HAV-01-403-Z-K-101
GUSN-357808
Collection contains design drawings, technical drawings, and ephemera related to the design of Mrs. Jessie Bancroft Cox's Cohasset, Massachusetts, home. The house was also known as "The Oaks". The design drawings were completed by the Francis H. Bacon Company, the company of furniture designer and interior designer Francis H. Bacon. The technical drawings include elevations completed by architectural firm Parker, Thomas & Rice in conjunction with Bacon as well as a landscape plan completed by landscape architect Laurence Caldwell. The collection is arranged alphabetically in three series and two subseries. Original titles were maintained when possible. In instances where no title was found, they were assigned by the processor and indicated in the container list.
design drawings
interior elevations
furniture
landscaping plans
portfolios (containers)
portfolios (groups of works)
design drawings
technical drawings
ephemera
2 linear feet
An electronic finding aid is available through Historic New Englands Collections Access Portal. A paper finding aid is available in the Library & Archives.
Materials were purchased by Historic New England in 2021 with funds provided by Thomas Michie.
CC024
Francis H. Bacon Company collection
2021
CC024
A collection of design drawings, technical drawings, and ephemera related to the design of Mrs. William C. Coxs Cohasset, Massachusetts, home, known as "The Oaks".
Library & Archives Purchase
circa 1930, undated
Purchased with funds donated by Thomas Michie, 2021
Cohasset (Norfolk county, Massachusetts)
Boston (Suffolk county, Massachusetts)
Bacon, Francis H. (Francis Henry), 1856-1940 (Designer)
Caldwell, Laurence S. (Landscape architect)
Parker, Thomas & Rice (Architect)
design drawings
technical drawings
ephemera
Bacon, Francis H. (Francis Henry), 1856-1940
Cox, Jessie Bancroft, 1908-1982
Cox, William Coburn, 1909-1982
Caldwell, Laurence S.
Francis H. Bacon Co.
Parker, Thomas & Rice
Furniture
House
Architecture
This collection is available for research.
Materials were originally housed in a dark brown portfolio. Due to preservation concerns, the materials were removed and rehoused accordingly. The portfolio has been rehoused in a folder within the collection.
Design drawings and a three floor plans were interleaved with acid-free paper.
Design drawing "Suggested window treatment for Mrs. William C. Cox, Cohasset, Massachusetts, circa 1931" was placed in an acid-free folder due to concerns of residue transfer.
The floor plans and the landscape plan have torn in places and should be handled with care.
Collection
HAV-01-403-Z-K-101
Accruals are not epected,
No materials have been removed from this collection.
Materials are entirely in English.
Item identification. Box #. Francis H. Bacon Company collection (CC025). Historic New England, Library & Archives.
This collection was processed by Jordan Meyerl, Archives Cataloguer, 2022. Finding aid was updated by Jordan Meyerl, Senior Archives Cataloguer, 2024.
This finding aid is Second Edition DACS-compliant.
Irving and Casson - A. H. Davenport -- Collection I
Irving and Casson - A. H. Davenport -- Collection II
Jessie Bancroft Cox (1908-1982) was the eldest grandchild of Clarence W. Barron (1855-1928), a leading financial journalist who acquired Dow, Jones & Company and the firms financial newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, in 1902. She was the daughter of Hugh Bancroft, Sr. (1879-1933) and Jane Wallis (Waldron) Bancroft (1877-1949). She married William Coburn Cox (1909-1982). Throughout her life, she was well-known for her philanthropic efforts as well as her role as a major stockholder in Dow, Jones & Company, eventually serving on the board. The couple rebuilt a Georgian Revival-style brick mansion on Margin Street in Cohasset, Massachusetts, in 1932. The property had previously served as the summer home of Clarence W. Barron. The mansion was designed by architectural firm Parker, Thomas & Rice.
The Cox's hired the Francis H. Bacon Company of Boston, Massachusetts, the company of Francis H. Bacon (1856-1940), to design furniture and furnishings for at least a portion of the forty-five rooms within the property. Francis H. Bacon studied architecture and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1876. He worked for companies such as Herter Brothers and H. H. Richardson before becoming the principal designer of the A. H. Davenport Company. He later served as the vice president of the A. H. Davenport Company from 1885-1908. Following A. H. Davenport's death, he established the Francis H. Bacon Company.
Byars, M. (2004). Francis H. Bacon (1856-1940). In Terrence Riley (Ed.), The design encyclopedia (pp. 38). The Museum of Modern Art.
Johnson, M. (2023, March 23). A Cohasset estate visited by presidents and film crews hits the market for $18m. Boston.com. https://www.boston.com/real-estate/real-estate/2023/03/23/18m-cohasset-estate-visited-by-presidents-film-crews/
The collection is arranged in 3 series, which are arranged into subseries as follows:
Series I. Design drawings, circa 1931
Series II. Technical drawings, circa 1931
Subseries A: Floor plans, circa 1931
Subseries B: Landscape plan, circa 1931
Series III. Ephemera, undated
Historic New England is committed to implementing reparative language description for existing collections and creating respectful and inclusive language description for new collections. If you encounter language in Historic England's Collections Access Portal that is harmful or offensive, or you find materials that would benefit from a content warning, please contact [email protected].
Sign up to our newsletter for our latest news and events
Loading...
