Bowcot est. 1918

Bowcot began construction in the winter of 1916. It was the first of the experimental stone cottages Flagg constructed on the grounds of his estate. As Flagg observed in small houses - it is a paradigm of economy siting earlier rubblestone retaining walls extended along the northwestern edge of Flagg Place for much of its length. At East Entry and West Entry Roads the walls turned a short distance northwestward to form entry-gates for the stone court drive leading to the Cromwell property, today's Richmond Country Club. The rear elevation of Bowcot was constructed atop the curved entry-gate wall lying on the southwestern side of West Entry Road. Flagg observed that as the wall bends with the road, the house bends too. Thus Bowcot received its name.

Bowcot Den Fireplace Refit

The roof design is further enlivened by several dormer types. Large gabled dormers rise above the eaves on the front and rear slopes of the main section roof; their height and size is such that, when viewed in relation to the gable-wall, they almost suggest an intersecting gable roof rather than dormers. Gabled dormers which break the eaves appear on the garage and ell. Although the ridge-line dormers have been removed from the main section and ell, two remain on the garage. There is a large pyramidal roofed dormer on the southeastern slope of the ell roof. Variety in dormer types is matched by window treatment. Openings are of several different sizes. Small square windows at the basement and endwall attic level of the main section contrast with the generously scaled openings of its principal story. In comparision, the openings used on the southwestern wall of the ell seem quite narrow. Sash types vary as well. Ridge dormers employ double tiltable sash; the inner unit is attached at the lower sill and the outer at the top. Economy and convenience were gained by Flagg's rejection of double-hung sash in favor of small-paned casement-type windows for the larger openings. Casements not only admitted more air but are easier to wash since they swing inward. Setting the frames flush with the outer wall plane eliminated the need for stone sills and reveals. Today metal-frame storm-windows cover most openings and partially obscure the original frames and sash from view.

Although it is a small structure, Bowcot's design embodies Flagg's central aesthetic theories. Flagg considered his Todt Hill cottages to be an integral part of his oeuvre, of no less importance, for example, than his most famous design, the Singer Tower, the world's tallest building when completed in 1911. As Flagg recorded in Small Houses, "It may seem to some that the steel frame his little to do with small houses. This may be true of the frame itself but not of the methods of design applicable to it. These methods apply to every artistic construction whether steel frame or otherwise. The idea that is requires one kind of skill to deal successfully with the design of the tall building and another with the small house is fallacious; both alike are architectural problems, and in both alike the immutable laws of right design govern. Many elements contribute to Bowcot's undeniable beauty but primary among them, in Flagg's view, was the modular measure which determined its design and assured a harmonious relationship between all its parts. The enabling technology exemplified by Bowcot played an influential role in the development of American domestic architecture throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Flagg's ideas were widely disseminated through his articles in such journals as Country Life and McCall's Magazine. Flagg's methods of economical stone construction and modular design were also taken up and popularized by other architects. Harold Carey's "Build a Some--Save a Third", published in 1924, and Frazier Forman Peters' Houses of Stone brought national attention to Flagg's ideas. Flagg's legacy, however, as represented by Wallcot still endures. By promoting the concept of domestic architecture which is responsive to nature (Flagg's stone cottages have recently been cited as early examples of passive solar design) and respectful of the land, an architecture which did not regard good design and economical construction as mutually exclusive, Flagg articulated goals which retain their validity for contemporary residential design.