Object Lesson: Fiske Kimball and the Restoration of Moors End, Nantucket

Abstract

Like so many of the endeavors associated with architect Fiske Kimball, the restoration of Moors End (1829– 1834), a federalstyle house on Nantucket, drew together notable individuals, garnered publicity, and included a dash of intrigue (Figure 1). The Moors End project offered an exceptional opportunity for Kimball: the restoration included not just the house but also the grounds, including a formal garden, and interiors that the client intended to fully furnish with period accessories. Additionally, Kimball took on the project in the spring of 1925, a pivotal moment in his professional career. In those same months he resigned from New York University to accept the position as director of the Pennsylvania Museum (now Philadelphia Museum of Art), where period rooms became a hallmark of his tenure. He was also intimately involved in shaping attitudes in American historic preservation: in 1925 he chaired committees for the American Institute of Architects and for the Virginia Art Commission; the previous year, 1924, he was appointed chairman of the restoration committee for Monticello. The work at Moors End therefore offers insight in microcosm into issues of presentation and preservation that preoccupied him for the following decades. But it also offers something else: Moors End was not a museum or tourist destination but a private home. Kimball had to include the modern amenities necessary for the daily life of his wealthy client. At Moors End we encounter Kimball not as a scholar but as an architect; granted, these two roles often intermingled for Kimball but the significance of the restoration rests not so much on his research into the federal era as with his contributions to the colonial revival in his own era. The restoration of Moors End allows us to draw together the threads of Kimball’s career as a scholar, preservationist, and museum director through the lens of his work as an architect. This article argues that the restoration was guided by a major theme of the colonial revival: the continuing relevance of the classical tradition as an architecture of order and refinement. Positioning himself as an architect, Kimball put his scholarly knowledge of highstyle federal architects such as Thomas Jefferson and Charles Bulfinch into the service of modern design. Further, the steps he took to publicize the project indicate his intention to promote it as a model of taste for contemporary viewers. As this case study demonstrates, MARIE FRANk