Boston based architecture firm Maginnis and Walsh is known for their many contributions to American architecture in the 20th century. The firm is notable for its involvement with American Universities as well as the construction of religious buildings, namely the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. At the time, these two areas of society, academia and religion, were experiencing expansion in needs and numbers that required new construction; Maginnis and Walsh was one of the prominent firms at the front of these movements in American architecture. Further, the firm’s ability to provide clients with unique designs ranging from gothic to romanesque to byzantine, even within a single project, offered a spectrum of opportunity that was extremely desirable. As a result of their expertise, many of their projects entailed school chapels. The following are a few Maginnis and Walsh school chapel projects.
St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
Construction on the Chapel at Holy Cross began in 1922 and the chapel officially opened on May 7, 1924. While most university campuses were built in the gothic revival style at that time, the chapel at Holy Cross was designed in the renaissance style, drawing inspiration from The Gesu, the Jesuit mother church, in Rome. 14 stained glass windows featuring the seven doctors of the church and seven martyrs were added in 1926 to complete the design. The windows were designed by Walter G. Ball of Boston.
The chapel, at the heart of campus, expresses profound elegance and beautiful simplicity. The design consisting mostly of the stonework, punctuated by fine art carvings offers a strength and grandeur to the construction. These features are consistent throughout many of Maginnis and Walsh architectural designs and perhaps one of the reasons their designs have survived to this day with so few changes.
Chapel Opening: Charles Maginnis (third from left) and Holy Cross President Rev. James Carlin, S.J. (fourth from left).
Our Lady of the Annuciation, Nazareth Hall, Roseville, Minnesota
This chapel originally designed for the Nazareth Hall Preparatory School is a marvelous example of the versatile design capabilities of Maginnis and Walsh. The chapel and original Nazareth Hall Campus are situated in a lovely geographical location along the shore of Lake Joanna. The building is designed in the romanesque-byzantine style with a uniquely modern appeal and consecrated in 1924.
The sanctuary and wainscot walls feature red Numidian marble, the nave columns are of gray marble, and vaulted ceiling is composed of Guastavino tile. The apse dome was originally gilded. As one may have noticed, similar to St. Joseph Memorial Chapel, Maginnis and Walsh utilized stone carving and different types of marble to create a design of simple grandeur. The stained glass in the chapel was designed and made by Charles Connick of Boston, a glass manufacturer the firm often collaborated with. The Stations of the Cross and decorative tiles throughout the chapel are the work of artist Ernest Bachelder of California. Bachelder was a well known artist in the Arts and Crafts Movement for both his work and philosophy. Many of the original furnishings, including the baldacchino and furniture, were designed specifically for the chapel; however, these pieces are no longer featured in the interior. Today the campus and the chapel are a part of the University of Northwestern Campus.
Examples of decorative tiles designed by Ernest Bachelder
Altar and baldacchino originally designed for Nazareth Hall Chapel now at St. Michael in Minnesota.
Notre Dame Chapel, Trinity College, Washington DC
The chapel for Trinity College in Washington, DC, designed by Maginnis & Walsh and built by Cassidy & Associates, opened in 1924. The exterior is made of Kentucky limestone with a roof of red tile. The chapel interior pays homage to the patroness, Notre Dame, with numerous references to the Madonna and Child in the art and symbolism. The interior features a mosaic by Bancel LaFarge which was not completed until the 1930s. These mosaics were executed at the Ravenna mosaic factory in Munich and are the jewel of the chapel. The chapel has a neo-byzantine influence, notable by the low dome and geometric proportions. Similar to Nazareth Hall Chapel, the ceiling is composed of Gustavino tiles punctuated by decorative tiles in the Arts and Crafts style. The stained glass windows in this chapel were also designed and made by Charles Connick of Boston.
Trinity College Chapel, Historic Photo
Our Lady of the Lourdes Chapel Georgetown Preparatory School, North Bethesda, MD
Georgetown Preparatory School, run by the Jesuits, is the oldest Catholic boarding school for boys in America. The chapel, designed by Maginnis and Walsh, was completed in 1933 in the renaissance revival style. The building exterior is made of brick with limestone architectural details and the interior features a variety of colored marbles for the apse, columns, and walls, as was typical of Maginnis and Walsh designs. The building and its furnishes remain intact according to the original design of the architects. Charles Connick completed the stained glass windows for the church interior.
Newton Country Day School Chapel Newton, Massachusetts
When Loren D. Towle bequeathed her estate to the Religious of the Sacred Heart for the Boston School for Girls, architectural firm Maginnis and Walsh was commissioned for the chapel design in 1926. Towle’s estate was designed in the Tudor-Revival style and it was decided that the chapel should compliment the existing architecture. The chapel takes its architectural inspiration from 15th century English country-gothic style. Typical of Maginnis and Walsh the interior evokes grandeur through simplicity and warmth through the use of raw materials, in this case, carved wood in the ceiling, wainscot and pews.
The work of Maginnis and Walsh has left a lasting architectural legacy of incredible buildings and numerous design sketches. The firm continues to inspire architects and restoration firms to this day. Perhaps due to the firm’s application of traditional proportions with a modern flare coupled with their inclination to hard materials like stone and tile, many of their constructions survived the modernist changes of the later 20th century relatively untouched. For more information on the history of Maginnis and Walsh outside their work in academic chapels may be found here.
