Henry Forbes Bigelow (May 12, 1867 – August 12, 1929) was an American architect, best known for his work with the firm of Bigelow & Wadsworth in Boston, Massachusetts. He was noted as an architect of civic, commercial and domestic buildings. In an obituary, his contemporary William T. Aldrich wrote that "Mr. Bigelow probably contributed more to the creation of charming and distinguished house interiors than any one person of his time." Numerous buildings designed by Bigelow and his associates have been listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
Early life
Bigelow was born in Clinton, Massachusetts to Henry Nelson Bigelow (1839–1907) and Clarissa Nichols (née Forbes) Bigelow (1841–1876). His father was the managing agent of the Bigelow Carpet Company of Clinton, which had been founded by his father and uncle. His maternal grandfather was Franklin Forbes. While there, he was a member of the fraternity of Delta Psi (aka St. Anthony Hall). As he lacked a practice of his own, construction of the building was entrusted to architects from the Boston firm of Winslow & Wetherell under George Homans. Wetherell and Walter T. Winslow.
Bigelow designed three mansions for his family. In 1899, he renovated a house at 1073 Brush Hill Road in Milton, Massachusetts into a stucco Italian villa that the family used as a summer house until 1917. His primary residence was at 142 Chestnut Street on Beacon Hill in Boston. Designed by Bigelow in 1915 in the Italian style, the family mansion featured a large courtyard. In June 1916, an entire issue of The American Architect was dedicated to this house, with eighteen full-page photographs. Another family summer home was Pineapple Court, a Spanish Revival style villa at 89 West Street in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts.
Professional affiliations
Bigelow became a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1901 and was elected to the College of Fellows in 1905. He was an associate fellow in the Boston Society of Architects and a member of the Boston Architectural Club.
Starting in 1919, he was a trustee of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, serving as chairman of the committee on the new wing and as a member of the museum committee. He was also a member of the Boston Art Commission. She was the daughter of Maria L. Robbins and the Hon. Edward L. Davis of Boston and Worcester.
|-
|Forbes House, Milton Academy
|1893
|170 Centre Street, Milton, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Gilbert Building (Major's Inn and Gilbert Block)
|1893–94
|3-9 Commercial Street, Gilbertsville, New York
|NRHP
|
|-
|Mrs. Charles Appleton House
|1894
|4 Hawthorne Road, Brookline, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Elizabeth (née Appleton) and Charles Packard Ware House
|1894
|52 Allerton Street, Brookline, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Lyman Davenport–Henry F. Bigelow House (remodeling)
|1899
|1073 Brush Hill Road in Milton, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Canton Public Library
|1901–02
|786 Washington Street, Canton, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Bigelow Free Public Library
|1902–03
|54 Walnut Street, Clinton, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Compton Building
|1902–03
|159–175 Devonshire Street, Boston, Massachusetts
|NRHP
|
|-
|Needham Town Hall
|1902–03
|1471 Highland Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts
|NRHD
|
|-
|L Street Generating Station, Edison Electric Illuminating Company
|1904
|776–834 Summer Street, South Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Substation, Edison Electric Illuminating Company
|1904
|374 Homer Street, Newton, Massachusett
|NRHP
|
|-
|Hoopes House
|1904
|153 Warren Street, Glen Falls, New York
|NRHP
|
|-
|Worcester County Institution for Savings Building
|1906
|365 Main Street, Worcester, Massachusetts
|NRHP
|
|-
|Alexander Sylvanus Porter Jr. House
|1906
|189 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston Building
|1906,1922
|39 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts
|NRHP
|
|-
|Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College
|1906
|10 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|National Shawmut Bank Building
|1907
|Devonshire, Water, and Congress Streets, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|"The Pines" for Mary Cabot (née Higginson) and Philip Sears
|1907
|Hale Street, Prides Crossing, Beverly, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|"Crownledge" for Eugene V. R. Thayer Jr. (now Trivium School)
|1909
|471 Langen Road, Lancaster, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Rose Linzee Dexter House (remodeling)
|1910
|400 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Hyde House
|1910–11
|161 Warren Street, Glen Falls, New York
|NRHP
|
|-
|Fifth Meeting House (restoration)
|1912
|Lancaster, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Eugene V. R. Thayer House (remodeling)
|1912
|340 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Mabel Hunt Slater House (ballroom addition)
|1913
|448 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Number Six Club (Delta Psi Fraternity House)
|1913
|428 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|"Warren Farm" for Mary Cabot (née Higginson) and Philip Sears
|1913
|260 Heath Street, Brookline, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Boston Athenæum penthouse and rear additions
|1913–14
|10 1/2 Beacon Street, Boston, Massachusetts
|NHL
|
|-
|James J. Storrow House (remodeling)
|1915
|417 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Charles Taylor Lovering Jr. House (remodeling)
|1915
|9 Gloucester, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Henry Forbes Bigelow House
|
|142 Chestnut Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Eliza and George Hemenway Cabot House (remodeling)
|1916
|169 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Susannah and Otis Norcross Jr. House (remodeling)
|1916
|249 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Interurban Building
|1916
|1500 Jackson Street, Dallas, Texas
|
|
|-
|Weston Town Hall
|1916–17
|11 Town House Road, Weston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Dorothy and Dr. Francis Minot Rackemann House (remodeling)
|1917
|263 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Katherine Eliot Bullard House (remodeling)
|1917
|39 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Building No. 220, Rock Island Arsenal
|1917–18
|Rock Island, Illinois
|
|
|-
|Paul Barron Watson House (remodeling)
|1919
|278 Clarendon (203 Beacon), Back Back, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Caroline and Edward C. Storrow House (remodeling)
|1919
|191 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Margaret and Albert Creighton House (remodeling)
|1921
|340 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|First Church of Christ, Scientist
|1923–24,
1929–30
|13 Waterhouse Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|137 Marlboro Street Trust Apartment Building
|1925
|137 Marlborough (317 Dartmouth), Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|McGinley Mansion
|1925
|582 Blue Hill Avenue, Milton, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Apartment Building
|1926
|116 Charles Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Susannah and Harcourt Amory Jr. House (remodeling)
|1926
|174 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Chilton Club (remodeling)
|1926
|50 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Mary and Arnold Welles Hunnewell House (remodeling)
|1926
|129 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Investors Securities Trust Apartment Building
|1926–27
|192 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Apartment Building
|1927
|10 Otis Place, Beacon Hill, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Hannah Adams Pfaff High School (former)
|1927
|3 Dale Street, Medfield, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Frederica and Richard Dudley Sears Jr. House (remodeling)
|1927
|9 Exeter, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Madison Apartments for Beacon Street Trust
|1927
|172 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Medical Office Building
|1927–28
|264 Beacon, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|House
|1928
|240 Dudley Street, Brookline, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Mary (née Ames) Frothingham House (remodeling)
|1929
|7 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Mary and Edward Henry Best House (remodeling)
|1929
|80 Commonwealth, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Eliza and George Edward Cabot House (remodeling)
|1929
|167 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|
|-
|Eliza and George Edward Cabot House (remodeling)
|1929
|169 Marlborough, Back Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|
|