John Calvin Stevens

• Also Known As: John Calvin Stevens I

• American

John Calvin Stevens started his career in the office of Francis H Fassett in 1873, where over the next eleven years his principal design work evolved from Queen Anne to the more regionally grounded Shingle Style. Some of his signature expressions of the Shingle Style were developed after 1884, when he started his own practice, and include the use of an all-encompassing gambrel roof to help order the volume of a house, and the distinctive double side-gable roof, an example of which is incorporated into the Norton House. Between 1881 and 1891, Steven partnered with Albert Winslow Cobb, and produced, along with some of his best Shingle style structures, a book of Steven's work, Examples of American Domestic Architecture, which illustrated his most successful structures, including over a dozen ocean side cottages in Maine. After his association with Cobb ended, "Stevens practiced alone from 1891 until his son, John Howard Stevens (1879 -1958), became a partner in 1904. While John Calvin Stevens continued to work in the shingle style until well into the 20 the century, more formal interpretations of the Colonial Revival came to dominate his work after 1890. By that time he had acquired a national reputation and was the leading architect in Maine. Although residential work had secured his reputation, he also designed other types of building throughout the country. His practice continued until his death. - NRHP, 18 December 2003

Lineage

• Son: John Howard Stevens