This small wood-frame structure sits in the middle of Derby Line Village and is a good example of a local meeting hall embellished with Classical details. This structure was originally built as an Odd Fellows Hall in 1887, where local and regional members could hold events and meetings. In 1940 the IOOF Hall was moved back on its lot so that It had a similar set back to other buildings on the street, and it was renovated to a village hall for all residents, a use that remains to this day.
This diminutive commercial block sits on Water Street in Warren, Rhode Island while small in size, packs an architectural punch! The late-Italianate style wooden block exhibits its original wooden storefronts, second floor round arched windows with stained glass, and ornate detailing including the brackets, parapet and period-appropriate paint colors which allow those details to pop. The shop was owned in its early days by the Hall family, who sold drygoods. Later, the building was used as an antiques shop on the ground floor with a studio for author and illustrator, David Macaulay on the second floor. These types of smaller-scale commercial spaces are some last remaining (relatively) affordable spaces for small businesses to operate. So lets make sure we
Just 15 years after the Chittenden Memorial Library (last post) was constructed to provide overflow space for Yale’s Old Library, the college overseers sought to expand yet again. Linsly Hall was built in 1906 as an addition to the 1880s Richardsonian Romanesque Chittenden library building, but in the Collegiate Gothic style, which was quickly becoming a preferred architecture style for the campus. Linsly Hall was built as a connector between the two library buildings with a tunnel-like passage between the structures. This was quickly deemed inadequate for a college of this stature, and the 1930s Sterling Library was built outside of the yard decades later. Architect Charles C. Haight designed Linsly Hall following the same design elements as his popular Vanderbilt Hall, built 10 years prior nearby. Today, the Linsly Hall (and the adjoining Chittenden Hall) is classroom space.
One of the few remaining Federal period buildings in Downtown Boston is this survivor located on Broad Street, one of the best streets in the city! The building was constructed for the Broad Street Association, which was made up of members: Uriah Cotting, Harrison Gray Otis, Francis Cabot Lowell and other prominent Boston entrepreneurs with the goal to upgrade Boston’s waterfront south of Long Wharf which comprised of an outdated system of individual wharves. The organization hired the esteemed Boston architect, Charles Bulfinch to furnish plans for the building, of which they paid him $100. While this modest example of the Federal style is not Bulfinch’s best work, is is notable as he was largely responsible for changing the architectural face of Boston, not only through own designs, but also through influence on other architects and builders of the time. This building was long owned by Francis Cabot Lowell and was rented out to commercial ventures, including some of the later decades of the 1800s when it was occupied by C. D. Brooks, a maker of pickles and preserves. The building was restored by CBT Architects in 2005 as part of a larger redevelopment of the block which includes a mid-rise apartment building, Folio.
At the heart of the rural community of Middlebury, comprised largely of Connecticut farmers, far from the hustle and bustle of the world, Mary Robbins Hillard (1862-1932) sought to create a girls school to “provide young women with a liberal education in a community which would contribute to the development of their character, independence and sense of responsibility.” To accomplish this, they needed a school, and Mary hired her good friend (and architect) Theodate Pope Riddle to design the private girl’s school campus and main buildings on a site fronting the town green. The school opened in 1909 with125 pupils, slightly over capacity. For the design Theodate Pope Riddle – who was one of the first American women architects and a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania – took inspiration from English Arts and Crafts and historical precedence in English schools with large open courtyard plans. Originally finished in a gray stucco, the building enclosed a quadrangle at the rear. Inside, administration offices, reception rooms, living rooms, a library, gymnasium, chapel, dining rooms, infirmary, and (of course) classrooms lined the interiors on a closed loop to allow students and teachers access to all parts of the building without ever stepping outside in the cold New England winters. The Westover School remains active and one of the highest ranked private schools in the area today, and with a more cheery yellow coat!
Inspired by suggestions from books by Andrew Jackson Downing, the Gen. George Stark House is one of the finest dwellings in the Italian villa style in New Hampshire. Located on a triangular plot just north of Downtown Nashua, the house was built in 1856 by a man who, though then only in his early thirties, was one of New Hampshire’s most experienced civil engineers and surveyors, and was the superintendent of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. General George W. Stark (1823-1892) was born in Manchester, N.H., and as a young man worked on surveys of the canals and factories being built in the late 1830s in his native city. In 1836, during the first days of railroading in northern New England, Stark was employed with the engineers who laid out the route of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. He climbed the ladder, eventually working as treasurer and assistant superintendent of theHudson River Railroad, subsequently rising to the position of superintendent. He later became superintendent of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad, whose route he had helped to plan, and in 1857, at about the time he saw the completion of his Italianate villa, he became managing agent of the Boston and Lowell line. In the same year, he was commissioned Brigadier General of the Third Brigade of New Hampshire Militia, giving him his title, General. The Stark House was occupied by General Stark and by members of his family until the property was acquired by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, about 1928. Today, it houses offices but retains a distinct residential character regardless.
This Queen Anne Victorian residence sits at 85 Concord Street in Nashua, New Hampshire. Built in 1889-90 for Elijah Shaw, the house is one of a dozen or so well-preserved Victorian-era mansions along the prominent street. Elijah Morrill Shaw (1826-1903) was born in Kensington, NH and spent many of his early years working at woolen mills all over the Northeast until the outbreak of the American Civil War. Obeying his country’s call to arms, at the time of the Rebellion, he entered the army in 1861 and was later promoted to Captain in 1863. After the war, he continued working at mills all over the region until 1888 when he was hired by the Nashua Manufacturing Company. He built this house soon after his arrival and remained there until his death in 1903. The dwelling and rear carriage house are clad in shingles with the house built with a brick first floor.
Charles William Hoitt (1847-1925) was born in Newmarket, New Hampshire, the son of William K. A. and Sarah C. (Swain) Hoitt. His father was a descendant of John Hoyt, one of the original settlers of Salisbury, Massachusetts. On the maternal side he is a descendant of Phineas Swain who served at Bunker Hill on the American side. Charles enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1867, and was graduated in the class of 1871. He moved to Nashua to work as Master of the Mt. Pleasant School and later worked as an usher at the Lincoln Grammar School in Boston. He eventually gave up teaching as a profession and returned to Nashua and worked at a local law office. He was admitted to the Hillsboro bar in 1877, and worked as a City Solicitor and later as Justice to the Nashua Police Court. With his standing, he erected this fine house on Concord Avenue, with a deep lot where he raised rare exotic birds. Judge Hoitt served in the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1901 and in 1907, was appointed by Theodore Roosevelt to be the United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire. His residence in Nashua blends Queen Anne, Shingle, and Colonial Revival styles elegantly. The property was purchased in the 1920s by the Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua as a parsonage, a use it held until it was sold in 1977 to a private homeowner. The shingled porch was removed during the time it was a parsonage, but the house remains in excellent condition today!
The Stephen and Maria Mansfield House is located at 70 Concord Street in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is one of many stunning old houses along the largely residential street. The dwelling was built in 1888 for Stephen Willard Mansfield, a shoe dealer in Nashua, and his wife, Maria. The Mansfield House is a great example of a more modestly sized Queen Anne style house, which is typified by the asymmetrical plan, varied siding types, and intricate carvings and turned posts. This house is dominated by a two-story rounded bay which is capped by a conical roof. She could definitely use a good paint job but it’s a really sturdy old home built from old-growth lumber. She’s here to stay!
I do not feature enough Queen Anne style buildings on my account, as penance, I present this beautiful example of the style with a painted lady color scheme! Located on Windsor Avenue in West Acton, Massachusetts, this house was built in 1892 and has all the hallmarks of the Queen Anne style. The use of varied siding materials and forms, asymmetrical form, applied ornament, and large five-sided tower capped by a conical slate roof with weathervane. The home was built for Arthur F. Blanchard, a local businessman who operated an apple farm and marketing business opened by his father. Mr. Blanchard was a philanthropist in town and used his wealth to enhance his hometown by funding the Blanchard Auditorium at the Acton High School (1925) and was a benefactor of the West Acton Women’s Club in 1925. He and his son, Webster, also founded the Blanchard Foundation in town in 1946, an organization which funded and sponsored educational projects for the community.
Buildings of New England 