Architecture Blog

Edward Waldo House // c.1715

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The Edward Waldo House in Scotland, Connecticut, is a vernacular Georgian house with saltbox roof and wings which from its erection about 1715 until 1971 was owned by members of the Waldo family. Edward Waldo (1684-1767) purchased land here along the Shetucket River in 1702 and by 1715, erected this house. The saltbox house which Edward Waldo built was one of the first houses in the town of Scotland and would remain in successive generations of the family for centuries. The house was the birthplace of Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), a portraitist who was a founder of the National Academy of Design as well as Daniel Waldo, chaplain of Congress, 1856-1858, and was one of seven Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution. The last Waldo owner, Miss Ruth Waldo died in1975. She insured the preservation of her family homestead by bequeathing the house, its contents, and about 15 acres of land to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society of Connecticut Inc. and the surrounding acreage to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, creating an enduring legacy for centuries to come. The house, set amongst a quiet country road, is evocative of early days in Scotland, Connecticut, and is one of the finest-preserved Colonial homes in this part of the state. 

Gallup Farm Carriage House // 1906

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This handsome Shingle style building was constructed in 1906 as a carriage house of a larger farm property in Scotland, Connecticut. The barn is said to have been built for Archie Gallup, who purchased the old Manning farm just west of the town green in Scotland. The 1 1/2-story carriage-house with a gambrel-roof stands out for its principal entry of paneled wooden doors and above, a large, flared hood featuring two pedimented gable-dormers. The entire building is clad with varied shingles to add complexity to the design, catching the attention of all who drive by.

Scotland Congregational Church // 1842

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The main visual anchor of the charming town green of Scotland, Connecticut, is this building, the Scotland Congregational Church. Built in 1842 as the congregation’s third building, this Greek Revival style edifice features stately proportions, temple-front with four large Doric columns supporting the portico, and a two-stage belfry. The chapel (some say it was converted from the original town hall) was acquired by the congregation in 1867, and has remained in its new location ever since. Later alterations include the stained glass windows and clock in the pediment, which dates to the early 20th century.

Huntington Homestead // c.1715

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The Huntington Homestead in Scotland, Connecticut, was the birthplace and boyhood home of Samuel Huntington (1731–1796), a Founding Father, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a distinguished statesman during the Revolutionary War and early Republic. The remarkably well-preserved site includes an eighteenth century house on its original foundation surrounded by acres of farmland and is now protected as a museum. The house was built sometime between the transfer of land in 1715 from Deacon Joseph Huntington to his son Nathaniel, and Nathaniel’s marriage in 1723 to Mehetabel Thurston. As originally constructed, the house consisted of a two-story structure with an end chimney on the west end and one large room on each floor. By the time of Nathanielís death in 1767, the house had been doubled in size with the addition of two rooms west of the chimney, giving the house its current five-bay form. The Georgian style Colonial-era home features a symmetrical facade, twelve-over-twelve windows, and a saltbox roof and is one of the finest Colonial-era homes in this part of the state.

Scotland Town Hall // 1896

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The town of Scotland, Connecticut, is a rural community centered around agriculture and is the smallest municipality in Windham County’s ‘Quiet Corner‘. European settlement began in earnest following the purchase of 1,950 acres of land from then Windham, by Isaac Magoon, a Scotsman, who named the new village after his ancestral home. The present-day town hall and offices of Scotland, was originally built in the 1840s as a one-room schoolhouse. In 1894, the town voted to consolidate all the school districts in a single building, and to expand the one-room village school to accommodate them. The present two-story structure was completed in 1896 and was added to the front of the old building. It is unclear if anything remains of the original schoolhouse. The vernacular, Stick style building served as the town’s consolidated school until a modern school building was constructed in the 1960s. This building became the town hall/offices and remains a significant visual anchor to the town’s common.

Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill //1864

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Despite its name, this handsome mill structure, known as the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill, is actually located in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The building, located on Roosevelt Avenue on the banks of the Blackstone River, is a great example of a Civil War-era mill, built for one of the many wool and cloth companies in New England. Begun in a small factory across the street in 1856, this business became successful after the acquisition of patents for weaving haircloth (most of the raw material for which originally came from Russian horse markets) for upholstery, crinolines, and inner linings. The company is said to have once been the largest producer of haircloth in the world. The Italianate style mill stands pretty much as built, besides the tower that has lost its low pyramidal cap. The building was one of the first commissions by great Rhode Island architect, William Walker, who was just 34 at the time of designing this large, and complicated structure.

Kennedy-Stafford Mill // 1825

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One of the oldest mills in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is this four-story brick building constructed in 1825 is important as one of the earliest extant brick mills in Rhode Island, at a time when such buildings were shifting from wood construction to fire-proof brick or stone construction. Built on one of the first industrial sites in the city, along the Blackstone River, the mill was originally constructed for a John Kennedy as a cotton manufactory. The complex was purchased and expanded in the 1860s by the Stafford Manufacturing Company, who built a new dam on the river and extension to the 1825 building. The structure features a five-story square end tower with freight doors, and a monitor roof which runs the span of the original 1825 building, terminating where the Stafford Company addition begins. Originally, canals flowed directly under the building, powering the building and three mills downstream, but they were filled in by 1965. Elizabeth Webbing started in the Kennedy/Stafford mill buildings in 1933. After over 70 years of making cloth straps used for seat belts, dog collars, luggage straps and more, it ceased operations in March of 2001. The complex, which included 19 nearby mill buildings, was split up and sold off. In 2007 work began on converting the former mill to residential use with the first phase of the project opening to tenants in 2009. It’s another great example of adaptive reuse into housing, the best type of project!

George M. Thornton House // c.1870

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One of the finest homes in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is this eclectic Victorian residence on Clay Street. The home was seemingly built around 1870 and modified by the end of the 19th century by later owner, George Mumford Thornton (1850-1916). Mr. Thornton was an industrialist who was elected as one of the first aldermen when Central Falls incorporated in 1895. The well-preserved house features varied siding, a rounded corner tower with spiral-columned porch and conical roof, and original multi-light sash windows. What a spectacular home.

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.