Colonial Revival

Parsons-Zielinski House // 1897

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Bounded by three streets and overlooking the town Common, this stately house in Salem, Massachusetts, showcases a blending of Queen Anne and Colonial revival styles. Built in 1897 from plans by Boston architect, Alfred Fernald, the house was constructed by and for its first owner, Joseph Parsons, a Civil War veteran and house builder. The Parsons family continued to live in the house until Joseph’s death in 1915, after which his widow, Minnie, sold the property and moved to Florida. Dr. Ignatius Zielinski purchased the property in the 1920s and divided the house into a physician’s office and several residential units. Tragically, Dr. Zielinski died while serving his country during WWII, and the family would retain the property until 1987. The house is unique for its materiality with the first floor consisting of ashlar, rough-faced stonework with a wood-shingled second story, stained glass windows and a wrap-around porch.

Kenneally House // 1913

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While Salem, Massachusetts, is best-known for its Colonial and 19th century architecture, there are some great 20th century buildings that deserve attention. This is the Kenneally House at 3 Williams Street, just north of the Salem Common, a c.1913 Colonial Revival home with great curb appeal. The house was built for Maurice D. Kenneally, a teamster, who lived here with his wife, Mary, and son, Patrick. Symmetrically arranged, the house has a center entry , with sidelights and an elliptical fanlight. The front facade is dominated by a full-width first story porch on paired Doric columns and a gable roof with Palladian window.

Tabernacle Congregational Church of Salem // 1923

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The Tabernacle Congregational Church at Washington and Federal streets in Salem, Massachusetts, was built in 1923 for one of the oldest congregations in the Commonwealth. The Tabernacle Church’s congregation traces its origins to the founding of the First Church of Salem in 1629. The church was originally located a few blocks away until a fire destroyed the wooden building in 1774. The congregation built a new wooden church on this site by 1777, and have remained on the site ever since the United States was established. The present, stone church building, was constructed from designs by the Boston firm of Philip Horton Smith and Edgar Walker in 1922. This dignified and graceful Colonial Revival church building (with attached parish house) is the third ecclesiastical structure to stand on this site. It replaced a large wooden Italianate church which the parish occupied from 1854 until it was torn down in 1922. Its predecessor, which stood from 1776 to 1854, possessed an elegant three-stage tower which Samuel McIntire added in 1805. The Tabernacle Church is a stone-veneered masonry building with a prominent engaged tower which contains a large arched entry, and a giant order porch consisting of four Tuscan columns and associated pilasters of the same type, which supports a pedimented roof that shelters the entrance. The tower is surmounted by a square, wood-frame belltower with pilastered corners above which is an open octagonal cupola with bell-cast roof. What a great Colonial Revival style church!

Temple Court Apartments // 1912

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Constructed in 1912, Temple Court at 15 Lynde Street was erected on the site of two earlier buildings during a period of great population growth in Salem. The parcels here were acquired by Aroline C. Gove (1857-1939), a prominent local property-owner and developer between 1908 and 1911. Ms. Gove was a prominent Salem citizen and daughter of notable inventor and businesswoman Lydia Pinkham. With a business-oriented mindset like her mother, Aroline hired architect Harry Prescott Graves of Lowell to furnish plans for an apartment building on this site. Completed in 1912, the apartment building, known as Temple Court, included 36 units with two-, three-, and four-room suites with a live-in janitor. The building is unique for Salem as a courtyard style building, more common in Boston and Brookline. The building’s large mass is broken up by its setback with the U-shaped form and central landscaped courtyard, series of projecting octagonal bays, and multiple entrances. Temple Court was converted to condominiums in the 1980s.

Farnam House – Yale President’s House // 1871

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In 1871, wealthy engineer and philanthropist, Henry Farnam (1803-1883), purchased a house lot on the desirable Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven, Connecticut, where he would live out his final days in retirement. Mr. Farnam made his fortune beginning in 1839, when he was instrumental in building the railroad connecting New Haven to New York. In 1850, he moved to Illinois where he partnered with Joseph E. Sheffield to build the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, becoming that railroad’s president in 1854. In 1868, Farnam moved back to New Haven when he hired Russell Sturgis, Jr., to design and oversee construction on his home there. Henry Farnam also worked with Sturgis on Farnam Hall at Yale, where he is the benefactor and namesake of the building. Henry Farnam died in 1883, and in his will, he stipulated that he would gift his property to Yale College under the condition that his son, Henry W. Farnam, could live there until his death. Henry Walcott Farnam was an economist, and served as president of the American Economic Association. In 1933, the property ownership was officially transferred to Yale University, who in 1936, renovated the property, changing its appearance from Victorian Gothic to Colonial Revival. Architects, Richard A. Kimball and Ellery Husted furnished the designs for the stately residence. Since that time, the Farnam House has served as the residence of the Yale President.

Holy Name Science High School // 1925

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The third and final extant building on the former Church of the Holy Name of Jesus complex in Chicopee, Massachusetts, is this former school building, a stunning example of Colonial Revival architecture. Located behind the former church and rectory buildings, this three-story building was built in 1925 as a “Science” building to accompany an existing girl’s high school. Inside, the building had a “Commercial” department, where young girls could learn important skills like banking, stenography, and typing; with the second floor containing traditional science classrooms and labs along with the school library. Springfield-based architect, John W. Donohue, who specialized in ecclesiastical buildings in Western Massachusetts, designed the building in the Colonial Revival style with brick and stone construction, an elaborate entrance and Palladian window on the second floor facade. The school building closed in the late 20th century, and has seemingly sat vacant ever-since. I sincerely hope this important building could be incorporated as much-needed housing for Chicopee residents!

John E. Calhoun House // c.1912

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This site, in the heart of Cornwall village, was once occupied by an early 19th century Federal style residence, built by the wealthy Pierce family in town. The Pierces’ large home was acquired by John E. Calhoun (1859-1940), a successful New York businessman, who retreated to his father’s hometown for summers away from the city. In 1911, a fire destroyed the home, which was wood-frame construction. This event mobilized Mr. Calhoun, who was untrained but interested in architecture, to begin planning a new summer residence, but of fireproof construction. Calhoun is said to have designed (and funded) the town’s library just years before, and modeled his home in line with the Colonial-era residences in the village, just larger and of brick. From the 1950s through the 1990s, the house was occupied by the headmaster and administration of the local Marvelwood School, but was re-established as a private home, a use that remains today.

Harriet Bennett House // c.1912

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While most houses I have featured in Cornwall date to the early-mid 19th century, there are some great examples of early 20th century Colonial Revival dwellings, built at the time the town became eyed as a wealthy retreat for city-folk. This Colonial Revival residence was built for Ms. Harriet Bennett (1841-1928), an ardent suffragist and an active member of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association. Harriet was married to William C. Bennett and after his death in 1898, she devoted the rest of her life to charitable causes and giving back to others. As a widow and in her seventies, Harriet oversaw construction of this house, which was completed by 1912, in that same year, established the Cornwall Equal Suffrage League, hosting many of its events and meetings from this house. The League’s activities mirrored the efforts of suffragists throughout the nation. The house remains a well-preserved example of a house in the Colonial Revival style in town.

Louis E. Robinson House // 1892

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Built in 1892, at the height of the convergence of tastes of the Queen Anne Victorian and more traditional Colonial Revival architectural styles, the Louis E. Robinson House at 60 Stimson Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, showcases the intricacies and whimsy that can be designed when a house is a blending of styles. The residence was built for Louis Elmer Robinson (not Robertson like so many sources claim), a cotton dealer and merchant, from plans by architect Frank W. Angell of the firm, Gould & Angell of Providence. The Robinson House is a gambrel-roofed mass, set gable end to the street, leaving only the ground story and side elevations in clapboard. The polygonal half-tower attached to the side elevation and its paneled grouping of windows retains the older medieval allusion of the early Queen Anne style, but with a swans neck pediment topping the stair hall window showcased the Colonial influence. I am imagining the home with a more period-appropriate color palette, but it still shines!

Henry A. Waldron House // 1893

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The period of the late 19th through early 20th centuries provided architects the opportunity of blending the two prominent styles, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival into a single composition, and as a result, this period has provided some of the most whimsical yet stately homes in New England. This modestly sized residence sits on Stimson Avenue, one of the finest streets in Providence, and despite its unassuming size, packs an architectural punch with its materials and detailing. The Henry Waldron House was built in 1893 for Henry A. Waldron, a clerk in Providence. From deed research, it appears a member of his family, Nathan Waldron, a wealthy grocer, purchased the site in 1891 and likely funded some or all of the construction of the residence there. The architectural firm of Hoppin, Read & Hoppin is credited with the design of the residence, which employs a Colonial Revival form with the gambrel roof and Columned and ornate entrance porch with fan motif, while the use of varied siding materials and octagonal tower with pyramidal roof veers into the Queen Anne style.

Cushing Apartments // 1902

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Apartment buildings get a bad rap, largely because of the cheaply built monstrosities built after WWII through today; but apartment buildings can be dignified and fit within their surrounding context, it just takes good design. These are the Cushing Apartments at Thayer and Bowen streets in Providence’s College Hill neighborhood. The building was constructed in 1902 for owner, Stephen Cushing Harris, from plans by young architect Frederick Ellis Jackson (1879-1950), who would have been in his mid-20s when he designed it! While not an academic example of the Tudor or Colonial Revival styles, the building blends both in a unique U-shaped form. The building is supposedly wood-frame and was eventually purchased by Brown University in 1963. The college renovated the building in 2012 to serve as an upperclassman dormitory with LBB Architects and Gilbane Construction overseeing the project. The building adds a subtle density to the block without being overbearing with the courtyard design.

Francis and Sarah Cranston House // c.1895

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The Francis and Sarah Cranston House is located on Bowen Street in the College Hill section of Providence, Rhode Island. Built circa 1895 for Francis Augusta Cranston (1837-1909) and his wife, Sarah (Hill) Cranston, the house is one of the best residential examples of Colonial Revival architecture in the city. Francis was the son of Barzillai Cranston, a descendant of Gov. Samuel Cranston, who held office from 1698 to 1727, being elected to office 30 times; serving as governor longer than any other individual in the history of Rhode Island. Francis worked as cashier of the Old National Bank of Providence for over fifty years and built this residence to settle into retirement. The residence is unique for its high-sloping hipped roof with two layers of dormers, corner quoins, Palladian window, and Ionic portico. I could not locate the architect, but if anyone knows, I’d love to give them their deserved credit!

George Robert White Health Unit No. 2 // 1923

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Originally known as the George Robert White Health Unit Number 2, this Colonial Revival style building is located on North Margin Street in the North End of Boston, and is significant as an early health center providing health and education services for some of Boston’s most underserved residents. The building was constructed in 1923 as one of the neighborhood-based health centers built in Boston in the 1920s and early 1930s from funding by the George Robert White charitable trust. George Robert White (1847-1922), a longtime resident of Boston, worked in the office of the Potter Drug and Chemical Company as a boy, eventually becoming president and an owner of the corporation. He was an investor in real estate and reportedly was known for many years as the largest individual taxpayer in Boston. Upon his death, his will specified that his bequest to the city, about $5 million in 1922 (approximately $93 Million valued today), would be held in a permanent charitable fund “to be used for creating public utility and beauty and for the use and enjoyment of the inhabitants of Boston.” The North End Health Unit was the second built (the first was in the West End), and designed in the Colonial Revival style from plans by Coolidge and Shattuck, later known as Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott. Since the 1970s, the building was occupied by the Knights of Columbus, a fraternal organization, until 2020, when the building was renovated and converted into housing with 23 units for elderly residents.

Charles Berry House // 1899

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Photo courtesy of Berry Manor Inn

The Charles Berry House is located at 81 Talbot Avenue in Rockland, Maine, and it is one of the town’s finest examples of a residence built in the Colonial Revival style. The house was built for Charles Howard Berry (1849-1909), a businessman who operated a stage route, livery stables, and later entered the hotel business. He would hire Portland-based architect, Austin Pease, to furnish the plans for the house and adjacent carriage house. The residence features a symmetrical façade with front porch and porte-cochere, Palladian window over the entrance, bowed front, and ornate dormers at the roof. The entire property is lovingly maintained and preserved and is now home to the Berry Manor Inn, an up-scale bed & breakfast that maintains the old charm of Rockland, while providing high-class finishes.

Rockland Security Trust Building // 1912

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The Rockland Security Trust Building is a significant Colonial Revival style bank structure located on Main Street in Downtown Rockland, Maine. Built in 1912 from plans by Boston architect Richard Clipston Sturgis, the brick building is trimmed in marble, to provide a visual representation to the financial wealth and stability the bank could provide its clients. The bank closed and the building is presently occupied by an art gallery. Sadly, the rooftop deck railing takes away so much from the building’s presence.