Colonial Revival

Newport Telephone Building // c.1897

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Before the days of virtual meetings, texting, and calls by cellphone, residents of towns and cities all over New England needed central telephone exchanges to connect them to those who they were trying to reach. Telephone exchange buildings were typically located in downtown areas and were often architectural statement-pieces by telephone companies. This example in Newport, Rhode Island, is located just behind Trinity Church and was designed around 1897 by the firm of Perkins & Betton of Boston. The building is constructed of brick (now painted) with terracotta trim details, which really pop. The oversized Palladian window with arch, pilasters, and cornice are all terracotta installed by the Waldo Brothers, contractors. The building was converted to residential use and was sold for $2.5 Million in 2020.

The Colony // 1898-1969

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In 1898, before the Berzelius Society at Yale built their present “tomb” in New Haven, the organization funded one of the finest residence halls in town at the time. The building was known as “The Colony” and would house Seniors who were members of the secret society. Located on Hillhouse Avenue, the stately Colonial Revival/Neoclassical building was designed by architects Henry Bacon and James Brite. Bacon is best known for having designed the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall. Yale purchased the Colony dormitory in 1933 for student housing, later using it for faculty offices before demolishing it in 1969 to facilitate construction of the Yale Health Services Center, one of the least inspiring buildings on the campus.

New Haven Museum // 1929

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New Haven, Connecticut is known for its Gothic and Modernist architecture, but as it is located in New England, some good Colonial Revival architecture is not hard to find! The New Haven Museum building on Whitney Avenue was built for the New Haven Colony Historical Society, which was established in 1862 to collect, preserve, and publish historical matter related to the history of the greater New Haven community. The Society was housed in various locations around the city throughout the 19th century until 1929 when it relocated to its present building designed by J. Frederick Kelly, a noted colonial revival architect. The symmetrical building with its eleven-bay facade is notable for its arched recessed portico and rooftop cupola. The building remains occupied by the New Haven Museum to this day.

Weare Public Library // 1926

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The Colonial Revival style Weare Public Library was built in 1926, being the second purpose-built library building for the town of Weare, New Hampshire. After the Neo-Classical style Stone Memorial Building was taken over as town offices following a fire of the old town hall, local resident Eben Paige saw the need for a new designated library building. Upon his death in 1923, he left his entire estate, over $30,000, to the town to build a new free library. The Boston architectural firm of Kreider and Peterson were selected to design the building, which is still in use today.

Yale University – McClellan Hall // 1924

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Located in the Old Campus Courtyard of Yale University, McClellan Hall stands as an early example of Colonial Revival on the college’s campus. Built in 1924 across from and as a conscious reproduction of the 1752 Connecticut Hall, McClellan Hall adds to the architectural diversity of the Yard, providing some warm red brick to the mix. The building was constructed thanks to a financial gift to Yale by Helen Mynderse McClellan in memory of her late husband Edwin McClellan (1861-1924), Yale ’84. The college hired architect Walter B. Chambers, who would design the building to provide symmetry in the yard against the one Georgian building there, Connecticut Hall. This was following a recommendation by campus architect James Gamble Rogers who advocated for this, stating that the Colonial style was enhanced by symmetrical groupings. The dormitory, which became known as “Hush Hall”, was a secret until workers began digging in the Yard. The decidedly Gothic style campus was disrupted by the Colonial building, which was more Harvard than Yale, and protest began by some students and faculty. President Angell would have to suspend construction for two months to allow the furor to die-down. Today, McClellan Hall is an important visual aspect of the yard, providing a beautiful tapestry of styles within the enclosed space.

Cushing-Gay Townhouse // 1862

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The Cushing-Gay Townhouse at 170 Beacon Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston stands out as one of the most unique and pleasing early remodeled homes to look at. 170 Beacon was built by 1862 as one of two contiguous houses (168-170 Beacon) built for John Gardiner Cushing and his younger brother, Robert Maynard Cushing. John Gardiner Cushing built this house, which was originally a Second Empire style home similar to the dark gray residence nextdoor. The Cushing Family owned the property until 1894 and the property was sold to Helen (Ellis) Brooke, the the wife of Rev. Stopford Wentworth Brooke a British politician and later a minister of the First Church (Unitarian) of Boston. The Brooke’s moved back to England in 1900 and this home was sold to Eben Howard Gay, a banker and note broker. Eben’s wife of less than two years died just before he purchased this house on Beacon Street, she was just 26 years old. As a bachelor, Eben Gay hired architect and interior designer Ogden Codman, Jr., to remodel the 1860s house, giving it the present Adamesque front façade and new interiors to provide a setting for his collection of Chippendale furniture. The after being bought and sold numerous times following Gay’s financial struggles and selling of his prized home, the Cushing-Gay Townhome was purchased by the German Government in 1966 and is today the Goethe Institute, Boston, a cultural center and language school for the German language.

Derby Townhouse // 1886

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Hasket Derby (1835-1914), was the grandson of Elias Hasket Derby, a prominent trader in Salem, MA., who was thought at one time to be the richest man in the United States. Hasket married Sarah Mason and the family lived in Boston. Dr. Hasket Derby was a renowned opthamologist and had this townhouse built in the Back Bay of Boston in 1886. He hired architect William Ralph Emerson, who ditched his prototypical Shingle style for the urban townhouse in the Colonial Revival style. The townhouse exhibits a brownstone swans neck pediment at the entry, three-story rounded bow, dentilled cornice and brick pilasters framing the bays. Its an often overlooked house in Back Bay, but so very special.

Unity Village School // 1898

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The town of Unity, Maine, was incorporated in 1804, and for most of the 19th century had small district schools for the education of its children. In 1894, the state enacted legislation that encouraged the consolidation of school districts in order to improve quality and building standards. The town, whose population and student enrollment had been declining, voted in 1898 to build this school, which effectively replaced four of its eight district schools. The Colonial Revival style schoolhouse was built by Joseph Sawyer of Fairfield, Maine. The Village School remained the town’s largest primary school until 1953, when increasing enrollment and school overcrowding prompted the decision to build a new elementary school.

Thompson Cottage // c.1892

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Who doesn’t love a good porte-cochere? In case you don’t know what they are, a porte-cochere is a covered porch-like structure at an entrance to a building where either a horse and carriage (historically) or car (today) can pass under to provide arriving and departing occupants protection from the elements. They are normally found on larger residences and institutional building where the wealthy frequent. The Thompson Cottage on Grindstone Neck in Winter Harbor was built around 1892 for James B. Thompson from Philadelphia. The original cottage was largely updated after Thompson’s death in 1915, the property was owned by Annie Cannell Trotter, who summered at another house in the colony with her husband Nathan Trotter, until his death.

William R. White Cottage // c.1892

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Another of the fantastic Summer cottages on Grindstone Neck in Winter Harbor, Maine is the William R. White cottage. The house was built around 1892 for William Robert White (1846-1914) who less than a decade prior, established the Robesonia Iron Company and made a fortune from his home in Philadelphia. His family joined many other Philadelphia-natives and assisted with the establishment of the Grindstone Neck colony in Winter Harbor, where upper-class city-dwellers could escape the hustle-and-bustle of urban living and experience clean air and nature (while still being around other “equals”). The original cottage was more rustic with strong Shingle-style and Craftsman elements, and was updated and enlarged sometime in the early 20th century to its present appearance. Now more stately, the “cottage” has a large hipped roof, an arched, sheltered front porch, and more Colonial influence.