Vernacular/No Style

Athenian Hall – Old Stone House // 1836

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Across from the Alexander Twilight House (last post) in Brownington, Vermont this massive stone structure which is possibly the first granite public building constructed in the state. Alexander Twilight (1795-1857) is reputed to be the first African American in the United States to graduate from college, where he was likely inspired by the large granite dormitories there (a private institution). Twilight served as headmaster of the Orleans County Grammar School, which due to its rural location, required many students to travel long distances for their education. As a result, they boarded with families in town, including with Twilight. Athenian Hall was built to accommodate the larger number of students attending the Grammar School. The building closed in 1859, two years after the death of Alexander. The building sat vacant for much of the late 19th and early 20th centuries until 1918, when the Stone House was put up for auction. A representative of the railroad in the state of Vermont bid on the structure with the hopes of using the granite stones for bridge abutments. Luckily for us, The Orleans County Historical Society outbid the railroad and won the auction. The building was opened as a museum in 1925 and is today part of the Old Stone House Museum and Historic Village.

Branchville Railroad Tenement // c.1853

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Branchville Railroad Tenement in Ridgefield, Connecticut was built in three phases between around 1853 and 1905 and is one of the towns significant vernacular landmarks. Its earliest incarnation was as a storage facility for the railroad station, to which two stories of residences were added to houses workers on the railroad. Following completion of the railroad, the building was converted into a hotel in 1880, at which time the two-story porch was built and the interior was redecorated. This was apparently an unsuccessful venture, and in 1905 it was converted to a saloon and multifamily residence. Today, the old railroad tenement is home to a small business with housing above.

Weir Farm Barn // c.1820

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Weir Farm, later an artists retreat and studios, was once a fully operating farm, with horses, cows, oxen, chickens, vegetables, and numerous gardens. To artist Julian Alden Weir, farming was more of a hobby than an economic necessity, undertaken for aesthetic reasons. Weir’s romantic vision of the landscape extended to his use of oxen, carts, and hand tools instead of modern machinery available at the time. Over its long history the barn complex has housed a milking room, a carriage house/wagon shed, a garage, a tack room, an equipment and tool room, hay lofts, a corn crib, and stalls for donkeys, ponies and horses. The rustic barn is a typical “English-barn” built between 1815 and 1835 by The Beers’ family, who owned the property until 1880. Weir used the barn as a prominent feature in many of his paintings like “New England Barnyard” and “After the Ride.” It remains an important piece of agricultural and artistic significance to the now nationally recognized Historic Site.

Old Head Tide Store // c.1890

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Every village needs a general store, and the store in the Head Tide village of Alna was this vernacular building constructed around 1886. The store was operated for years by John Allen Jewett, who’s ancestors settled in Alna generations before. Jewett sold grain from the building to local farmers and residents and lived across the street in the family home. Vernacular “mom and pop” stores like this are becoming more rare, but they are among the most charming in New England. Be sure to shop local and support small businesses when you can!

Whitefield Union Hall // 1900

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Finding a Grange Hall in Maine are almost as common as finding an old church, they are everywhere! Located the next town over from Jefferson, Maine’s Willow Grange Hall, the town of Whitefield has an equally charming example. The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry was established in 1867 to advance methods of agriculture, as well as to promote the social and economic needs of farmers in the United States. Communities all over built grange halls where farmers and residents could meet and discuss prices, trade, and share tips for larger crop yields. The Whitefield Union Hall was built in 1900, primarily under the auspices of the Whitefield Fish and Game Club, but with design input from the local Grange chapter, which contributed funds to its construction and was also a tenant. It was until 1919 the only public hall with a stage in southern Whitefield, playing host to dances, meetings of fraternal and social organizations, and other community events. The hall was managed by an association of the two organizations until 1947, and by the Fish and Game Club after the Grange chapter merged with another in 1969. The club closed down in 1974, and the hall is now managed by a union consortium of village community groups. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jefferson Willow Grange Hall // c.1901

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Grange Halls have long been vitally important buildings in agricultural towns all over New England and are becoming threatened due to shifting development patterns and dwindling membership. The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry was established in 1867 to advance methods of agriculture, as well as to promote the social and economic needs of farmers in the United States. Communities all over built grange halls where farmers and residents could meet and discuss prices, trade, and share tips for larger crop yields. The Willow Grange Hall in Jefferson, Maine was built in 1901 and is a vernacular building which remains a community meeting hall to this day.

Jefferson Town House and Hearse House // 1869

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Following the conclusion of the French and Indian War in 1763, much of the un-colonized land in central Maine began to see development. The Ballstown Plantation was settled in the 1760s and today includes two separate townships created from it, Jefferson and Whitefield, Maine. Jefferson was initially settled by emigrants from the coastal towns of Boothbay and Woolwich in the years just prior to the Revolution and incorporated in 1807, named after Thomas Jefferson, then President of the United States. A Town House was built in 1828 and was eventually outgrown and a new structure was funded in 1869. This is the second Jefferson Town House and like in many rural towns, it served many purposes. The building was used for town meetings, a high school, and was sometimes rented to fraternal organizations (talk about Mixed Use)! The outdated building was no longer needed by the town in the 1970s and a new building was erected closer to the center of town. This building was subsequently rented to the Jefferson Historical Society, who have restored the building, and the historic hearse house next door. The vernacular civic building will hopefully be preserved for another 150 years!

Cyrus Hazen House // c.1850

Buildings of New England2 Comments

The backroads of New England always lead you to great discoveries! This time, driving around Weare, New Hampshire, I stumbled upon this large farmhouse on the side of the road. The home was owned by Cyrus Hazen by 1858 and due to its style, I would date it to be built in the 1850s. Cyrus Hazen married Louisa Bartlett (as her second marriage) in 1847 and they appear to have had this home built a few years later. The Hazen’s ran a farm from this home for decades. Sometime after the Civil War, the home would have gotten the full-length verandah (front porch) and a side tower, both Victorian-era additions. The home is now attached to the historic barn by an ell.

Clinton Grove Academy // 1874

Buildings of New England3 Comments

Clinton Grove Academy of Weare, New Hampshire was the first Quaker seminary in the state when it was founded in 1834 by Moses Cartland (1805–1863). Moses Cartland was a Quaker abolitionist who served as the first Principal of the school and for fourteen years after. He later would move to Lee, NH, and aided those who escaped slavery in the south, sheltering them and assisting them on their way north to Canada. The original Academy here served as a private high school and included a classroom building, boarding house, barn and sheds. Students came from as far away as Ontario, Nova Scotia, Minnesota and Texas to study here under Mr. Cartland. In 1872, the Academy complex burned. It was quickly rebuilt as one structure here, in 1874. This building served as a district school until the 1930s. Today, it looks like the building is largely vacant, anyone know what its purpose is?

Weare Town House // 1837

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Weare, New Hampshire has a pretty cool history. Located at the northern edge of Hillsborough County, the land presently known as Weare was granted to veterans of the Canadian wars in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher, who named it “Beverly-Canada” after many of the veteran’s hometown, Beverly, Massachusetts. After various disputes over the settlement and naming of the town, it became known as “Weare’s Town” before being incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1764 as Weare, after Meshech Weare, who served as the town’s first clerk and later went on to become New Hampshire’s first Governor. The town grew slowly during the 18th and 19th centuries around five major villages, with farmland and forests connecting them. Near the geographic center of town, this Town House was built in 1837 to be a government and religious center of the town. Originally, town meetings were held on the first floor and the Universalist Church met on the second floor and the local high school was installed on the second floor in 1919. The building remains the town offices with event space for rent inside today. The building is a great example of a vernacular Greek/Gothic Revival town house of the period with a two-stage tower with pinnacles at the corners of each stage and a louvered belfry at the bell.