Victorian

Conrad Building // 1885

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The Conrad Building on Westminster Street in Downtown Providence is an ornate and over-the-top masterpiece designed by one of the city’s premier architectural firms for an eccentric owner. Erected by Jerothmul Bowers Barnaby (1830-1889), a self made millionaire, commonly known as “Rhode Island’s Clothing Prince” who owned manufacturing plants for clothing throughout the city, the building was named after his son-in-law, John H. Conrad. Owner, J. B. Barnaby, lived in an eclectic mansion on Broadway, known as Barnaby’s Castle, which was designed by the firm of Stone, Carpenter & Willson, like this commercial block built as an investment in 1885. Originally used for professional offices, the structure had long been occupied as artist and photography studios on the upper floors. Eclectic in style, the Conrad Building blends Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, and Moorish Revival styles into a single composition, with a four-story cast-iron tower at the corner capped by a Moorish ogival dome, panel brickwork, round arched windows and recessed openings, projecting bays, cast-iron storefronts, and an oversized arch with its name, “Conrad Building”, ornamental carvings, and the initials “J. B.” for its owner, all completed in brownstone.

Richmond Building // 1876

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The Victorian Gothic style Richmond Building on Weybosset Street in Downtown Providence, is one of the more interesting late 19th century commercial buildings in the city, as the more you look at it, the more you notice! The Richmond Building was constructed in 1876 seemingly as an investment for Dr. Fenner Harris Peckham, who rented out professional offices and retail space inside the building. The structure gets its name from its proximity to Richmond Street, and stands out architecturally for its polychromatic brick with tile, Gothic-arch niche flanked by colonettes on the facade, and truncated corner with later rounded corner window.

Hamlin-Spalding Cottage // c.1898

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This historic summer cottage on Water Street represents one of the more sophisticated examples of the Shingle Style in Marion, Massachusetts, and is evocative of the type of houses built for the wealthy in the late 19th and early 20th century as their summer retreats. The “cottage” was built around 1898 as a summer residence for George Peabody Hamlin (1867-1935) and wife, Mary Farnsworth Tappan, of Boston. George P. Hamlin was a successful coal merchant who’s family business became part of the Metropolitan Coal Company in the late 1890s. George P. Hamlin was treasurer of the company until his retirement in 1927, when he turned to commercial real estate and worked in that field until his death. It is likely that for his summer residence, Hamlin hired Boston architect and Marion summer resident, William Gibbons Preston, who also designed a house for George’s brother further up Water Street. After Hamlin’s death in the 1930s, the Marion cottage was purchased by Ms. Katherine Hobart Ames Spalding (1874-1949), the daughter of Oakes Angier Ames (1829-1899) and granddaughter of Oakes Ames (1804-1873), a Massachusetts Congressman and leading figure in the development of the Transcontinental Railroad, who was one of the wealthiest men in America. Katherine Ames married Philip Leffingwell Spalding (1871-1938), President of the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company. The shingled cottage with its rubblestone base, remains one of the best-preserved in Marion and a landmark of the style. 

Point Rock Cottage // c.1894

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One of the many beautiful late 19th century shingled “cottages” overlooking Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts, Point Rock Cottage stands out not only for its siting on the waterfront, but also for its preservation. As any good summer cottage must have a name, Point Rock Cottage derives its name from its location overlooking the rocky coast and Sippican Harbor on the tip of the village. The Shingle style cottage was built for David W. Lewis (1833-1915) of Boston, who purchased the land in 1893 and had the house built soon after. Lewis began his career in the retail shoe business in Vermont until he enlisted in the Union Army in 1862, serving in the 9th Vermont Volunteer Regiment. Lewis rose to the rank of major and saw action in several major campaigns of the war. After the war, David Lewis married Elizabeth T. Willett and they moved to Hyde Park in Boston where he shifted professions and became a dealer in building materials, which he saw immediate success as many Boston areas saw development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The architect is not presently known, but it is probable that the cottage was designed by William Gibbons Preston or Charles Allerton Coolidge, both Boston architects who designed many of Marion’s summer homes and both of whom summered in Marion themselves. Architecturally, the residence is a blending of Shingle and Arts and Crafts styles with the low-pitched roof and continuous shingled cottage encircled by a one-story integrated porch supported by wood shingle clad rectangular posts with a Chinese-fret work railing.

Rice-Petersen House // 1896

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Built in 1896 by Dr. A.W. Rice, this quintessential example of a Queen Anne style Victorian residence has stood on Marion’s Cottage Street, preserved and contributing to the town’s rich history. Alger W. Rice (1855-1914) was born in Vermont and moved to Marion after graduating medical school and operated his medical office from his home here and lived with his family until his death. Dr. Rice also raised and bred award-winning Russian Wolfhounds and pigeons. Between 1921 and 1979 the property was owned by two generations of the Petersen family, beginning with Viggo Valdemar Petersen (1869-1941), a native of Bornholm, Denmark, who worked as a chef before entering the ice cream manufacturing business in the early 20th century. Peterson operated a popular ice cream parlor out of the rear carriage house during the 1930s until his death in 1941. When Viggo died in 1941, his son, Viggo C., attempted to carry on, until wartime cream rationing forced him to close for the duration of the conflict. Thereafter, Petersen’s ice cream resumed production and remained a Marion fixture until its final closing in the 1970s. The former residence remains commercial today, but maintains its charm.

Marion Music Hall // 1891

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Tucked into the heart of Wharf Village in the ever-charming coastal community of Marion, Massachusetts, the Marion Music Hall has been a cornerstone of small-town cultural life since 1891. The Music Hall was largely the vision and will of the town’s great benefactor, Ms. Elizabeth Taber who sought to use her late husband’s vast fortune to benefit her community in her later years. In her will, Ms. Taber left funds for a proper “lecture and music hall” and the $23,000 commission went to her friend, architect, William Gibbons Preston. The building is one of a few examples of brick construction in the village and stands out for its detail with the round arched windows and solid massing in the Romanesque Revival style with terracotta trim to add visual interest in the design. The result is a structure both stately and welcoming, with its handsome façade anchoring a lawn that would later be adorned by the cast-iron Soldiers Monument in 1894. More than 130 years on, the Hall still hosts the town’s committee meetings, concerts, weddings, and community gatherings, standing as a living piece of Marion’s Gilded Age generosity and a quiet architectural gem of the South Coast of Massachusetts.

Marion Congregational Chapel // 1885

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Completed in 1885 in the small coastal village of Marion, Massachusetts, the Marion Congregational Chapel was one of the last major gifts from Elizabeth Pitcher Taber (1791–1888), the wealthy widow whose patronage shaped the town’s entire civic landscape. Ms. Taber in her later years had already funded Marion’s library, founded Tabor Academy, and built its academy hall before purchasing a vacant lot on Main Street to build this chapel for her church, the First Congregational Church of Marion. Built in 1885, the chapel is designed in the texturally rich Shingle Style that was then sweeping New England’s coastal towns by the late 19th century with its continuous wood-shingle siding and gabled massing gave it a warmer, more approachable character than the town’s earlier Greek Revival and Italianate landmarks. The chapel stands out for its rubblestone entry tower and the trio of polygonal bays on the primary facade. For its first several years it doubled as Marion’s only real venue for public lectures and amateur theater, an arrangement that reportedly so dismayed Taber over the poor quality of the “worldly theatricals” staged there that she went on to fund a dedicated Music Hall, designed by architect William Gibbons Preston nearby. Given the fact Ms. Taber so-often utilized Preston as architect for her gifts to Marion (and as he was a summer resident here), it is probable that he too designed this Shingle style chapel. The Congregational Chapel stands today as a smaller, later addition to Marion’s Congregational history, which stretches back to the town’s original 1799 meetinghouse (now the Marion General Store) and the Greek Revival church built across the street in 1841 which is still home to the First Congregational Church of Marion.


White-Cushing Cottage // 1906

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The White-Cushing Cottage on Pleasant Street in Marion, Massachusetts, showcases the eclectic Victorian architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that are adored by so many. The residence was built for George F. And Clara A. White, who acquired the property in 1906. The couple moved to Marion from Brooklyn, New York, and had this home built while George was employed in the linen supply business. It is likely this was their summer residence as the couple also had a home in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. After Clara’s death in 1916, George sold their Marion home to Mathew Cushing (1859-1925) and his wife, Edith, who lived in Middleborough and too likely used this home in the summers. Mr. Cushing worked as a theatre manager until his death in 1925, and his wife continued to live in the house with her son, Bartlett. The White-Cushing House has elements of the Shingle style, which is commonly seen in the summer cottages of Marion and many coastal communities. The cottage has a flared gambrel roof and a distinctive wall dormer at the facade with an integrated wrap-around porch. 

Tamworth Inn // 1888

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The architecturally distinctive Tamworth Inn, sits in the center of Tamworth Village, New Hampshire, and is now home to one of the most innovative and experimental distilleries in the country. The inn got its start in 1888, when owner Arthur Elliot Wiggin (1842-1913) saw the seasonal demand for lodging every summer to this region of New Hampshire, and completely expanded and renovated his Gothic Revival style home into a Second Empire style inn. Arthur Wiggin grew up in Tamworth and trained as a carpenter and likely oversaw the design and construction of his inn, originally called the Wiggin House but renamed Tamworth Inn by the 1890s. Wiggin eventually went bankrupt and by the 1930s, the inn was owned by hotelkeepers Fred Chesley and Violette Huntress of Boston who managed a hotel there and the Tamworth Inn during summers. Fred Huntress was an avid sports fan and ran an athletic gym, called the Tamworth Garden, which was built from a converted 19th century barn. In 1931, he sold the Tamworth Garden to Francis Cleveland as the first home of the Barnstormers Theatre. The property was more recently purchased by the Tamworth Distilling & Mercantile, who demolished about half of the inn, preserving the end structure as part of their Tamworth property. The old barn, which was once the Tamworth Garden is also restored and today serves as the company’s barrelhouse.

Dr. Jonathan M. Cheney House // c.1895

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The Dr. Jonathan M. Cheney House in the town of Ashland, New Hampshire, is significant as a well-preserved example of Queen Anne architecture with all the flourish and asymmetry expected in the iconic style. The residence was built around 1895 for Jonathan Morrison Cheney (1863-1918), a prominent physician in Ashland and also served as a member of the General Assembly in 1909 and a member of the State Senate in 1911. Dr. Cheney was the son of Col. Thomas P. Cheney, a well-known New Hampshire politician, and enjoyed his connections and success from family, eventually being able to afford such an ornate mansion in his hometown. While the architect is unknown, the Cheney House stands out for its use of varied materials including a brick ground floor and clapboards above, decorative porch frieze, and the four-story square tower with mansard roof and paneling at the third floor. The residence today serves as a bed & breakfast, appropriately named the Cheney House.

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Ashland // 1859

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Located next door to the historic Town Hall, the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Ashland, New Hampshire, stands as one of the state’s finest Victorian-era churches. The Episcopal congregation in Ashland was established in 1855, and originally met in the town’s union church before funding was secured for land and designs for a new church. The unique building was designed by New York architect, J. Coleman Hart, who specialized in parish churches in the Victorian Gothic and Stick styles. With a single nave, the church is notable for its brick construction with walls adorned by half-timbering. The tower rises three stories with circular openings and an open belfry in the third, all topped by a spire. Now known as the Emmanuel Episcopal Church, the congregation is a part of the New Hampshire Episcopal diocese.

Rufus Underhill House // c.1870

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The Rufus Underhill House in Billerica, Massachusetts, is an excellent example of the eclectic nature of residential architecture seen in the United States during the Victorian period following the conclusion of the Civil War. Without a clear distinguishing style, the house stands out for its unique form, architectural details, lancet windows and side four-story tower, all with paint colors to highlight and accentuate its distinctive features. The house and accompanying stable were built around 1870 for Rufus K. Underhill (1819-1894) and his wife, Deborah, as a place to spend their retirement. Rufus Underhill was born in Chester, NH and worked as a blacksmith, later establishing the Underhill Edged Tool Co. in Nashua later expanding to sales in Boston.

Bennett Library, Billerica // 1881

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In the late 19th century, Eleanor Richardson Bennett (1794-1891), the widow of Joshua Bennett (1793-1865), bequeathed funds to erect the first purpose-built public library building in her hometown of Billerica, Massachusetts. A private members library known as the Social Library, was formed in Billerica in 1772, but Ms. Bennett wished to gift the town a public facility of learning in memory of her late husband, a prominent landowner in the West End of Boston and one of the richest men in Middlesex County. Eleanor Bennett hired the Boston firm of Rotch & Tilden, to design the new library building overlooking the Town Common. Completed in 1881, the Victorian Gothic library is built of brick with limestone trim, and features a large rose stained glass window, intricate terracotta and wooden detailing, and a slate hipped roof with a pointed spire. The library was eventually outgrown and the facility relocated to a new building, and again to the former Town Hall building in 2000. The former Bennett Library is still owned and maintained by the town as an event space available for rent. The building has been restored through Community Preservation Act funding.

John H. Munroe House // c.1860

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Built circa 1860 for Jonathan Harding Munroe, this stately Victorian house sits on Main Street in the up-scale community of Edgartown on Martha’s Vineyard. Jonathan Munroe was born in Bristol, Rhode Island and moved to Edgartown where he opened a store and worked as a high-end tailor, and became a successful businessman in town where he founded the Martha’s Vineyard Bank of Edgartown, and later financed successful whaling excursions making a large profit on his investments. With his ever-growing net worth, Mr. Munroe likely updated this house towards the end of the 19th century, with the ornate three-sided porch. Most recently, the property has operated as an inn, named after its original owner, the Jonathan Munroe House Inn.

Henry P. Kent House // 1871

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Located on South Main Street in Suffield, Connecticut, this stunning Second Empire mansion showcases the tobacco wealth seen in the town in the mid-to-late 19th century. Local legend states that in the early 1800s, a Cuban man arrived into town and was hired by a local farmer to grow tobacco and roll cigars for sale. Decades later, dozens of farmers in Suffield erected tobacco barns and cultivated tobacco to be rolled in cigars and shipped to communities all over the east coast. One of the first men in Suffield to box the cigars as a pack for shipping and sale was Henry Phelps Kent (1803-1887). With his success, Henry Kent purchased a large lot on the town’s Main Street and hired local architect, John C. Mead, to design a mansion to display his success in business. The large Second Empire mansion features flush-board siding, a full length porch, and a projecting mansarded tower with convex roof. The home was later owned by Samuel R. Spencer, a politician who served as a Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut, the first as a blind man. The home is now operated as a bed & breakfast “Spencer on Main”, named after its second owner.