F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 4 • M a r i e m o n t, O h i o • Vo l u m e X LV I I I , N o . 5
Murray-Plainville Homes by The Gilchrist Group Reflect Georgian Revival Architecture By Matthew Ayer To design the “model town” that became Mariemont, Mary Emery and Charles Livingood hired town planner John Nolen, a renowned expert in town planning and the emerging field of landscape architecture. Emery and Livingood envisioned a community perfectly balanced with a variety of attractive, modestly priced rental units; a wide range of well-constructed, architectdesigned single-family homes; and neighborhood amenities such as streetcar transportation to downtown Cincinnati, parks for outdoor activities and inspiration, schools, a church, tree-lined roads and avenues, and a range of recreational facilities.
architect Charles Cellarius of Cincinnati, chosen by Livingood to serve as resident architect after his impressive work on two Beech Street groups. Cellarius would also design the Boathouse, original Oak Street Fire Station, and Carillon.
This month we recognize the work of Philadelphia-based architect Edmund B. Gilchrist (1885-1953), educated at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. His knowledge and experience with Philadelphia row houses led to his involvement with Mariemont and the group houses he designed. The Gilchrist Group consists of thirty-nine residential units in free-standing and joined buildings, stretching along Murray Avenue and for a short distance south on Plainville Road. These buildings depart from the quaint English country look prevalent in Mariemont’s early housing. Instead, Gilchrist built from the familiar Georgian Revival style of Philadelphia row houses and added various elements of flair and sophistication.
The majority of Mariemont’s housing was built in its first fifty years of existence, and the Village exhibits Nancy Ford Cones' photo of the Gilchrist Group on Plainville. The cupola a variety of twentieth century housing above the Maple St. archway was missing by the early 1950s. types—groups of attached houses, apartment buildings, duplexes, and detached homes— primarily in the Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival styles. The earliest housing groups built in the 1920s are the work of American architects whom Livingood carefully selected with Nolen's recommendations. Previous articles in this series have featured nationally recognized architects Louis E. Jallade (Mariemont Memorial Church), Richard B. Dana (Dana Group), A. Lincoln Fechheimer (Dale Park School), Grosvenor Atterbury (Sheldon Close), and Robert R. Nick's Gas & Hardware, ca. 1925 McGoodwin (Albert Place). Another feature article introduced young
In his memoir, architect Charles Cellarius described the Gilchrist homes as “typical Philadelphia row type but very skillful planning gave them an interest that one never found on a street in Philadelphia. Their exteriors were simple, though they had a number of unnecessary expensive features. Some, for example, had curved stairways.” Cellarius described Mr. Gilchrist as “one of the most able salesmen with a client that I ever met. I remember him standing in front of his group one day with Mr. Livingood commenting on the beauty of his design. I remember that I had previously commented to him that for simple houses they were proving to be rather expensive, but I am sure that when he finished, Mr. Livingood was cont'd on page 5
