The Ames Gatehouse Rocks!

Thanks to architect Chris Milford and members of the Ames family, Utile was treated to a comprehensive tour of the gatehouse (designed by H.H. Richardson), main house, and grounds of the Ames estate in Easton, MA. 

There are many comments to make about the building, but most surprising was the audacious size of the boulders that make up the veneer of the building (a “real” wall of brick sits behind the stone).  In some places within the pattern, the boulders take on an expressiveness that is almost gargoyle-like (each stone was hand-selected and positioned in the wall) – but gargoyles that are camouflaged by the allover pattern of the stones.

-Tim