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Media Kit |
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Architecture / Architect |
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| The Architect |
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John Edwin Ruethven Carpenter was born in Columbia, Tennessee, on January 7, 1867. He received his schooling at the University of
Tennessee in Knoxville, as well as what is now known as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Les Ecole de Beaux Arts de
Paris. Upon returning to the United States, he established a practice in New York City, where he remained until his death on June 11,
1932, at the age of 65.
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Carpenter's commissions included buildings of all shapes and sizes in the cities of the Eastern United States. The work for which he is
best known and honored is for innovation in design of apartment buildings. His greatest achievement in this area of design was generally
considered to be the 630 Park Avenue Building, which was acknowledged to be the finest apartment plan ever developed in New York City.
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The grandest project with which J.E.R. Carpenter was ever involved was the development of a design for the Summer Capitol of the United
States, which was to be sited on a mountain in West Virginia. Carpenter, in 1918, produced a grand and beautiful plan, but obviously the
project was dropped and nothing was built.
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In the design of the Hermitage Hotel, Mr. Carpenter utilized his knowledge of the industrial structures and beauty of the Beaux Arts
classicism. The school of design encourages the individual artist's taste and design to begin basically and simply. In the rising
architecture emerges the French Renaissance embellishments and unites the exterior and the interior with repetitious designs.
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| The Architecture |
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As Nashville's only remaining grand hotel and commercial example of Beaux Arts, The Hermitage Hotel is also a member of the National
Register of Historic Places and a member of Historic Hotels of America. It has a well-unified style in the mode of Beaux Arts Classicism,
employing arched openings between coupled columns, a five-level composition, and extravagant detailing influenced by the French Renaissance
style.
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The building has notable continuity of design from exterior to interior, even to the smallest details, and despite the differences in
the materials used - metal, wood, plaster and glazed terra cotta.
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The interior features elegant furnishings imported from all over the world. Grecian and Tennessean marble accentuate the lobby, while
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