federal house

Cornè House // 1822

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What does this house and the tomato have in common? Keep reading to find out!

Michele Felice Cornè (1752-1845) grew up in Naples Italy and became disillusioned with the Napoleonic Wars. After the French occupation of Naples in 1799, he fled and was brought to the United States on the ship Mount Vernon, commanded by Elias Hasket Derby Jr., and settled in Salem, Massachusetts. Cornè moved to Boston in 1807 and lived and worked there until 1822 when he moved to Newport, Rhode Island, purchasing a property containing a barn. Cornè either had the barn renovated into this 1822 house or built the Federal period house from its timbers. Here, Cornè would paint many maritime scenes as murals in homes and businesses. However, his true contribution to his adopted country was convincing his neighbors to eat the tomato. While in Newport, it is reputed that Cornè introduced the tomato into the American diet. In early 19th century New England tomatoes were thought to be deadly poison. Cornè was accustomed to eating tomatoes in his native land and would regularly eat them without ill effect and, thus, allayed the fears of the residents of his adopted country. Today, the popularity of the tomato in American cuisine can be credited (in part) to Cornè and his love for the tomato.

Folger House // 1831

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Located in the middle of the commercial Main Street on Nantucket, the 1831 Folger House stands as a fully developed example of the Federal style in masonry construction. The house’s double bow front, brownstone lintels and Ionic portico, guilloche frieze, and cast-iron railings are the finest of their type in the community. Although the house was turned into commercial use in the mid-19th century with the addition of storefronts and the removal of its original hip roof, it retains substantial architectural elements of a more decorated design than was customary even among Nantucket’s wealthiest merchants in this period. The house was built for Philip H. Folger, a merchant and it was inherited by his son upon Philip’s death in 1865.

West-Hathaway House // c.1800

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Located on Mill Street, overlooking Queen Anne Square, the West-Hathaway House is one of the most charming Federal period houses in Newport, but it didn’t always call this city “home”! Believe it or not, this five-bay Federal style house was originally built in Tiverton, Rhode Island around 1800 and relocated to Newport about fifty years ago. The house was built by Samuel West (1774-1838), of a line of physicians, and later sold to Samuel Hathaway. The house was located on large farmland presently occupied by the Pardon Gray Preserve in Tiverton but was later donated to the Newport Preservation Foundation in 1977 by the owners who likely hoped to redevelop the area where this house sat. The West-Hathaway House was dismantled, moved, and reassembled on this site that same year!

Billings Coggeshall Double House // c.1784

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This unique double-house on Mill Street is stopped me in my tracks when strolling around Newport. The two-family house was built around 1784 by Billings Coggeshall (1733-1810) and is unique architecturally as it is comprised of two houses, each with its own separate pedimented entry, into a single lengthy block. Both houses have interior chimneys and are just one-room deep! When urban renewal hit Newport in the second half of the 20th century, traffic patterns and revitalization of the waterfront were top of mind (not necessarily slum clearance and wholesale redevelopment of neighborhoods like in Boston). To bring traffic into the downtown shopping area, Memorial Boulevard was laid out by 1969, and the Newport Restoration Foundation was integral to saving this building from the wrecking ball, as it was in the path of the new road. As luck would have it, an area around Trinity Church was cleared to establish Queen Anne Square, a town common-like park in the center of town. To provide the quintessential “New England charm”, many historic buildings were relocated to line the square, including this house. When the Billings Coggeshall House was moved here, it replaced a gas station, and it was given an even longer side addition with breezeway, providing screened parking and a rear addition for offices. Here’s to preservation!

Hadley Homestead // c.1776

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George Hadley (1740-1823) moved to Weare, NH in 1775, buying lot sixty-one in town from the proprietors. Captain Hadley served in the French and Indian War and later in the Revolutionary War, though he was not so eager to serve again. He built his home soon after, living here with his family. The original Hadley Homestead would have been a more traditional Georgian farmhouse with large central chimney and minimal glass/windows. Sometime in the early 19th century – after his wife’s death in 1806 or after his own death in 1823 – the house was modernized in the Federal style. The stunning home has a fan light transom over the door, narrow corner pilasters and twin chimneys projecting through the roof. It sits next door to the South Weare Union Church.

Lemuel Bartlett House // c.1813

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When originally settled by Quakers, the town of Unity, Maine, was known as “Twenty-Five Mile Pond Plantation”. The name came from its being located on a pond, twenty-five miles from Fort Halifax in Winslow (creative, right?) The name was changed to Unity upon incorporation as a town in 1804. The town grew steadily through the first few decades of the 19th century and some wealthier residents began building homes. Lemuel Bartlett (1762-1834) built this house around 1813, which is a great, vernacular example of a Federal style residence in rural, central Maine. Lemuel was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts and fought against the British during the Revolution. After the war, he settled in present-day Unity around 1780 and became one of the original proprietors and land-owners here. He worked as a mason and farmer, and likely built this house himself. The property is now occupied by the Unity Historical Society.

Oldfield – John Moseley House // 1818

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Federal style houses are among my favorite styles! From the classical design details to the symmetrical facades, there are so many great examples of Federal style houses in New England. This house in Southbury, Connecticut dates to 1818 and was built by John Moseley (1775-1876), who lived to be 100 years old, and married twice, outliving both of his wives. According to a family history, Moseley personally went to Maine to pick out the wood used to build his house as there were no large trees left in the area when house construction began in 1818. In the early 1900s, the house was updated with a rear addition, built from a structure moved from across the street and attached to Oldfield, and with the addition of the large Colonial Revival style portico at the front entry. The house has been a bed & breakfast since the 1990s, originally called Cornucopia at Oldfield, it is now known as the Evergreen Inn.

Reverend Richard and Lavinia Dey House // 1823

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Richard Varick Dey (1801-1837) was a young divinity student from New York City, attending the Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, when he met Lavinia Agnes Scott (1805-1886). Dey was the son of prominent New York attorney Anthony Dey and Catharine Laidlie; Catherine’s father, the Rev. Archibald Laidlie, was the first minister called to preach in English in the Dutch Church in New York City. Richard and Lavinia fell in love and became engaged on December 27, 1820. However, Lavinia’s parents were opposed to Richard, and her father even asked Richard’s theology professors at Rutgers to try to discourage his pursuit of Lavinia. It did not work and they married in September 1822. After graduating from the Seminary in 1822, Richard was licensed by the Congregationalists and the young couple moved to Greenfield Hill, in Fairfield, Connecticut, where he preached from 1822-1829. Local history states that it was actually Lavinia who designed this house in 1823 for their family and oversaw the builders during its construction. The Federal style house stands out for its clear Dutch form with its roof projecting to create a recessed verandah, likely influenced by the couple’s New York/New Jersey upbringing.

Reverend Dey, Lavinia, and their children relocated to New York City, and Richard preached at a number of churches the before he died unexpectedly in 1837, leaving his 32-year-old widow with four young children. Lavinia remained in New York, where she served as the manager of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children for over 25 years. She never would remarry and died in 1886.

Samuel Jones House // 1806

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This home in Acton Center was built in 1806 by Samuel Jones, shortly after he and other esteemed residents laid out house lots just south of the Town Green. Samuel Jones worked as an attorney and he lived here with his family and widowed mother, who operated a dame school, where she taught local children out of the house. The Federal style farmhouse sits upon a brick and stone foundation and is five-bays at the facade. The entry features a panel front door with sidelights flanking it. The entry is surrounded by a traditional Federal style frame with pilasters and entablature. There is something so beautiful about the simplicity and proportions of old Federal style houses.

Amos Brown House // 1802

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Tucked away on a dirt road in rural Whitingham, Vermont, the Amos Brown House sits among fields of tall grass, bounded by historic stone walls and rows of apple trees planted centuries ago. I was lucky enough to be able to stay at the Amos Brown House this past weekend and it was everything I could have imagined…and more! The property is owned and managed by the Landmark Trust USA, a nonprofit organization based in southern Vermont that preserves and restores historic properties through creative and sustainable uses for public enjoyment, education and inspiration. In the past, I stayed at the Kipling Carriage House, another charming property. The Amos Brown House is thought to be the oldest house in Whitingham, Vermont, and is a well-preserved example of a Federal style brick farmhouse in this part of the state. The telescoping ells of a summer kitchen, barn, chicken house, and shed showcase how farms would grow over time to serve the needs of these families in the undeveloped wilderness of New England. By the time of The Landmark Trust USA’s acquisition of this property in 2000, the house had seriously deteriorated. Inappropriate repairs and alterations in the 1960s and 1970s had weakened the brick walls, leading to severe cracking and small areas of collapse. They underwent a massive restoration of the property inside and out, and it remains an absolute treasure in the state to this day.