Colonial Revival

Pawtucket-Central Falls Station // 1916

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The Pawtucket-Central Falls Railroad Station is a crumbling relic of a time once dominated by rail travel. This architectural landmark spans the border of the cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls, along with the tracks of the former New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad and is one of the more unique buildings in Rhode Island. The station opened in 1916 to replace separate stations in the two cities from plans by F.W. Mellor, architect for the New Haven Railroad with Norcross Brothers of Worcester facilitating the construction over a structural steel base spanning the tracks. As many as 140 trains per day once passed under this station, but in 1959, it closed. The building was purchased by a private owner and plans failed to materialize for decades, leaving us with a crumbling masterpiece in architecture and engineering. In 2007, the lot was partially developed with the addition of a suburban, soulless CVS store and parking lot, which today, directly abuts the station. In 2023, a new Pawtucket/Central Falls station opened nearby, which has brought new calls to demolish this building, with people actively seeking grants to fund the estimated $10 Million dollar demolition.

Samuel B. Conant House // 1895

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Built in 1895 for Samuel Conant, president of a Pawtucket printing firm, this stately residence is one of the finest Colonial Revival houses in Central Falls, Rhode Island. Designed by the Providence architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, the house is brick on the first floor with clapboard siding above. The Contant house has a gambrel roof punctuated by several gable dormers. The main facade has two symmetrical round bays, which rise to the roof and are topped by low balustrades. A single-story porch extends between the center points of these bays, and is also topped by a low balustrade. Recognized for its architectural grandeur (inside and out), the house was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Conant House is now used as a nursing home and while the transition to this new use has required a number of interior alterations, these changes have been made with sympathy for the character of the house and many of them are reversible.

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. Donahue, 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.