Colonial Revival

Judge Philip Rubenstein House // c.1915

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In the early 20th century, the suburban development of Longwood in Brookline saw another period of rapid development. Larger estates were subdivided and developed with all kinds of housing from single-family mansions to middle-class homes to large apartment buildings. One of the more modest-sized houses built in the first decades of the 20th century was this house, one of a collection of stuccoed homes on Colchester Street. The house was purchased by Judge Philip Rubenstein, the first member of the Jewish faith to serve on the Massachusetts bench and one of the first three judges of Boston’s juvenile court, the first in the country. The unique home is clad with stucco with a terracotta shingle roof and Colonial Revival style entry, showing an effective blending of the Arts and Crafts and Colonial styles.

Lawrence-Christian House // c.1855

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Another of the early homes of the affluent Longwood subdivision of Brookline, Massachusetts is this painted brick house which dates to the 1850s. The house was developed by Amos A. Lawrence, who developed much of the neighborhood, renting out suburban houses to wealthy Boston-area residents. In 1866, Lawrence sold the property to Samuel S. Allen of Roxbury and it would change ownership a half-dozen times in the next century. The property was added onto and modernized a few times, notably during the ownership of Henry A. Christian, MD, the first Chief-of-Medicine at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital over the Muddy River in Boston. The streamlined late-Colonial Revival look with vestibule side entry, windows, and shallow hipped roof are all likely later alterations from the 1850s house.

Butterfield Mansion – Derby Line Village Inn // 1903

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Once described in a local history book as: “The largest, most glamorous home ever built in this [Derby Line] village”, the Butterfield Mansion is one of Northern Vermont’s best early 20th century houses. The house was built between 1901-1903 for Gen. Franklin G. Butterfield (1842-1916) who before this, received the country’s highest award for bravery during combat, the Medal of Honor, for his action at Salem Heights, Virginia on May 4, 1863 during the American Civil War. He would eventually move to Derby, Vermont, where he established the Butterfield Company, who specialized manufacturing axle cutters. Butterfield hired architects, James T. Ball and Gilbert H. Smith of Boston, who also designed the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in town that same year, to design his Colonial Revival mansion and intact carriage house. Today, the Butterfield Mansion is known as the Derby Line Village Inn.

Derby Line Border Station // 1932

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Located on the border of Canada in the northern part of Vermont, Derby is a charming town named after Derby, in England.  Located in the region known as the Northeast Kingdom, the area has benefitted from timber, maple sugaring, hop vineyards, and dairy production in its history since it was settled in 1795. This border crossing is located between the villages of Derby Line, Vermont and Stanstead, Quebec, both of which are developed up to the border, and without the security and signage, you’d never guess they are different countries! The cross-border relationship was cemented in part by the construction in 1904 of the Haskell Free Library and Opera House (last post), which straddles the border and provides library services to both communities. This station was formally opened in 1932, when the main building was completed. It is one of several standardized inspection station layouts developed by the United States Treasury Department, and was the largest and most architecturally sophisticated of those built in Vermont in the 1930s. It was built as part of a program to improve border security developed to respond to increased use of the automobile, increased illegal border crossing, and smuggling related to Prohibition. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the border was secured and a new station directly on the border was built.

Edgar-Wolfe-Moore House // 1864

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At the head of Touro Park, this large home has stood since it was built in 1864 for Daniel Edgar of New York, who made it his summer home for eight seasons. It was designed by noted local architect, George Champlin Mason in the Italianate style and included a broad veranda, brackets, and other intricate details. In 1872, Edgar sold the property to Catherine Lorillard Wolfe, who occupied the house until 1883 when her property “Vinland” was completed on Ochre Point Avenue. In 1948, the house was purchased by Cornelius C. Moore, who remodeled the exterior in 1949-1950, removing its Italianate trim and replacing it with Neo-Federal detail we see today. The house was most-recently in use as the Touro Park Inn, but was recently purchased and is a single-family home.

Johnston-Sullivan House // c.1894

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One of the more exuberant and ornate homes in Roxbury’s Washington Park neighborhood is this charmer on Howland Street. The eclectic house was built in around 1894 for Ellen S. Johnston from plans by local architect Timothy Edward Sheehan and stands out for its preserved exterior in a neighborhood where many homes are covered in later siding, obscuring the ornate details underneath. Details include: swag and garland applied ornament, two bays at the facade (one polygonal and one rounded), a Colonial Revival style porch, and central rounded dormer. Wow!

Pinderhughes House // c.1916

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As much of the streets north of Franklin Park were developed in the early 20th century, a mix of middle-class apartment buildings and stately single-family homes began to sprout up. Boston contractor Hugh Nawn hired architect Julius Adolphe Schweinfurth to design this house, seemingly on spec, as an income-producing venture. Schweinfurth was employed by the architectural firm of Peabody and Stearns and worked as chief designer there until 1895, when he opened his own practice. His design for Mr. Nawn was this stately Colonial Revival style mansion, similar to Nawn’s own home just across the street, which overlooked Franklin Park. After WWII, Roxbury’s population saw an increase in Black residents, who began to be pushed out of the South End due to increased cost of living. This home was purchased by Dr. Charles A. Pinderhughes (1919-1998), Chief of Psychiatry at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Roxbury who also taught at Boston University, Tufts, and Harvard. He was engaged in the local chapter of the NAACP and advocated for African American residents when Urban Renewal began to destroy much of the surrounding neighborhood by the Mayor and Boston Redevelopment Authority. The Pinderhughes House is a well-preserved architectural landmark that also has ties to a more recent and overlooked history of the neighborhood. I hope this house stays like this forever!

Jesse Lee Memorial Church // 1965

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Believe it or not, this church in Ridgefield Center was built in 1965! To know its full history, we have to go back to 1787, when the Methodist Episcopal Church had its beginnings in Ridgefield, the third in New England. Its first meeting was held – just 21 years after Methodism had been introduced into the U.S. from England. In 1789 Jesse Lee, a native of Virginia, was sent north as a circuit rider. His third sermon in Connecticut was preached at the Independent Schoolhouse on Main Street in Ridgefield. In the 1840s, a second meetinghouse in town was built, and the congregation grew. A third church and rectory were built on Main Street in 1884. When a large Main Street estate was available for a new, stately building, the congregation jumped at the opportunity, and hired ecclesiastical architect Harold Wagoner to design a refined, Colonial Revival style church, which was built in 1965. Executed in brick, the church has great verticality, created by the colossal columns supporting its pedimented portico and the spire that rises over an open belfry to a height of 149 feet. Set back from the street, the church still has a commanding presence.

Ridgefield Town Hall // 1896

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Ridgefield, Connecticut was settled in 1708 when 24 families from Long Island purchased land from Chief Catoonah of the Ramapo tribe. The Fundamental Orders adopted by Connecticut in 1639 directed would-be settlers, able to support a minister, to establish a settlement, build a Congregational church and farm the land. This is exactly what was done in Ridgefield, beginning in 1708. The original 24 proprietors received 7½-acre home lots drawn by lottery, with a 25th reserved for the minister. The lots were located up and down Main Street from a Common where a Meeting House was built. The town grew and for much of its three centuries, was primarily comprised of old farms. By the late 19th century, spurred by the connection of the railroad, Ridgefield was “discovered” by wealthy New York residents, who assembled large estates in town, a trend that has only picked up in the 21st century! Population growth and a large fire on the town’s Main Street in 1895 necessitated a new Town Hall building. The present Town Hall building was constructed in 1896 from plans by architect Philip Sunderland. Colonial Revival and Romanesque in style, the two-story brick building features a pedimented central bay also containing the entrance with fan light transom, round arched windows, brownstone trim, and narrow pilasters of brick. The building houses town offices today.

Dr. F. W. Jackson House // 1903

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One of the largest Colonial Revival style homes I have ever seen is located in the unassuming small town of Jefferson, Maine. Built in 1903 on the northern shore of Damariscotta Lake, the house stands three-and-a-half stories tall with a broad gambrel roof and clapboard walls. The house was built for Dr. Fred W. Jackson in the Colonial Revival style by relatively unknown Waltham, Massachusetts-based architect Samuel Patch. Dr. Jackson studied medicine and for several years practiced his profession in Providence, Rhode Island. There, he built up a large medical practice and accumulated property, later marrying into a wealthy family. This house in Jefferson was the family summer estate, and Frederick was said to have owned 1,000 acres and laid out bridle paths, gardens, and landscapes in the vast estate. Across the street, a massive gambrel-roof barn was built to house his livestock as part of his gentleman’s farm.