Frederick L. Savage

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http://www.atlanteaninn.com/ Bar Harbor, Maine Bed and Breakfasts - Atlantean Inn - Bar Harbor, Maine

http://www.boston.com/travel/explorene/maine/articles/2007/09/30/coastal_classic/ Savage article: Coastal classic - ExploreNewEngland.com

http://www.lanierbb.com/inns/bb16928.html Atlantean Inn bed and breakfast inn - Bar Harbor, Maine

http://www.forbes.com/2001/10/19/1019home_6.html Forbes.com: The Best Houses In The Safest Places

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1568983174/qid=1117924402/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/103-9485235-0174268?v=glance&s=books Amazon.com: Books: Maine Cottages: Frederick L. Savage And The Architecture Of

http://www.concordbookshop.com/NASApp/store/Search;jsessionid=AD0B5C4B108F0B17F708266D4561A64C.t8 The Concord Bookshop, Savage

http://homes.wsj.com/columnists/houseofweek/20040305-house.html Fred Savage built house for sale

http://www.asticou.com/history.html Asticou Inn Savage history

http://www.barharborinfo.com/ Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Home Page

http://pts.placestostay.com/gen_prop.asp?hotel_id=3326 Places To Stay - Asticou Inn

http://www.asticou.com/ Asticou Inn, Northeast Harbor, Maine Inn, Acadia National Park, Mount Desert Island

http://www.mackayhouse.com/tree/f4002.htm#f4417 John Savage and Sarah Dolliver

http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/ROBERTS/1997-07/0869524532 John Savage and Climena Roberts

Frederick Lincoln Savage (Nov. 14, 1861 – Feb. 26, 1924) was an American architect known for his distinctive cottages and public buildings, predominantly built on Mount Desert Island in Maine.

“Fred L. Savage was the most influential architect in the development of Mount Desert and northeastern Maine, designing over three hundred buildings there,”

said John M. Bryan, author of Maine Cottages: Fred L. Savage and the Architecture of Mount Desert.

Savage’s trademark was Cape Cod-style cottages, featuring wide eaves and porches, sliding doors separating parlors from hallways (unusual at the time), towers, window seats, exterior shingle siding and magnificent fireplaces. Some structures featured steps of natural stone leading to porches whose roofs were held up by posts of natural tree trunks, many with remnants of branches still protruding in short nubs.

Early Years

Fred Savage's great-great-grandfather, John Savage, came to America, sailing from Glasgow, Scotland to Massachusetts in 17__. John Savage fought for his adopted country in the Revolutionary War, losing a thumb in the Battle of Bunker Hill. ^[1] (page reference)

Fred's parents were Augustus Chase Savage (known as A.C.), a third-generation American, and Emily Manchester Savage. ^[2] (page reference)

Fred and his siblings were born in Asticou, Northeast Harbor, (Mount Desert Island) Maine, where he spent his early life. A.C. Savage captained a ship in the Civil War during which time Fred was born, joining siblings _____. Emily, A.C. Savage and other members of the family wrote letters to one another during the war, many of which are catalogued in [Rose Ruze book]. ^[3]

[More needed, including his parents, grandparents and more]

Building boom in coastal Maine

As an adult, Savage was the postmaster of Asticou (Mount Desert Island, Maine) and later worked in carpentry, mastering skills in woodworking and cabinet making.

His work attracted the attention of “rusticators,” out-of-state summer visitors taking advantage of Maine’s cool, northern weather. A steady influx of vacationers began after the Civil War, when transportation improved. Many had summer homes built.

Among those encouraging Savage was the president of Harvard University, Charles W. Eliot. Fred Savage’s father, A.C. Savage, helped Eliot built his cottage after selling him the land on which to build it. Fred was 19 years old when he helped with construction. The Eliots and the Savages became close friends.

Savage studied architecture with Peabody and Sterns of Boston, Mass., returning to Bar Harbor to take a partnership with Milton W. Stratton under the company name of Savage and Stratton. The partnership lasted six years. Unlike Stratton, Savage was among those architects who developed a large clientele of summer people.

Career is established

Savage built many summer homes in Maine for wealthy Americans. An early commission was a shingle-style cottage for Dr. Caspar Morris of Philadelphia, chief medical examiner of the Reading Railroad and professor of clinical medicine at the Philadelphia Polyclinic College.

Among the 250 building projects in Maine, Michigan and California were the Bar Harbor High School, which was in use in 2004 as the Bar Harbor municipal building, the Union Church, the library in Northeast Harbor, the Pot and Kettle Club, the Kebo Valley Golf Club, and the Asticou Inn, formerly his parents’ family home, rebuilt after a fire. His home in Bar Harbor in later years became the Atlantean Inn on Atlantic Avenue, currently in operation.

Illustrious full-time and summer residents making use of Savage’s designs were A.J. Cassett, Fabbri, Ketterlinus, and Carpenter. Cottages named Journey’s End and Grey Rock are among those well known.

Every facet of the building process was overseen by Savage; he prepared architectural plans, ordered materials and tools and coordinated specialized contractors, such as carpenters, masons, plumbers, electricians and painters.

Personal life

Fred Savage was married twice. He and his first wife, Flora Lee Salisbury, had three children: Frederick Manchester Savage, who died at the age of 18 months, Floralee Savage and Francis Chase Savage. Fred and Flora Lee divorced and he married his secretary, Alice Ray Preble. He and Alice had no children. Daughter Floralee was married twice but had no children. Son Francis, known as F.C. Savage, had six children with his first wife, Ellen Louise Hatch, and one child with his second wife, Luella Rae Holmes.

Fred L. Savage died Feb. 26, 1924 in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he is buried.

Approximately 3,000 of Savage’s architectural drawings still exist, preserved in the Northeast Harbor Library on Mount Desert Island, Maine.

References:

1. Savage Genealogy: Ancestors and Descendents of Augustus Chase Savage and Emily Manchester of Northeast Harbor, Maine by Rose P. Ruze

2. Maine Cottages: Fred L. Savage and the Architecture of Mount Desert by John M. Bryan, Princeton Architectural Press http://www.papress.com/bookpage.tpl?isbn=1568983174&cart=110