Arthur H. Bowditch (May 12, 1870 – May 13, 1941) was an architect in practice in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Life and career

Arthur Hunnewell Bowditch was born May 12, 1870, in

to Charles A. Bowditch and Emma F. Bowditch, née Hunnewell. After working as a

drafter A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British English, British and English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American English, American and Canadia ...

for several Boston architects he established a practice of his own . From to he worked in partnership with Edward B. Stratton under the name Bowditch & Stratton, but otherwise practiced independently. Bowditch was successful as an architect of large buildings, especially office buildings, apartment buildings and hotels. His largest office building is the Old South Building (1903), an elaborate Neoclassical building adjacent to the

Old South Meeting House The Old South Meeting House is a historic Congregationalism in the United States, Congregational church building located at the corner of Milk Street, Boston, Milk and Washington Street (Boston), Washington Streets in the Downtown Crossing are ...

. Others include the Vermont Building (1904,

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

-listed), with Stratton, the Blake Building (1908,

-listed), the

Publicity Building The Publicity Building is a historic Class-B commercial office building located at 40-44 Bromfield Street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Description and history The nine-story, brick and limestone office building was designed by Arthur H. ...

(1916,

-listed) and the Transit Building (1919). His most distinctive apartment building is The Stoneholm (1907) in

Brookline Brookline may refer to: Places in the United States * Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston * Brookline, Missouri, a village * Brookline, New Hampshire, a town * Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania * Brookl ...

, completed with Stratton. Architectural historian Douglass Shand-Tucci described it as "the most magnificent building of its type in Greater Boston–a splendid Baroque extravanganza that holds the high ground...with great distinction." Hotels included the Hotel Essex (1899), now the Plymouth Rock Building, the Lenox Hotel (1900) and the former Fritz-Carlton Hotel (1903), now the main building of the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. He also designed apartment hotels, including The Somerset (1899) and the former Myles Standish Hotel (1926), now a

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

dormitory. Among his latest works was the Paramount Theatre (1932), the last

movie palace A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. Wi ...

built in Boston and a rare example of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

architecture in his portfolio. Bowditch was not known as an architect of homes, though he designed a few. Smaller examples are the House at 12–16 Corey Road (1896,

-listed) in

and the Mayall Bruner House (1923,

-listed) in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

. The largest was the Loren Towle Estate (1923,

-listed) in Newton, a

Jacobethan The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Engli ...

mansion built for the developer of the Publicity Building. Towle died shortly before construction was completed and the house is now occupied, with additions, by the

Newton Country Day School Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart (often abbreviated to Newton Country Day School, Newton, or NCDS) is a private, all-girls Roman Catholic high school and middle school located on the Loren Towle Estate in Newton, Massachusetts, a ...

. Bowditch worked primarily but not exclusively in

Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston, the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas, home to 4,941,632. The most s ...

. Works elsewhere include the

Elton Hotel The Elton Hotel is located at 30 West Main Street in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is an early 20th-century building by local architects Griggs & Hunt in the Second Renaissance Revival architectural style. It was built in 1 ...

(1905), with Stratton in association with Griggs & Hunt, in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

, the Woolworth Building (1921) in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, the former Towle High School (1925) in

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

and the

Pleasant View Home The Pleasant View Home is an historic senior citizen residential facility located at 227 Pleasant Street in Concord, New Hampshire, in the United States. On September 19, 1984, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. From 1892 t ...

(1927,

-listed) in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the county seat, seat of Merrimack County, New Hampshire, Merrimack County. As of the 2020 United States census the population was 43,976, making it the List of municipalities ...

. Bowditch, like many of his contemporaries, was stylistically

eclectic Eclectic may refer to: Music * ''Eclectic'' (Eric Johnson and Mike Stern album), 2014 * ''Eclectic'' (Big Country album), 1996 * Eclectic Method, name of an audio-visual remix act * Eclecticism in music, the conscious use of styles alien to th ...

, selecting

revival styles An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, fo ...

for his buildings according to his or his clients' wants. Only late in his career, in designing the Paramount Theatre, did he consider a more modern style such as

.Douglass Shand-Tucci, ''Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800–2000'' (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1999): 195-199.

Personal life

In 1893 Bowditch was married to Alice DeWitt Foster. He died May 13, 1941, in

, at the age of 71.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowditch, Arthur H. 19th-century American architects 20th-century American architects Architects from Boston 1870 births 1941 deaths