- Collection:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation Presentation Slide Collection, 1968-2000
- Title:
- The Nicolson House
- Creator:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Contributor to Resource:
- Nicolson, William Perrin
Downing, W. T. (Walter Thomas), 1865-1918
Peters, Richard, 1810-1889
Midtown Civic Association (Atlanta, Ga.)
Atlanta Urban Design Commission
Marks, Randolph C.
Lyon, Elizabeth Anne Mack - Date of Original:
- 1998
- Subject:
- Architecture
Historic sites--Georgia--Fulton County
Historic buildings--Georgia--Fulton County
Architecture, Domestic--Georgia--Fulton County
Cultural property--Protection
Historic preservation--Georgia
Historic buildings--Conservation and restoration - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Fulton County, Atlanta, 33.749, -84.38798
- Medium:
- color slides
historic preservation
historic buildings - Type:
- Still Image
- Format:
- image/jp2
- Description:
- The William Perrin Nicolson House is a late nineteenth century eclectic residence designed by Atlanta architect Walter T. Downing (1865-1918) for Dr. William P. Nicolson in 1892. From the National Trust for Historic Preservation application form prepared by Randolph C. Marks and Elizabeth Lyons in 1971:The house is a compact two story, suburban home, sited on a restricted lot with moderate front and rear yards in the "Midtown" neighborhood, on Piedmont Avenue, in Atlanta, a neighborhood composed of fine, large houses in the late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth century eclectic "s tyles," carefully landscaped yards and tree lined streets. The growth of the Midtown neighborhood is historically linked to the subdivision of what was the Richard Peters (1810-1889) property, comprised of two land lots (with a total of 405 acres) into smaller suburban lots in the late 1830s and the introduction of electric railway service to the area in 1893 by the Consolidated Street Railway Company, only a few years after the area was opened for development. The Nicolson house was the third house to be built in this rather secluded wooded country setting, far from downtown Atlanta. The depression of 1893 significantly slowed further development in the Midtown area until just before the turn of the century, when the area continued to grow as an early fashionable suburban neighborhood on Atlanta's northside. In relation to the houses built along Piedmont Avenue, the Nicolson House is from the street moderate in size and visual appearance. The consideration of comparative scale, however, is not important to the description of the house. The distinctive architectural forms and applied decoration are the qualities that make the Nicolson House unique to its surroundings. The architectural style of the Nicolson House is truly eclectic, in philosophy and stylistic origins. The massing of the house and the architectural motifs employed by Downing collectively express the design's stylistic origins as being derived from eighteenth century English and American sources. The eclectic approach to the composition of the Nicolson House, from these various architectural sources, is free and very individualistic, in the character of many other residences by Walter T. Downing and other architects in the 1890s. The visual complexity of the eclectic exterior design results from the application of a decorated, two story, rounded bay projection and columned, flat roofed, porch to the front of a two level block house with medium pitched hip roof. This same architectural formula, with variations, was used by Downing in the main facade composition and details of other residences published by Downing in 1897.The Nicolson House is significant to the people of the city of Atlanta and to the region for four primary and interrelated reasons: (1) Walter T. Downing (1865-1918), a respected and important Atlanta architect, was the designer of numerous residential, commercial and public buildings in Atlanta. Downing was chosen by the coordinating architectural firm of Bradford Gilbert to design the Fine Arts Building at the Cotton State Exposition of 1395 in Piedmont Park. (2) The Nicolson House is only one of five residences designed by Downing known to still exist in Atlanta and the only one surviving that represents a distinctive stylistic formula used by him in the commissions of the early to mid-l890s. (3) The house, as it exists today, faithfully represents an individualism of architectural character of the late-nineteenth century eclectic period, before eclectic "s tyles" became formalized and academic. The house is important to Atlanta because of the associative values connected with the life of Dr. William Perrin Nicolson who was considered a prominent surgeon, dean, and teacher at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Atlanta, and President of the Georgia Medical Association. The house represents the prestigious position held by Dr. Nicolson in Atlanta society. The doctor gave the architect free reign in the design of the house. (4) Finally, the house is an initial part of the present Midtown neighborhood, which was important in the early 1890s in establishing a movement to the fashionable suburbs on the north side of Atlanta. The development of this area in connection with Piedmont Park played an important role in housing patterns in Atlanta by influencing new northern growth into areas such as suburban Ansley Park after the turn of the century. Before that period the acceptable neighborhood for Atlanta society had developed along street car rail lines in southwest and east Atlanta. The economic, real estate and zoning environment of the 1970s (when this preservation research began) had a negative impact along Piedmont and Juniper Streets, major one way traffic arteries, serving the Central Business District of Atlanta. Planning conflicts were resolved by the Midtown Civic Association and the Atlanta Urban Design Commission. Major bibliographical references: T. Downing, Domestic-architecture (Atlanta, 1897). Helen Powell, "Walter Thomas Downing (1865-1918): A Catalogue of His Work and Clients," unpublished seminar paper, Emory University, 1971.F. K. Boland, "Makers of Atlanta Medicine," Fulton County Medical Society Bulletin. M.D., Nicolson file, Atlanta Historical Society. Randolph C. Marks, Interview with Nicolson family, March, 1976. Variant names include: Nicolson House, William Perrin Nicolson House. See ref # 77000432 (Nicolson, William P., House) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/national-register-listed-20240710.xlsx
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_433
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_433#item
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/gthp_gthp-slides_433/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Additional Rights Information:
- Please contact holding institution for information regarding use and copyright status.
- Holding Institution:
- Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation
- Rights:
-
