Greek Revival
The Greek Revival started in Europe in the 1750’s when James Stuart and Nicolas Revett visited Greece. They published the Antiquities of Athens which was the first accurate survey of ancient Greek architecture. The most distinguishing feature of Greek Revival are the columns giving the appearance of Greek temples. In Greece, the temples were built of marble painted in primary colors. When they were discovered by Europeans in the eighteenth century, the paint was gone. Therefore, people associate the Greek Revival with white.
William Strickland (1788-1854) was instrumental in the growth of the Greek Revival style in America. He was the son of a carpenter who worked constructing the Bank of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Benjamin Latrobe, the designer of the bank, took Strickland on as an assistant for three years. In 1818, William Strickland submitted a design for the Second Bank of the United States, in Philadelphia. Nicholas Biddle, the president of the bank, more than likely chose Strickland’s design because it was based on a Greek temple.
William Strickland relied heavily on the information in Stuart and Revett’s Antiquities of Athens, for inspiration for his designs. After the success of the Second Bank, Strickland received a series of commissions in the 1820s and 1830s for public buildings in Philadelphia one of which was the Merchants’ Exchange.
Ammi Burnham Young (1798-1874) was one of the first American-born professional architects to work in the Greek Revival style. He was the son of a New England carpenter and opened his office as an architect in Burlington, Vermont in 1830. He designed the Vermont State House and several buildings on the Dartmouth College campus. He also designed the Customs House in Boston.
Ithiel Town (1784-1844) was one of the most gifted architects of the Greek Revival. He opened his office in Haven, Connecticut around 1813. He spent the next ten years mainly designing and engineering bridges. He received a patent for a bridge truss in 1820 which made him wealthy. In 1829 Town partnered with Alexander Jackson Davis to form Town and Davis, which was the first successful architectural firm in America. The partnership lasted about six years and in that time they produced some of the finest masterpieces of the Greek Revival. They designed the North Carolina State Capitol, the Indiana State Capitol, and the Customs House (now called Federal Hall) in New York. The design for the Customs House was taken from Antiquities of Athens. Town and Davis also designed residences and churches.
In the 1820s Greek Reival style made its way into American decorative arts. Empire style furniture and Greek Revival style furniture were often found in the same room. Tables were made with columnar legs or pillar bases.
The Greek Revival style dominated in America for almost 30 years from about 1825-1855.