Colonial-style buildings

Does “Colonial” Infer “Worker Bees?”
Aetna, Inc’s Headquarters, Hartford
May 16, 2008

This post wasn’t a planned one at all – I found all this stuff out while researching the Geographic center of Hartford excitement. Turns out, the massive Aetna Insurance building holds some rather impressive – and CTMQ-worthy – distinctions.

it is the largest “colonial-revival style building in the world.” THE WORLD I SAYS. Of course, as my architectural student wife says, “Are there even colonial buildings outside of the US?” If you think about it, she has a good point. (She always does.) So I decided to check out the building – now, all of images below are from the aetna.com website, but I took a few of my own that sort of stunk (I didn’t want to flash) – there is something weird about snapping pictures inside an office building. (State Legislative Offices notwithstanding)

However, as you’ll see, I did run into a rather important Aetna employee… First, some good info from the company website:

This building is Aetna’s fifth home. Prior to 1931, Aetna’s home office buildings had, for nearly 80 years, been located in the heart of downtown Hartford. The move to this “suburban campus” was extraordinary in that it was considered an inconvenience for employees in an era when most did not own automobiles. To compensate for this, the building originally provided many amenities, including a state-of-the-art cafeteria, a store stocked with the same merchandise carried by downtown merchants, bowling alleys, squash and handball courts, tennis courts, a basketball court and a library.

Aetna’s gold-domed design was inspired by the Old State House, which is located in downtown Hartford and was created in 1796 by renowned American architect Charles Bullfinch. The land upon which the current home office building was erected has passed through the hands of such historic figures as Thomas Hooker, the city’s founder; Daniel Wadsworth, businessman and 19th – century cultural figure; and U.S. Sen. James Dixon, a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and, by some accounts, the deciding vote against conviction in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868.

Made of brownstone and red brick, the building that fronts Farmington Avenue was designed by James Gamble Rogers and is, to this day, known as the “Rogers building.” Rogers overlooked nothing that might add to the health, comfort and efficiency of the employees such as innovative office lighting and acoustical wall tile. Four and one-half million bricks were used on the exterior of the Rogers building, all of which were made locally.

The Rogers building cost million to construct. In today’s dollars, that would be $82, 500, 000! Over the ensuing years, a six-story wing was added to the east and west sides of the original structure to accommodate the company’s growth. The corridor on the A floor is 1/8 of a mile long, from the Sigourney Street lobby to the cafeteria.

Some building highlights:

The Aetna Auditorium – The auditorium has a fascinating past. Originally called “Bulkeley Memorial Hall, ” it has a seating capacity of over 1, 000, and was originally fitted with the latest stage and motion picture equipment of the day. According to an early brochure, “The auditorium floor provides adequate space for both dancing and basketball.”

Underneath the carpet is a regulation basketball court specifically designed and built to accommodate the country’s premier women’s basketball team of that time – the Aetna Life Girls’ Basketball team. Composed completely of Aetna employees, the team was widely recognized as one of the best women’s teams in the world and played in venues such as Madison Square Garden. The team regularly drew crowds numbering in the four figures to its games in the home office during its heyday from 1928-1932, and members of the team were lauded by James Naismith for their sophisticated grasp of the game he invented.

The auditorium also features an Austin Quadruplex organ (front left of stage), the only one of its kind that is in its original installation and still remains playable. The “Quad” was the world’s most sophisticated organ when Aetna purchased it in 1929 for $20, 000. Today, its value is almost priceless because many of its parts – which include some 2, 500 pipes – are irreplaceable.

In the main center entrance lobby on the 1st floor, there is a cool brass bas relief of Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, Aetna’s founder and first president. This brass bas relief is the work of noted American sculptor John Flanagan and was originally installed circa 1916 in Aetna’s 650 Main Street home, which was next door to the Wadsworth Atheneum (and destroyed in the early 1960s). When Aetna moved to its current home office, it took the bas relief with it!