Eleanor Raymond facts for kids

Eleanor Raymond (born March 24, 1887 – died 1989) was an important American architect. She worked for about 60 years, mostly designing homes. Eleanor Raymond loved trying out new building materials and ways to construct houses. Many of her projects were for women in her social group in Boston and Cambridge. One client said she was an architect who "respected old traditions but wasn't afraid to break their rules."

Eleanor Raymond designed some very special houses. In 1931, she created one of the first houses in the United States built in the International Style. Later, in 1940, she designed a house made of plywood. In 1948, she worked with scientist Maria Telkes to build the "Sun House." This house was very innovative because it used special solar collectors to get energy from the sun.

Eleanor Raymond worked as an architect for over 50 years. In 1961, she became a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. This is a high honor for architects.

Becoming an Architect: Eleanor Raymond's Early Life and Education

Eleanor Raymond was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1887. She earned her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 1909. After college, in 1927, Raymond traveled around Europe. She visited countries like France, England, Germany, and Italy. Seeing the famous parks, villas, churches, and cities made her even more interested in gardens and buildings.

Inspired by her travels and a landscape course at Wellesley, she decided to study landscape architecture. She joined the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. This school was connected to Harvard's School of Architecture. In 1915, she was one of the first five women to study architectural design there. This is where she learned how important it is for buildings and their surrounding landscapes to work together.

Eleanor Raymond graduated in 1919. That same year, she opened an office with Henry Atherton Frost, who had been one of her teachers. In 1928, she started her own architecture office in Boston, Massachusetts. Her designs for homes were quite special for her time and are still seen as important today.

Eleanor Raymond's Personal Life and Social Causes

Eleanor Raymond was interested in the social movements of her time. She supported the women's suffrage movement, which fought for women's right to vote. She also took part in the settlement house movement, which helped people in poor neighborhoods.

Through a women's suffrage group, she met Ethel B. Power. Ethel also went on to study and graduate from the Cambridge School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Eleanor and Ethel were close friends and colleagues for over 50 years, until Ethel's death in 1969. Ethel Power also became a longtime editor for House Beautiful magazine.

Eleanor Raymond renovated a townhouse at 112 Charles Street in Boston. She designed it as a shared home for herself, Ethel, and other women. It was made for businesswomen who needed a workspace at home. The house was designed to be easy to manage, with smaller dining rooms and kitchens.

Eleanor Raymond's Architectural Designs and Innovations

After graduating, Eleanor Raymond first worked with Henry Atherton Frost. She had been a draftsperson for him while still a student. In 1928, she opened her own architecture office. She liked simple, traditional American buildings, not the grand or super-modern styles popular then.

In 1931, she published a book called Early Domestic Architecture of Pennsylvania. In this book, she looked at how early American buildings were designed simply to fit their purpose. This book was one of the first to study everyday American architecture. It really helped define Eleanor Raymond's career.

Eleanor Raymond became known for designing homes that used ideas from early American architecture. She also did a lot of restoration work, which means fixing up old buildings. She always thought about the "three parts" of a house: the outside, the inside, and the landscape around it. She believed an architect must always know how the client will use their home. Many of her projects were for women in Boston and Cambridge.

Eleanor Raymond combined European and American ideas in her work. Some experts believe she was trying to create a unique "regional modernism." For example, the Rachel Raymond House (built for her sister in 1931) had a very modern, straight-lined exterior. But inside, it had traditional built-in cupboards and old-fashioned decorations. This house showed a new kind of modern style for the Northeastern U.S. It was built six years before a similar house by Walter Gropius in Lincoln, Massachusetts, which is often called the first example of American regional modernism.

In 1948, Eleanor Raymond worked with mechanical engineer Maria Telkes. They designed the Dover Sun House, located about 20 miles from Boston. This was an "all-solar house" that used special glass plates to collect heat from the sun. It used Telkes' unique system to gather and store solar energy.

Eleanor Raymond was a member of the American Institute of Architects. In 1961, she was chosen as an AIA fellow, which is a great honor. In 1977, her work was shown in an exhibit called "Women in American Architecture" at the Brooklyn Museum.

Eleanor Raymond's Legacy and Impact

Eleanor Raymond passed away in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 4, 1989. She was 102 years old.

Her blueprints, papers, diaries, letters, and scrapbooks are kept at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. These documents show details of about 200 buildings she designed. The museum Historic New England also has a collection of materials about her architectural work. This includes articles written by Ethel Power about Eleanor Raymond.

Notable Buildings Designed by Eleanor Raymond

Here are some of the important buildings Eleanor Raymond designed:

• Cleaves House (1919)
• TZE House (1922)
• 112 Charles St. (around 1923)
• High Spruces House (1929)
• Barnes House Renovation (1929)
• Rachel Raymond House (1931) (no longer standing)
• Peabody Farm Buildings (1934)
• Sugarman House (1935)
• Elliott House (1935-1936)
• Frost House (1935)
• Miller House (1936)
• Glaser House, Cambridge, MA (1937)
• Pillsbury House (1937)
• Horace W. Frost House (1935)
• Farnsworth House (1939)
• Plywood House (1940)
• Peabody Plywood House (1940-1941) (no longer standing)
• Parker Plywood House (1941, 1945-1946)
• Hammond Compound (1941-1942)
• Peabody Sun-Heated House (1948)
• Dover Sun House (1948)
• Pope House (1949-1950)
• Meyer House (1958)
• Nichols Factory Addition (1959-1960)
• Damon House (1961)
• Baxter-Ward Antique Shop (1970)
• Peabody Westville Sporthaus (1972)
• Smith House (1973)

See also

In Spanish: Eleanor Raymond para niños