McIntire, Samuel

▪ American architect and craftsman

born January 1757, Salem, Mass.

died Feb. 6, 1811, Salem, Mass., U.S.

      U.S. architect and craftsman known as “the architect of Salem.” A versatile craftsman, McIntire designed and produced furniture and interior woodwork in addition to his domestic architecture, in which he was influenced by the American architect Charles Bulfinch.

      The house McIntire created for Jerathmeel Peirce was considered one of the finest built in New England during the post-Revolutionary period. The Salem courthouse (1785; demolished 1839) was another excellent example of his work. Bulfinch made the first designs and McIntire the final ones for the lavishly decorated Derby mansion in Salem begun in 1794 (destroyed in 1815). McIntire's furniture, more than 100 pieces of which survive, included some of the best American examples of the Sheraton style.

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