Melville Shoe Corporation

The Melville Shoe Corporation Warehouse was designed by architect George E. Strehan and built between the years of 1928 and 1930 for the Melville Shoe Corporation.
The Art Deco style office entrance to the building constructed of concrete and brick is located in Worcester, Massachusetts. The stepped 7 story tower has corner pilasters and tall rectangular windows that are important contributors to the Art Deco style of the building and contained the elevators and a 40,000 gallon water tank. A bronzed doorway at the base of the tower is surrounded by fluted limestone pilasters and capped by a mosaic panel depicting figures admiring their shoes. Beneath this panel in a frieze over the door is a profile bust (presumably) of Frank Melville, Jr. the company founder. Officially opened on November 11, 1930, the annual Melville Shoe Company Report of that year called this warehouse “the most efficient of its kind in the world.” Faber-Castell Pitt art pens with Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2016-01-27 Melville Shoe Co

Worcester City Hall

Worcester City Hall was designed by Peabody and Sterns and built by the Norcross Brothers in 1898. The Italianate structure was built with a granite exterior, and was partly modeled after Italian Renaissance palazzos. Its tower shares some similarity to that of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, and the interior of the building extensively uses marble, commonly seen in Italian Renaissance buildings, and features an interior courtyard where the upper floors have balconies supported by decorated round arches. City Hall is currently the 4th tallest building in Worcester and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. This sketch has a feel of an old post card with the muted colors. Faber-Castell Pitt art pens and Holbein watercolors in a Stillman and Birn Beta sketchbook.

2016-01-14 Worcester City Hall

Boulangerie Exterior

Another view of the exterior of Maison Villatte Boulangerie located in the village of Falmouth, Massachusetts on Lower Cape Cod. A boulangerie is typically a bakery in France specializing in pastries, breads, rolls and beautiful works of food art. This view is from the street and shows the beautiful hand painted tile sign over the window and the reflections.  Faber-Castell Pitt art pens with Holbein and Daniel Smith watercolors in a Stillman and Birn sketchbook.

2015-12-03 Boulangerie Exterior

Historic Middleboro Porch

Trying to catch up on some of my scanning that was missed during the year. This is a very interesting front porch on a house on Main Street in Middleboro, Massachusetts. Main Street is was where the wealthy built their houses as the town developed so this house must be historic. I have not seen any other style like this with the vase like columns supporting the roof. Pilot Falcon fountain pen with Noodler’s black ink in a Stillman and Birn Alpha sketchbook.

2015-11-09 Middleboro Porch