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When it comes to architecture in the Upper Valley
and the rural areas of Vermont and New Hampshire that surround it,
two monarchs still rule: Queen Anne and King George.
Queen Anne gave her name to a style that prevailed
in American architecture from the 1870s through the turn of the
20th Century. A reaction against the brooding, even intimidating
monumentality of the Gothic Revival style that preceded it, buildings
in the Queen Anne style strive for a human touch. They are rich
with varied textures and decorative finishes, their asymmetry is
a pleasant reaction against artificial notions of order, and and
in their variety and sheer jauntiness these historic buildings speak
directly to the sense of playfulness and delight that are so key
to civilization.
The King George who reigns alongside his stylistic
queen had nothing to do with England. He is George Guernsey, who
earned the moniker "George the Third" by serving as mayor
of Montpelier from 1897 to 1898. But it is Guernsey’s career
as an architect - an adroit and adaptable practitioner of the Queen
Anne style - that makes him such an enduring presence in the Upper
Valley and environs.
Chances are that, if you live in, have transacted
business at, or have even motored through any number of area towns
from Montpelier to Manchester, and noticed an older building of
particular style and grace, it was one of Guernsey’s projects.
The Bethel Town Hall, with its fine brick work and handsome white
tower, is a Guernsey design. So is the Whiting Library in Chester,
an exciting cascade of arches. The Vermont Secretary of State has
her office in a Guernsey-designed home, originally designed by Guernsey
for John W. Burgess. Most of the late 19th Century commercial blocks
in Montpelier and South Royalton, with their dignity and textural
richness, are Guernsey buildings.
Guernsey designed more than ten churches, most of
them Baptist and all of which reach heavenward with ecstatic gestures
forged out of artful combinations of shingles, plaster details and,
inevitably, a tower at one corner that soars toward the sky. The
spire of a traditional New England church is all about dignity and
the central place of religion in the life of the community. The
tower of a Guernsey church is about enthusiasm - a word that, in
its origins, refers to the breath of God. You can catch some of
that enthusiastic design at his churches in Barre, St. Johnsbury,
Ludlow, Rutland and, in New Hampshire, in Lancaster and Lakeport
near Lake Winnepesaukee.
But there is no place that has been more affected
by this architect’s work than South Royalton and no institution
that has so closely tied its very identity to George Guernsey than
Vermont Law School (VLS).
This is because the law school’s signature building
- known today by the inappropriately generic label "Old Classroom
Building" or "OCB" - is among Guernsey’s finest
designs. Built in 1892 as the South Royalton Graded and High School,
the white clapboard OCB is a fitting image for any institution that
wants to convey a sense of stability and order as well as notions
of adventureness and creativity. Fittingly, a stylized version of
the the OCB’s distinctive tower serves as the school’s
logo on its stationery and promotional materials.
To its great credit, VLS has resolved not to squander
this legacy. Largely vacant since the advent of the adjacent Oakes
Hall in 1999, the Guernsey masterwork is slated for renovation and,
to that end, the law school commissioned a thorough, $15,000 study
of the building by historic preservation consultant Lyssa Papazian
of Putney. Papazian's study is not simply exacting as to the building’s
history, Guernsey’s career, and how restoration of the OCB
might be accomplished. The document is also great reading for afficionadoes
of architecture or Vermont history.
Her research has left Papazian an unabashed Guernsey
fan.
It says something about architecture and community
in rural New Hampshire and Vermont.
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