column called On the Corner, part of series by Chip Bohl published in Annapolis Home Vol. 2, No. 4. Photography by Geoffrey Hodgdson.

The First Modern House in Annapolis

The first modern house in Annapolis, a duplex located at 86-88 State Circle, was built by Alexander Randall (1803-81). Randall was lawyer, businessman, United States Congressman, and Maryland Attorney General. He and his family were very well educated, world travelers, and successful in business, science, and the arts. He was a staunch unionist and campaigned to keep the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis during the Civil War. His wife Elizabeth Blanchard Randall (1827-96) met with T.H.
Huxley in London after the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859), when Huxley was promoting the evolutionary biology of Darwin and scientific naturalism. Alexander and Elizabeth had seven children, which may have prompted them in 1878 to build the duplex in front of their home, The Bordley-Randall House, described in this series in Annapolis Home Magazine Vol. 2, No. 3.

The architecture of 86-88 State Circle celebrates the complexity of organic life. The building’s silhouette is asymmetrical and varies dramatically from different vantage points. Interior rooms seem to push and pull themselves into space as if they are responding to a force requiring their existence. The three-story front bay windows are dominating vertical elements. The narrow chasm between them further accents their
thrust into the sky. Each material of the house seems to have its own life. The brick foundation steps down in the front to support the vertical bay windows, and then moves around to the sides of the building and reaches up to the roof at the pediment over the stairs. Note the “room” above the entrance porch: it spans over half of the porch ceiling, and seems as if it has been pushed out from inside to create the space
necessary for its existence. Its two small windows make no attempt to match others in the house. They are the size they need to be, based on natural selection, not a contrived sense of symmetry or balance.

This is an excerpt from a column called On the Corner, part of series by Chip Bohl published in Annapolis Home Vol. 2, No. 4. The rest of the article will appear in my next post.