The Rivers Country Day School

Weston, MA, 1960-1965 by Huygens and Chapman

While vacationing through Europe in 1956, the headmaster of the Rivers School George Blackwell and his wife Ethel had a chance encounter with a young Remmert Huygens on his way to work in Marcel Breuer’s office in New York City. George had recently overseen the purchase of a historic farm property on the banks of Nonesuch pond in Weston to create a permanent home for the school and Ethel explained his predicament to the architect in an airport on his way home. Huygens wouldn’t forget the chance conversation, and would present the idea to another architect in the Breuer office Alan Chapman when he arrived in NYC and the two would propose some master plans to the Blackwells as a shot in the dark for a potential collaboration.

The gamble paid off and the two young architects moved up north to begin work on their first commission. The two would design a small unified campus tucked back from the road and historic farmhouse and existing athletic fields. The buildings were defined by a series of pitched roofs. This roofline divides the facade into sections of yellow brick or glass. For statement buildings like the library or gymnasium, the strict system was skewed, transformed or multiplied. The result is an incredibly cohesive campus with a unique style that has been maintained and transformed in new buildings since.

Sources:

“333 Winter Street in Weston”, the Rivers School, 9 Oct 2019.

Allan Chapman “Designing the Rivers Country Day School”, Weston Historical Society Bulletin, Spring 2010.

Ed Hodges “Founding a Firm”, Dimella Shaffer Blog, 2015.