Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers

Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers — page 7
2 INTRODUCTION to cave to log cabin women have always worked to create safe nurturing and healthy environments for their families and communities and there is early evidence that shows women assuming the role of builder In 16th-century France Kather ine Briçonnet designed and supervised the building of the Cha teau de Chenonceau between 1513 and 1524 while her husband was away fighting at war In 17th-century England 19-year-old Lady Elizabeth Wilbraham traveled and studied architecture in the Netherlands and Italy while on her honeymoon She later set up an architectural office and designed Wotton House in Buckinghamshire and possibly 400 other buildings Sir Chris topher Wren now known as England’s greatest architect may have studied under her and created 18 churches with the help of her designs before he went on to build more than 50 churches including St Paul’s Cathedral in London In Families and Farmhouses in Nineteenth-Century America author Sally McMurry presents many home plans designed by women which were published in 19th-century farm journals The 1847 house plan by Matilda Howard of Zanesville Ohio won the 20 prize from the Committee on Farm Dwellings for the New York State Agricultural Society Mrs Howard’s design provided detailed instructions on site and room placement materials and cost Mrs Howard explained In the construc tion of this plan it has been my object to combine utility and beauty as far as practicable with the labor-saving principle After Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1852 she and her sister Catharine wrote The American Woman’s Home in 1869 Their book lays out the domestic concerns of the 19th century and details a house plan with particular attention paid to areas often ignored by male designers of the 19th century such as the kitchen Various chapters concern the need for exer cise both physical and mental fresh air gardening hygiene