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A look at the life and home designs of Portlander and renowned architect, John Calvin Stevens (1855-1940) In 1857, at the age of two, John Calvin Stevens moved from Boston to Portland. Less than a decade later, the city was all but leveled after the great fire of 1866. Over the next forty years, Stevens would play a vital role in the reconstruction and development of the peninsula. Stevens is hugely responsible for the architectural personality or "face" of Portland as we know it today. From his gorgeous large-scale business designs in the Old Port District, to various civic buildings, to his cottage-style homes on the Western Promenade, Stevens has left an indelible mark on the city. Hundreds of Stevens' homes and commercial properties are still occupied and as vibrant as ever. It's hard to drive anywhere in the city without passing several of his buildings. CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery of various Stevens homes on Portland's peninsula. Stevens' desire to shape the city of Portland went beyond his interests as an architect. He was also known as a dynamic civic leader who often wrote articles and gave speeches about his vision for Portland, advocating improvements and reforms.¹ A paper delivered by Stevens to New England Water Works Association's annual convention in the fall of 1929, entitled "Beauty and Investment", is considered one of his most significant works.² It captures the importance he placed on a city's character and how it affects its citizens: "A city is not only a place to do business, it is also a place in which people are obliged to live, and everyone desires to live pleasantly and happily. One way to bring about this very desirable condition is to have all the city's institutions so built and cared for that they become points of interest and beauty. If the building and its surroundings give him pleasure and contentment on account of their beauty, then this condition is silently and perhaps unconsciously exerting a beneficial influence on him, and the result will be a feeling of loyalty among the workers, because they are influenced by the character of their surroundings. It is much easier for a worker to pledge his allegiance to a place that is attractive than to one that is ugly and for which he could not have any feeling of pride. The ideal city should be the aim of every citizen, and he should be willing and glad to lend his aid to every attempt to make the city more interesting, more beautiful, and hence more livable, and as corporations are nothing more than a collection of individuals, governed generally by a chosen board of directors, or trustees, the corporation as such should be as much or more interested than the individual." One look at any of his buildings and it's clear that Stevens took great care to make the peninsula more interesting, beautiful, and livable. Though he received numerous accolades for his achievments as an architect, John Calvin Stevens will always be remembered as one of Portland's great citizens and patriarchs. CLICK HERE to view a photo gallery of various Stevens homes on Portland's peninsula. by Scott
Baker ¹ John Calvin Stevens II & Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., John
Calvin Stevens Domestic Architecture 1890 - 1930 (Scarborough: Harp
Publications) ² Earle G. Shettleworth, Jr., John Calvin Stevens on the Portland Peninsula, 1890 to 1940: A Listing of His Work by Address, Client, and Chronology (Portland: Greater Portland Landmarks)
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