Eleanor Raymond. Miller House, 1936. Belmont, MA. Historic photograph and contemporary photograph, montage by the author.
Architect Eleanor Raymond, FAIA, is an important member of the American architectural canon, although she is not as well known as her male peers. As a woman practicing architecture for more than 50 years beginning in 1919, she was unique in establishing a private practice in the male-dominated field of the early 20th century. She was an early adopter of modern architectural principles in New England, building the first documented modern movement home in Massachusetts in 1931 and several more thereafter. While the debate over regional modernism raged in male-dominated circles, she proved herself adept at translating the modern principles of simplicity, utility, and geometry through a New England vernacular that made it accessible to her sometimes architecturally conservative clientele. Working in several fruitful partnerships with other women, she built a roster of unique and experimental structures, including early pre-fabricated housing as well as the first house to be heated entirely by solar energy in partnership with MIT's Dr. Maria Telkes in 1948. Living to the age of 102 in a period of tremendous technological and social change, she built her homes with an understanding the past, her present, and the world's future.
Research on Raymond is ongoing. Research applications have included:
"Finding the Glaser House." Historic New England Magazine, vol. 26, no. 2, June, 2025.
"An Evening with Eleanor Raymond." Public presentation with Doris Cole, FAIA for the Friends of Schindler House, 7 May, 2025.
"Eleanor Raymond: New England's First Modern Architect." Historic New England blog, 28 March, 2024.
"Eleanor Raymond." Public presentation series for Historic New England's Gropius House, 2023. (Lecture can be given elsewhere by arrangement with Gropius House).