Italianate

Hall’s Block // c.1883

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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

General George Stark House // 1856

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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.

Former Green Mountain Seminary // 1869

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The Green Mountain Seminary building in Waterbury Center, Vermont was built in 1869 as a co-educational Free Will Baptist school. The building is one of the largest and grand examples of Italianate architecture in this part of the state. As originally laid out, the lower two floors were used for educational purposes and included a chapel, while the third floor and attic level were used for men’s housing. Here, men would be trained to be Baptist priests. Upon opening, a catalogue expressed the building’s rural location in the town as a benefit, stating “It is removed from the bustle and distraction of large commercial villages; is free from the haunts of vice and dissipation or temptation to idleness; and is surrounded by natural scenery unsurpassed in its magnificence and grandeur.” The building went through a variety of educational and boarding uses until 1895, when it was deeded to the town for use as a public school building. The building is nearly unchanged as when it was built in 1869, besides the removal of the rooftop belvedere and walkway in the 1940s.

Dike-Harkness House // 1854

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One of the most stunning Italianate style homes in Providence is this stately beauty which is located on Prospect Street. The house was built in 1854 on land sold from Oscar to Henry A. Dike (Dyke), a shoe manufacturer, who erected this stately residence for his family, who only remained there until the early 1860s when it was sold. The home was built on one lot, facing a second house lot, and not the street like many other residences. The property changed hands many times during and soon after the American Civil War, until 1870, when it was purchased by Albert Harkness (1822-1907), a Brown University Classics professor. It was in Professor Harkness’ ownership that the southern house lot was landscaped from plans by Frederick Law Olmsted‘s firm in 1887. The house, which recently sold in 2022, is well-preserved from its massive brackets to the oversized belvedere at the roof!

Roswell B. Fitch Store // 1851

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Roswell Burrows Fitch (1833-1908) was born in the seaside village of Noank to parents Elisha and Mary P. Fitch. At twelve years of age he commenced to be self-supporting, and from then until he was fourteen, occupied a clerkship in a general store in town. In his teens, summers were spent aboard ships fishing for a livelihood, and his winters attending school. Upon completing his education, he became clerk in a store, and was afterwards engaged to assume the management of a union store which was erected for the special purpose of being placed under his charge. This building was constructed as the union store in 1851 with eighteen-year-old Roswell becoming an active partner in the business. In his twenties, he slowly bought out, one-by-one, the twelve other owners, until he possessed absolute control. The eclectic Greek Revival and Italianate style building features classical detailing, but with a bracketed cornice and gambrel roof which is capped by a parapet. Mr. Fitch retired from business in 1890 and got to work “Victorianizing” his nearby home. Stay tuned for the next post which features his home in Noank.

Woods-Gerry House // 1860

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There are always those houses that just stop you in your tracks… For my last post (for the time being) on Providence, I wanted to share this significant property, known as the Woods-Gerry House, perched atop College Hill. Owner Marshall Woods, who married into the Brown family and was active in the affairs of Brown University. Locally he was also involved on the building committee for St. Stephen’s Church where he was a factor in selecting renowned architect Richard Upjohn to design the church. He must have liked Upjohn so much (or got a good deal) that he hired Richard Upjohn to design his new home on Prospect Street. The exterior of the three-story brick building stands out amongst the other Italianate mansions built in the same decade nearby, but is elevated design-wise with a bowed centerpiece on its east elevation with the handsome new front entrance renovated in 1931 by then-owner, Senator Peter Gerry, who was a great-grandson of Elbridge Gerry, the fifth Vice President of the United States (who had given his name to the term gerrymandering). Today, this significant building is owned by the Rhode Island School of Design and houses the Woods Gerry Gallery. The grounds are also very well designed.

Smith Owen Mansion // 1861

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You honestly cannot beat Providence when it comes to brick Italianate mansions… The Smith Owen Mansion on College Hill was built in 1861 for jeweler and silversmith Smith Owen (1809-1889) and is one of the finest homes in a neighborhood full of historically and architecturally significant properties. Mr. Owen was in business with his brother George, and they manufactured and sold some of the best jewelery in the region, largely from their commercial block downtown (featured here previously). He hired Alpheus C. Morse and Alfred Stone, local architects who furnished the plans for the colossal home. Owen lived here until his death, which occurred less than a week after his wife’s passing. His daughter Lydia Dexter Owen Beckwith (1850-1947) inherited the property and lived here with her family until her death. It was under Lydia’s ownership that the Colonial Revival entrance details were added with projecting vestibule with columns and urns and central fan transom. It is really something special!

Mumford-Brown House // 1847

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Incredible triple-decker vibes with this beauty on Providence’s College Hill neighborhood. In 1847, this home was built as a single-family, Greek Revival style home for Henry G. Mumford, who worked as a City Marshal for the City of Providence at City Hall. The house was likely originally a one-story or two-story Greek Revival cottage which was upgraded in a BIG way after Mumford’s death! His heirs sold the family house in 1859 it was owned by John A. Brown and his wife, Ellen. It was likely Ellen who had the property converted to a triple-decker with three units in the home. It was modernized with Italianate detailing, including the elaborate window hoods, front portico and side porch, round arched windows, and extra floor for additional rental unit. The property was later owned by Governor and member of the Taft Political family Royal C. Taft as an income-producing property.

Congdon Street Baptist Church // 1875

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The Congdon Street Baptist Church on College Hill is extremely significant as part of the rich history of Providence. Its origins began in 1819, when Moses Brown, an abolitionist, industrialist and member of the Brown Family (who profited on the institution of slavery) gave land to “the people of color” of Providence for a schoolhouse and meeting house. The original building stood slightly north of the present structure and it was built in 1821. The structure provided the first schoolhouse for Black children in Providence. In 1869 the building was torn down, without the approval or knowledge of the congregation by white neighbors because “its proximity displeased them”… Eventually the congregation arranged an exchange of lots with one of the church’s neighbors and architects Hartshorn & Wilcox were commissioned to design the new church building. Hartshorn was the successor of Thomas A. Tefft and this church echoes many of his designs in the Italianate style. The new building was completed in 1875 at the cost of $16,000. It was renamed the Congdon Street Baptist Church. The church has since 1875 served as an important landmark and gathering place for many Providence’s Black residents past and present.

George Corliss – Charles Brackett House // 1878

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This mansion, one of the finest in Providence, was built in the late 1870s by George H. Corliss for his second wife. Corliss (1817-1888) was the inventor of the most widely used industrial steam engine of the nineteenth century. Corliss’ first wife Phebe died in 1859. Seeking companionship, George remarried in 1866 to Emily Shaw who was eighteen years younger than he. Ms. Shaw suffered from poor health and she with the assistance of her doctor, convinced Mr. Corliss that she escape the cold winters of Rhode Island for Bermuda. It does not appear that they relocated to Bermuda, but Corliss stated, “I will build Bermuda for Mrs. Corliss.” He did, and this is it. Corliss used his engineering skills to build a state-of-the-art, climate-controlled building, cool in the summer, warm in the winter. The Italianate Villa is one of the largest in town but employed a style that was dated upon completion. In 1929, Corliss’s great-nephew, screen-writer and movie producer for Paramount Studios Charles Brackett inherited the house. He in turn eventually transferred the house over to Brown in 1955, who have maintained the old mansion to this day!