At Gloucester when everyone else would be painting ships and the waterfront I’d just go around looking at houses. It is a solid looking town. The roofs are very bold, the cornices are bolder. The dormers cast very positive shadows. The sea captain influence I guess–the boldness of ships. - Edward Hopper

Edward Hopper often focused on specific architectural details such as the front entrance and bay window of Parkhurst’s House in Gloucester, Massachusetts. The ornamental brackets above the entrance and richly decorated cornice above the bay window contrast with the modern, geometrical designs of the railing in front of the house. Before he painted Parkhurst’s House he sketched the scene in graphite and ink (Whitney Museum of American Art).

The house was originally owned by ship captain Charles E. Parkhurst. Hopper painted and drew more than a hundred houses and places in Gloucester in the summers from 1912 through 1928. He usually took the train from New York City to the picturesque coastal village, stayed at a boarding house downtown, and then walked the town to find inspiration in local architecture.