Italianate

Riverside Hall // c.1860

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Located across the street from the Sedgwick Baptist Church at 28 High Street, this modified Greek Revival style building in Sedgwick, Maine stopped me in my tracks. Sadly, I could find little on the building besides the fact that the building is absent from an 1860 map of Hancock County, but it appears in an 1881 map listed as “Hall”. The building exhibits flush siding which is scored to resemble ashlar/stone construction, overhanging eaves with a hipped roof which was common in the Italianate style, and a full-length one-story portico supported by square posts with applied Ionic detailing. That’s something I’ve never seen before! Upon a little more digging, I found a historic image of the building titled, “Riverside Hall”. The photograph shows a Second Empire style building with a mansard roof and cupola. The unique portico is shown as well. The local library lists the Riverside Hall as a community hall where events and gatherings were held. A fire destroyed the roof and much of the interior, but it was renovated and converted into a single-family home.

Former Green Mountain Seminary // 1869

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The Green Mountain Seminary building in Waterbury Center, Vermont was built in 1869 as a co-educational Free Will Baptist school. The building is one of the largest and grand examples of Italianate architecture in this part of the state. As originally laid out, the lower two floors were used for educational purposes and included a chapel, while the third floor and attic level were used for men’s housing. Here, men would be trained to be Baptist priests. Upon opening, a catalogue expressed the building’s rural location in the town as a benefit, stating “It is removed from the bustle and distraction of large commercial villages; is free from the haunts of vice and dissipation or temptation to idleness; and is surrounded by natural scenery unsurpassed in its magnificence and grandeur.” The building went through a variety of educational and boarding uses until 1895, when it was deeded to the town for use as a public school building. The building is nearly unchanged as when it was built in 1869, besides the removal of the rooftop belvedere and walkway in the 1940s.

Waterbury Railroad Depot // 1875

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Historic train stations are among some of my favorite types of buildings as they transport you to a different time (no pun intended). The Waterbury Railroad Depot was built in 1875 by the Central Vermont Railroad, connecting Montreal, Quebec with New London, CT and to other lines to Boston and Albany on the way. Waterbury service began in 1849, but this updated station was built later as the railway prospered and expanded. The station suffered from some deferred maintenance for decades in the mid-20th century and its fate (like many such stations) was unknown. Beginning in the late 1990s into the 2000s, Revitalizing Waterbury worked with the Great American Station Foundation, the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Foundation, establishing a capital fundraising campaign meeting the goal of $1,200,000 through donations from the private sector and community members. These funds helped restore the building in phases, beginning when Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. agreed to lease the station from Revitalizing Waterbury, and created a visitor center and cafe (now Black Cap Coffee and Bakery) that has become a first-class attraction and provided an economic boost to the downtown.

Charles C. Warren House // c.1880

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Located just steps from the former State Hospital of Vermont in Waterbury, the Charles C. Warren House on Main Street stands as an important Victorian-era residence in the town. The late Italianate style residence features a detached carriage house at the rear which was later converted to a auto garage and most recently to office space. Mr. Warren was a businessman in town who owned a tannery and creamery. He built a water system in the town in 1879, making a substantial amount of money in the process. Mr. Warren was a serious auto enthusiast who in addition to purchasing the first automobile in Vermont (a 1899 Haynes Apperson), he held Vermont registrations #1 and #2. He had his carriage house converted to an auto garage equipped with a turntable that obviated forever the tedium of backing down the driveway. The building is now home to a law office.

Isaac Newton Center Homestead // c.1850

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Isaac Newton Center (1811-1889) was born in Windham, NH and arrived to the rural town of Litchfield, NH in its early days. Upon arrival, he appears to have built this homestead sometime in the mid-19th century based on its style. Like many in town, he was a farmer and was involved with the local Presbyterian Church, which is still neighboring this old farmhouse. After his death, the old farmhouse and homestead was inherited by Isaac’s youngest son, Isaac Newton Center, Jr., who was engaged in local town affairs, serving as City Clerk, Treasurer, Forest Fire Warden, and Library Trustee. The house appears as a melding of late Greek Revival and Italianate, possibly from the 1850s or 1860s.

Dike-Harkness House // 1854

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One of the most stunning Italianate style homes in Providence is this stately beauty which is located on Prospect Street. The house was built in 1854 on land sold from Oscar to Henry A. Dike (Dyke), a shoe manufacturer, who erected this stately residence for his family, who only remained there until the early 1860s when it was sold. The home was built on one lot, facing a second house lot, and not the street like many other residences. The property changed hands many times during and soon after the American Civil War, until 1870, when it was purchased by Albert Harkness (1822-1907), a Brown University Classics professor. It was in Professor Harkness’ ownership that the southern house lot was landscaped from plans by Frederick Law Olmsted‘s firm in 1887. The house, which recently sold in 2022, is well-preserved from its massive brackets to the oversized belvedere at the roof!

Oliver Walker House // c.1809

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The Oliver Walker House in Kennebunkport Village is one of the better examples that shows how overlapping architectural styles can work really well on an old house (when done right)! The original house was constructed around 1809 for Oliver Walker (1788-1851), a sea captain who later accepted the call and became a deacon for the South Congregational Church in Kennebunkport. Walker died in 1851 and the Federal style property was inherited by his only surviving child, daughter Susan, who had married Portland native, Captain John Lowell Little. Under their ownership, the traditionally designed Federal house was modernized with fashionable Italianate style modifications of the decorative brackets and an enclosed round arched window in the side gable. A later Colonial Revival projecting vestibule adds to the complex, yet pleasing design. I have a feeling the interiors of this house are just as spectacular as the exterior.

Benjamin Mason Store // c.1815

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Across from the Luques Store in Dock Square in Kennebunkport, another 19th century commercial building serves as a visual anchor to the vibrant village, this is the Benjamin Mason Store. Built in the 1810s, the Federal style commercial block was originally owned by businessman Benjamin Mason (1777-1855) who built a house in 1812 just nextdoor (which has since been converted to commercial use). The store is three-stories with a cupola at the roof. Later porches were added as the village prospered.

Roswell B. Fitch Store // 1851

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Roswell Burrows Fitch (1833-1908) was born in the seaside village of Noank to parents Elisha and Mary P. Fitch. At twelve years of age he commenced to be self-supporting, and from then until he was fourteen, occupied a clerkship in a general store in town. In his teens, summers were spent aboard ships fishing for a livelihood, and his winters attending school. Upon completing his education, he became clerk in a store, and was afterwards engaged to assume the management of a union store which was erected for the special purpose of being placed under his charge. This building was constructed as the union store in 1851 with eighteen-year-old Roswell becoming an active partner in the business. In his twenties, he slowly bought out, one-by-one, the twelve other owners, until he possessed absolute control. The eclectic Greek Revival and Italianate style building features classical detailing, but with a bracketed cornice and gambrel roof which is capped by a parapet. Mr. Fitch retired from business in 1890 and got to work “Victorianizing” his nearby home. Stay tuned for the next post which features his home in Noank.

Woods-Gerry House // 1860

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There are always those houses that just stop you in your tracks… For my last post (for the time being) on Providence, I wanted to share this significant property, known as the Woods-Gerry House, perched atop College Hill. Owner Marshall Woods, who married into the Brown family and was active in the affairs of Brown University. Locally he was also involved on the building committee for St. Stephen’s Church where he was a factor in selecting renowned architect Richard Upjohn to design the church. He must have liked Upjohn so much (or got a good deal) that he hired Richard Upjohn to design his new home on Prospect Street. The exterior of the three-story brick building stands out amongst the other Italianate mansions built in the same decade nearby, but is elevated design-wise with a bowed centerpiece on its east elevation with the handsome new front entrance renovated in 1931 by then-owner, Senator Peter Gerry, who was a great-grandson of Elbridge Gerry, the fifth Vice President of the United States (who had given his name to the term gerrymandering). Today, this significant building is owned by the Rhode Island School of Design and houses the Woods Gerry Gallery. The grounds are also very well designed.