Rhode Island Architecture Survey

John Larchar House // c.1820

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The John Larchar House at 282 Benefit Street in Providence is one of the many stately Federal period homes in the city designed by great architect, John Holden Greene. John Larchar (also spelled Larcher), was born in Providence in 1787 and worked in local businesses, eventually becoming a bank director that was involved in many mercantile pursuits. The residence remained in John’s family long after his death in 1863, and has been maintained so well by subsequent owners. The 2½-story, brick Federal house features stone trim, four chimneys, a central elliptical fanlight doorway, modillion cornice and amazing 12-over-12 windows. The cupola at the roof appears to be a is a mid-19th-century addition, possibly after John’s death. The garage and two-story side addition dates to the 1960s but does not detract from the architectural integrity of the home. 

Stephen Hopkins House // 1743

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The Stephen Hopkins House is a Colonial-era house in the East Side neighborhood of Providence, and has survived waves of commercialization and redevelopment for nearly 300 years. The home is associated with Founding Father of the United States, Stephen Hopkins (1707–1785), who served as Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and was a signer of both the Continental Association and Declaration of Independence. In 1742, Stephen Hopkins purchased a one-story cottage built in 1707 on Main Street, and enlarged the original house to its present size by 1743, incorporating the original cottage as the rear ell. The eight-room residence was occupied by Gov. Hopkins, his family, as well as enslaved Africans who lived under the same roof until his death in 1785. During his ownership, George Washington slept here, twice. After 150 years of successive ownership, in 1928, the house was moved to its current location at the corner of Hopkins and Benefit Streets to facilitate the construction of the new Providence County Courthouse complex. The Hopkins House was restored by architectural historian and architect, Norman M. Isham, and is owned by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, operating it as a historic house museum. The Gov. Stephen Hopkins House is a National Historic Landmark.

Providence County Courthouse // 1926

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S. Main Street Elevation

The Providence County Courthouse complex occupies an entire city block running between Benefit Street and South Main Street and while of immense scale, is broken up into more human-scaled wings and masses that make the building one of the finest and contextual designs in a city full of amazing architecture. The courthouse here replaced the first courthouse, a stunning palace of justice designed by Stone & Carpenter in the High Victorian Gothic style, that was completed in 1877. The old courthouse was soon outgrown and a larger building was planned following WWI. The present courthouse was built between 1926 and 1930 following a design by Jackson, Robertson & Adams in the Georgian Revival style, fitting of its context amongst some of the finest Colonial-era houses and buildings in New England. The building today contains the Rhode Island Supreme Court, Providence County Superior Court, and the local trial court. The South Main Street facade is my favorite with the Guastavino tile roof entry and stunning colonnade at the street level. A multi-stage clocktower emerges from the center of the building, at a height of 216-feet, making the courthouse the 11th tallest building in Providence.

Benefit Street Elevation

Pierce-Guild Lightning Splitter House // 1781

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The Pierce-Guild House at 53 Transit Street in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the most iconic and photographed residences in the state. Known as a “lightning splitter”, the unique name is taken from local folklore that the sharp angle of the gable roof will deflect or split lightning if struck. Whether or not this superstition is true, the unique house form numbers to less than a dozen in Rhode Island. This house, arguably the most well-known for its location off Benefit Street, was originally built in 1781 as a modest 1-1/2-story cottage with a gambrel roof for Daniel Pierce (Pearce), a tailor. In 1844, the property was sold to George Guild, a grocer, who modernized the house by creating the massive gable roof to provide a narrow third floor, which was illuminated by the end windows and a diminutive dormer at the roof. The house retains much of its character, after a restoration by owners in the mid-late 20th century.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church // 1860

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St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church is a landmark Gothic Revival church in Providence, Rhode Island, built in 1860 from plans by famed architect, Richard Upjohn. Constructed of gray stone with brownstone trim, the church is unique for its siting with the nave/long-side parallel to the street. The church was built for the local congregation, who two decades earlier, constructed the original St. Stephen’s Church on Benefit Street (now home to the Barker Playhouse), but sought to relocate to a more central location and in a more substantial building. With its entrance at one end and tower at the other, the nave is lined with a row of four gabled bays with lancet windows connecting the two. The church was modified over time, with Upjohn’s original intention for a 180-foot stone tower never undertaken, it would be capped by a copper-clad conical spire in 1900 from architects, Hoppin and Ely. The chancel was remodeled in 1882 by Henry Vaughan, and the Tudor Revival style Guild House immediately west of the church was built in the late 1890s Martin & Hall, architects. The congregation continues to this day, and preserves this significant building fitting of an English estate.

Old St. Stephen’s Church – Barker Playhouse // 1840

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The old St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Providence’s Fox Point neighborhood is an architecturally distinctive Greek Revival style church building located on charming Benefit Street. The church had its beginnings in 1839, when the newly established congregation called on 29-year-old Francis Vinton to serve as their first pastor. The congregation funded this small church which broke ground in 1840, and before it was completed, Rev. Vinton resigned as Rector. The building, built of stone and covered in stucco, once had a spire and belfry above the main entrance. The congregation grew over the next decade and it was soon realized that a larger and more central church should be built for members, many of whom were wealthy residents with mansions surrounding Brown College. In 1860, the parish purchased a lot on George Street, and hired architect, Richard Upjohn to design the new church in the Gothic style. For reasons of location, and possibly social class, twenty-two men and women remained here at the less fashionable church and formed a new parish, the Church of the Saviour. The smaller, mission church with its stucco walls, remained until the property was sold in 1932 to house the Barker Playhouse, reputed to be the oldest continuously operating little theatre in the United States.


Old Stone Bank // 1896

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The Old Stone Bank was founded in 1819 as the first savings bank in Providence, Rhode Island, but originally under the name, Providence Institution for Savings. A constantly growing volume of business influenced the erection, in 1854, of a building for the exclusive purposes of the bank at 86 South Main Street, near College Hill. Designed by C.J. and R.J. Hall, the original stone bank stood one-story tall with a gable roof. Success and further expansion of the institution led to the erection, in 1896, of the present building, which served as the main office. Designed by the local architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, the present domed banking structure is said to have incorporated parts of the 1854 building, and expanded the rest to the landmark we see today. The Beaux Arts/Neo-Classical banking structure is constructed of granite, with a Classical pedimented entry of monumental Corinthian columns atop the staircase, but the highlight of the building has to be the gold-leaf-and-copper domed roof which partially served as a skylight for the banking hall inside. Offices relocated to a new building in the late 1960s. The banking institution closed in the 1980s and following acquisitions and insolvency, the main bank was sold in 1995 to Brown University for $1.15 million to house the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology‘s collection of Native American artifacts. Years later, Brown decided it was unfeasible to house the collection in the building as the necessary alterations would have altered the historic character of the building, they then sold the building to an LLC in 2009. The Old Stone Bank is now a single-family home. Yes, you heard that right. The new owners have lovingly preserved this architectural marvel for all to enjoy as they stroll the city.

C & J Mauran Company Warehouse // c.1820

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In Providence, even industrial warehouses are architecturally interesting to look at! This is the C & J Mauran Company Warehouse at 369 South Main Street in Providence’s East Side neighborhood. The building was constructed around 1820 for brothers, Carlo (1779-1844) and Joshua Mauran (1782-1847), who were wealthy merchants who stored goods from their ships trading in the Indies here. Before all of this, the site was home to an earlier structure from the 1770s, built by Deacon Joseph Sheldon, and the site was occupied by a warehouse, later owned by his son, Christopher Sheldon, and was known as the “Slave Pen” for its use of holding and transporting enslaved people. The “slave pen” burned in 1801 and the structure was later rebuilt by the Earle Brothers, and then again (the current structure) by Carlo and Joshua Mauran. Later in the 19th century, a brick façade and storefront were added to the building as the street shifted firmly to commercial uses, with noxious industrial buildings moving further to the periphery of the established College Hill neighborhood. From 1856 to 1939, the Ferry Coal Yard Company and the National Coal Company stored coal in the building After WWII, the City of Providence took the building and adjacent block by eminent domain to make way for urban renewal, and luckily for us, the building was rehabilitated rather than demolished at this time. The structure was converted to office use, and was again restored in the 2010s by Newport Collaborative Architects.

Brown-Crocker House // c.1836

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In 1829, Riley Brown, a housewright, purchased a house lot at the corner of Thayer and Transit streets in Providence, and by 1836, built this charming gambrel-roofed cottage, which is one of the most charming in the city. Riley Brown lived in the house next-door at 6 Thayer Street (1829) and on available land, built this 1-1/2-story dwelling on a full-height raised basement on speculation. It is possible that the house could have dated to the 18th century, and was possibly moved to the site from a nearby location, given the distinct gambrel roof and Georgian qualities. The residence here was sold in 1836 to John Crocker, who resided here with his family until his death in 1865. The Brown-Crocker House stands out for its unusually high basement of brick and stone, with a stair ascending up to the central entry and the gentle saltbox roof off the rear. Two shed dormers were likely added in the 20th century to make the house’s second floor more liveable.

South Main Street Engine House, Providence // 1892

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Built as a neighborhood fire station by the City of Providence in 1892, this handsome brick structure on South Main Street showcases how infrastructure and civic buildings can (and should) still contribute to the streetscape. Constructed along a streetscape of early 19th century brick buildings, the local architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, sought to take cues of the materiality and massing of nearby structures, but employ new detailing and vocabulary for the fire station here. The result is a Romanesque style fire station with a pair of round-arched engine portals surrounded by stone facing, with the showstopping second floor and roofline with ornate brickwork around the arched windows and multi-staged corbeled cornice. The building with its smaller engine doors became obsolete with newer, larger fire trucks, and the building has since held a variety of commercial uses, today as a up-scale Italian restaurant.