colonial revival building

Warren Industrial Trust Company // 1906

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This monumental Georgian Revival bank building on Main Street in Warren, Rhode Island, and is one of the finest buildings of the style in the entire state. The Warren Industrial Trust in 1906 hired Edmund R. Willson of the Providence architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson to design the bank for the town after it had absorbed the town’s multiple banks, under one roof. It would be one of his final commissions before his death. On the facade, four Corinthian columns support a dentilled pediment over the entrance with the red brick walls enlivened with arched windows, oversized keystones, and pilasters with contrasting capitals and bases. The building shows that Colonial Revival architecture, while often seen as a refined, classical style, can be festive and ornate.

Hall Memorial School, South Willington // 1922

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Located in South Willington, Connecticut, this Colonial Revival style school building was built to serve the mill village pupils, many of whom were first- and second-generation Americans who immigrated to the area to work at the local mill. In his will, William Henry Hall (1867-1922), the son of industrialist Gardiner Hall Jr., who established the business under his name, donated funds to the community to erect a new, suitable school building for the village. Beyond his work at his family’s business, William H. Hall served in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1893–1897 and again in 1905, 1909, and 1911, and he was generous with his money throughout his life and in his will. For the Hall Memorial School, his heirs selected architect, Harry L. Sprague of Springfield, Massachusetts, who designed the one-story school built of brick and limestone trim and a tall, pedimented portico at the entry supported by four tuscan columns. The school has seen additions, but it retains much of its architectural integrity in the over 100 years of use as a public school.

West Hill Place // 1916

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West Hill Place is a small development in Beacon Hill that feels like it was transported to Boston from London! The group of 14 four-story brick townhouses that comprise West Hill Place were built on the site of a gas holder in 1916. The Georgian Revival style development was designed by the firm of Coolidge and Carlson, who aligned six of the townhomes to face west on the Charles River Embankment and arranged the remaining eight residences around a circular court. The development was inspired by Charles River Square, located to its south and built six years prior. The driveway extends off what is today Storrow Drive, with a second exit set within an arched passageway that connects through the Charles Street garage, which was built later. The dark brick with cast stone trim works elegantly with the curving facades facing the courtyard, many of which are adorned with arched doorways and the original iron lanterns. The development has been harmed by the creation of Storrow Drive in the 1950s, but it remains one of the most unique and picturesque enclaves in New England. 

Lancaster Town Hall // 1908

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The Town Hall of Lancaster, Massachusetts, was built in 1908 and is one of four religious and civic buildings framing the village’s bucolic town green. The Town Hall was built opposite the Charles Bulfinch-designed First Church of Lancaster and replaced an earlier town hall building that was constructed in 1848. The building was largely funded as a gift from wealthy Lancaster-native, Nathaniel Thayer’s sons, following their late-father’s death. Boston architect, Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow, the nephew of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, was hired to furnish plans for the building, which is Colonial Revival in style, a perfect compliment to the historic New England town.

Thayer Bird Museum // 1903

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John Eliot Thayer (1862–1933) was an amateur ornithologist and member of the wealthy Thayer Family in Lancaster, Massachusetts. Due to his family’s business dealings, John Thayer was able to turn his passion, studying birds, into one of the largest collections of stuffed birds, eggs and nests for professionals all over the country to study. John began collecting and housed his collections were in several wooden buildings close to his home in Lancaster, but when these became unsafe and crowded he built this beautiful brick building in 1903 in South Lancaster opening it to the public as a museum a year later. The Boston architectural firm of Winslow & Bigelow designed the Colonial Revival style building, with the Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company providing plans for interior spaces and likely engineering inside. Many of the leading ornithologists of the time visited the Thayer Museum and it was estimated that more than ten thousand visitors came to the museum in the first six years.  In 1974, the building was sold to the now defunct Atlantic Union College and reopened as the Mabel Bartlett Art Gallery. Much of the Thayer collection was donated to the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Mr. Thayer’s alma mater, Harvard University. Since the Atlantic Union College closed in 2018, this important building has been closed, hopefully to see reuse in the eventual redevelopment of the campus.

Fullerton Inn // 1921

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The Fullerton Inn, overlooking the Town Common in Chester, Vermont, is an imposing Colonial Revival style hotel that has been in operation through many iterations, and contributes to the strong commercial character of the Chester Village streetscape. The inn was first developed here following the arrival of the railroad to Chester, which brought new business and travellers to the formerly agrarian and light industrial community. The original 1862 inn building, known as the Ingraham House, was destroyed following a large fire in the village, and its replacement burned as well in January 1920. Within a year, the present building was built from the ashes in a style typical of the early 20th century, Colonial Revival. Dominated by the large slate-shingled gambrel roof and projecting front veranda, the building’s most iconic feature is said to be inside, a fireplace inside the lobby which contains 27 stone varieties from the area.

Frederic C. Adams Library // 1898

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Built in 1898 in the heart of Kingston’s village center, the Frederic C. Adams Library was designed by renowned architect Joseph Everett Chandler and is one of the finest Colonial Revival style libraries in New England. Chandler, famed for his dedication to historic forms, created a one-and-a-half-story masonry gem, complete with a gabled roof, dentilled cornice, and a grand four-column Corinthian portico at the entry. The building’s story began with a bequest from Frederic  C. Adams, a Kingston native whose $5,000 gift in 1874 helped break ground on a dedicated library. Its elegant Colonial Revival look recessed panel windows, stone keystones, and symbolic half-round arches, echoes America’s early architectural traditions with a refined late‑19th‑century flourish. The library was eventually outgrown, and relocated across the street, to a contemporary building. After an award‑winning restoration, the building reopened in 2012 as the Adams Center, now housing Kingston’s Local History Collections in a climate‑controlled room and hosting community events upstairs. The Contemporary addition, paired with the restoration work all by Spencer Preservation Group, blends old with new in a pleasing way. 

M. A. Pickett Building // 1902

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The M. A. Pickett Building on Washington Street in Marblehead is a spectacular example of a commercial building of the early 20th century designed in the Colonial Revival style. The building was designed in 1902 by the firm of Peare & Quiner, who worked mostly in the North Shore of Massachusetts and funded by members of the M.A. Pickett Association, a fraternal organization founded in the late 19th century and named after Moses A. Pickett (1780-1853), who left his entire will to: “comfort the widow and the fatherless, the aged, the sick, and the unhappy”, also donating his home to the use and funding for its preservation. In 1866, a hand-drawn fire engine named after M. A. Pickett, was used by a group of volunteer firefighters, who later would create the club named after Mr. Pickett. The building originally held a barber shop and a creamery on the ground floor with a meeting hall and billiards room above for members of the Pickett Association. Today, the building is lovingly maintained, including the three stunning Palladian windows at the third floor.

Abington Savings Bank // 1930

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Built in 1930 for the Abington Savings Bank, this handsome Colonial Revival style building is located in the center of Abington, Massachusetts and has been a bank for almost 100 years! The bank was originally incorporated in 1853 and grew as Abington and adjacent towns saw suburban growth. The corporation hired the firm of J. Williams Beal & Sons, who specialized in commercial developments, to furnish plans for the building, resulting in the present structure. The firm also designed the Abington Mutual Fire Insurance Company Building (1931) across the street and the Dyer Memorial Library (1932), the town library. The brick and limestone building has three main bays, with the center rising above with a gable, resembling as a pediment of a Roman temple. In the gable, a shield with swags is adorned with the letters “ASB” (Abington Savings Bank) with the original incorporation date of 1853. The bank merged with others and eventually became a Sovereign Bank, and later Santander Bank, which remains in the building to this day.

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!