R. Clipston Sturgis

Richard Clipston Sturgis (December 24, 1860 – January 20, 1951), generally known as R. Clipston Sturgis, was an American architect based in Boston, Massachusetts.

R. Clipston Sturgis was the second son of Major Russell Sturgis and his 1st wife, Susan Welles Sturgis, and the nephew of architect John Hubbard Sturgis and successor to his practice. J.H. Sturgis had designed brother Russell's summer house, "Sunny Waters," in 1862, and after the death of J.H. in 1888, R. Clipston designed a summer house, "Rookwood," for his uncle's widow, Frances Codman Sturgis. Both houses are in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.

Sturgis was asked to design Perkins School for the Blind's campus when third director of the school Edward Allen found its current home in Watertown, Massachusetts. Sturgis chose the popular style of the time called English Collegiate Gothic when designing the campus. Allen required Sturgis to incorporate a "family-style" cottage system implemented by Samuel Gridley Howe. This cottage system was meant to replicate the idea of a family setting and help teach student independent living skills (Activities of Daily Life). This cottage style included students of all ages living together in a family like unit with "four teachers, a cook, and a household assistant oversaw 20 students in each cottage". While the structure of cottage style living has somewhat changed from its first implementation at the school, this cottage style of living still exists at Perkins.

Sturgis also considered the unique mobility needs of students with visual impairments and designed the building to reflect this.

Sturgis served at various times as President of the Boston Institute of Architects, the American Institute of Architects (1913-1915), and the Society of Arts and Crafts Boston (1917-1920); and as a member of the Boston School Board. His sketchbooks and notebooks are archived in the Boston Athenæum.

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