45 
December, 1920 
A BIT OF NORMANDY ON THE NORTH SHORE 
The Farm Buildings at the Home of Mr. Francis Meredyth Whitehouse, Manchester, Massachusetts, 
Show How a European Style of Architecture Can Be Adapted to an American Setting 
MARY H. NORTHEND 
Northend 
ing in a pool to the right of the 
main entrance and cows graze 
peacefully in the meadow. 
A wide graveled avenue, 
shaded by trees, leads over a 
wooden bridge under which a 
merry brook runs gurgling to 
the sea, on to the entrance to 
the group of buildings. This 
entrance is directly through 
one of the buildings, which are 
in the form of a hollow square. 
Within is a forty-foot court¬ 
yard enlivened by flocks of 
doves which whirl fearlessly to 
and fro about their cote cun¬ 
ningly contrived in a tower 
surmounting the main house. 
At night the wide gates are 
closed" and form a protecting 
barrier. 
The buildings are finished in stucco, show¬ 
ing half-timber. Unusual combinations have 
been effected in gables and dormers which 
show interesting openings and give telling 
projections such as only an architect of cour¬ 
age could arrange. The chimneys are much 
higher than the curving towers and offer a 
well relieved yet harmonious skyline. Case¬ 
ment windows with tiny diamond panes give 
a note of individuality that is refreshing. 
This Normandy farm style of architecture 
as planned by Mr. Whitehouse himself. 
(Continued on page 66) 
Looking out 
through t h e 
entrance arch 
one sees the 
long graveled 
drive with its 
while bound¬ 
ary fences 
leading away 
to the main 
road 
w 
The buildings are arranged in a hollow 
square. They are finished in stucco show¬ 
ing half-timber. A dove-cote is built in 
the tower of the main house 
A feature of the courtyard 
is a vine-clad well-head of 
stone and masonry with a 
shingle roof. Its architectural 
style fits that of the build¬ 
ings themselves 
The main entrance to the 
group is through one of 
the buildings, by an arch¬ 
way framed with wood¬ 
bine and closed at night 
by iron gates 
■wm 
■ • 
H ALF a century a» 0 , the i 
Massachusetts, with its bleak, rocky 
headlands, was the home of fisher and farmer 
folk. Today it has been transformed. No 
longer are the little huts of the fishermen the 
only interesting features, though to be sure 
they are still to be found in the villages. In 
many places beautiful summer mansions have 
supplanted them. 
Midway between Manchester and Mag¬ 
nolia a winding road leads past green 
meadows well defined by stone walls—mod¬ 
ern structures of huge rocks laid in white 
mortar, instead of the simpler boundaries of 
an earlier day. Finally, in a hollow at the 
curve of the road surrounded by mowing 
fields, appears a group of farm buildings 
that might have been transplanted from Nor¬ 
mandy." They belong to “Crow'hurst”, the 
home of Mr. Francis Meredyth Whitehouse. 
The long stretch of reclaimed mowing land 
which slopes from the rocky 
headland back to Kettle Cove 
Road gives a proper setting 
to this small colony of farm¬ 
houses, separated by the road 
from the home estate. Every¬ 
thing about the grounds has 
been treated in a scientific 
and thoughtful manner. No 
discordant note appears. 
Ducks are seen calmly drift- 
