Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District | |
Location | Providence, Rhode Island |
---|---|
Built | 1923 |
Architect | Martin, Marshall B.; Aldrich, William T., et al. |
Architectural style | Late 19th- and 20th-century revivals |
NRHP reference No. | 95000711 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 9, 1995 |
The Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Blackstone Blvd., Rochambeau Ave., Holly St. and Elmgrove Ave. in Providence, Rhode Island. [2]
The district features architecture by Marshall B. Martin, William T. Aldrich and other structures of late 19th- and 20th-century colonial revivals. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
The Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District is an approximately 40-acre (16 ha) suburban residential neighborhood in the northeast corner of Providence. Within it are over 100 large, high-style houses on ample, meticulously landscaped lots that line wide, tree-lined streets, now as during the period of significance. Integrity of both individual properties and of the district as a whole remains extremely high.
The Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat constitutes a distinguished collection of stylish early and mid-20th-century revival style dwellings as well as a representation of later contemporary styles-all designed and built by some of the locality's foremost architects and builders.
Within the district's roughly trapezoidal area the streets generally follow a grid pattern. It is bordered on the east by Blackstone Boulevard, a broad north-south thoroughfare with two roadways separated by a landscaped esplanade, and on the south by Rochambeau Avenue. Holly Street and Elmgrove Avenue, both running generally north-south, lie just within the district's western boundary. Elmgrove Avenue continues in a gentle "S" curve to join Blackstone Boulevard at the district's northern boundary. Cole Avenue, a straight north-south street parallel to Elingrove Avenue and Blackstone Boulevard, links Rochambeau to Elmgrove and serves as the spine for four perpendicular cross-streets: Intervale, Westford, Wingate, and Harwich Roads. Balton Road completes the grid, running north-south between Rochambeau and Intervale.
Houses in the district are located on large, wide lots that are 8,000, 10,000, or 12,000 square feet. A number of lots exceed even this generous size, and two large lots at the southern end measure 1.75 and 3.59 acres. At the time the plat was developed, the standard Providence house lot was 4,000 to 5,000 square feet. The use of deed restrictions in the design of the dwellings and in their placement within the lot affected the visual quality of the Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat. Deed restrictions governed minimum lot size, minimum setback, distance between neighboring houses, and garage placement. With the exception of the two large lots, houses within the district are set back a uniform distance of twenty feet from the street.
Most dwellings in the plat were built in the late 1920s or early 1930s. They are typically clapboard, brick, brick-veneer, or stucco covered wood-frame construction, executed in revival styles fashionable in the early and mid-20th century. Neo-Georgian and Tudor/Old English Cottage are the most prevalent, followed by Mediterranean, Norman/French Provincial, and a number of stylistic hybrids. Most properties have a garage, either incorporated into the house more frequent in later construction or built separately near the rear of the lot. The free standing garages are often in the style of their houses.
Individual lots are well-and often lavishly-landscaped. Meticulous planning and maintenance have produced yards with immaculately clipped and edged green lawns punctuated with trees, shrubs, and beds of a wide variety of native and exotic plants.
The integrity of the district is excellent. All buildings have been well maintained. Additions and alterations generally respect the character of original construction. Unsympathetic renovations are few, and generally limited to occasional replacement of original wood siding with aluminum or vinyl-but, without removing trim-and inappropriate replacement windows-usually thermal-pane sash with imitation muntins.
Because development within the district did not fill the area before construction ceased during World War II, there are some twenty houses dating from 1946 to the present. New buildings are commensurate in quality with those associated with the period of significance but fall outside the fifty-year eligibility guideline of the National Register. These dwellings, fine examples of 20th-century domestic architecture in their own right, have been included in the inventory of the district as non-contributing buildings. They should be reevaluated in the future for their contribution to the significance of the district.
![]() | ![]() |
Gustaf and Marion L. Sweet House; 1951; 20 Balton Road Providence RI; Elsworth Reed, builder. A one-story split-level, aluminum-sided dwelling with a cross-gable roof. A one-car garage is incorporated at basement level in the projecting wing. Sweet, a physician, had his office at 196 Waterman Street.
![]() | ![]() |
Charles H. Hudson House; 1929; 22 Balton Road, Providence, RI; R. S. Hamilton, architect; Frank N. Gustafson, builder. A one-and-a-half-story, weatherboard and brick, English Cottage dwelling with a cross-gable roof and entrance in the forward-projecting wing. Hudson was a manager for E. I. duPont de Nemours & Company.
![]() | ![]() |
Frederick E. and Albina Bodell House 1928, 25 Balton Road, Providence RI: William T. Aldrich of Boston, architect. A handsome dwelling designed in the manner of an 18th-century English manor house, set on a large lot partly surrounded by a brick wall. Constructed of hollow tile with Flemish-bond brick veneer, it has a two-and-a-half-story, hip-roofed main block with a one-and-a-half-story, hip-roofed, L-plan service and garage wing extending from one side. The house has a garden front on the south and an entrance front on the north. The seven-bay garden front has a central segmental-arch-pediment door surmounted by a stone bay with a shallow relief caning of a shouldered architrave around the window. The entrance front, overlooking a motor court framed by the main block and the service wing, has a three-bay, end-gabled entrance pavilion with a doorway-framed by pilasters and a pediment. There are segmental relieving arches over the windows and segmental-arch roof dormers. This is one of the grandest and most costly houses erected in Providence in the 1920s. Bodell was a partner in Bodell & Company, a banking and brokerage firm.
![]() | ![]() |
Carl W. Miller House; c. 1926; 32 Balton Road, Providence, RI; A two-and-a-half-story, brick-clad, Modern Colonial house with a central recessed doorway framed by pilasters and imposts with rosettes and an entablature broken by an architrave with a plinth block above, and flanked by bay windows. Miller was a professor at Brown University.
Garage before 1936: A single-bay, structure located behind the house, not visible from the street.
![]() | ![]() |
Sidney A. and Edith Kane House 1949, 35 Balton Road, Providence, RI: Royal Barry Wills, architect; Nerforth Brothers, builders. A one-and-a-half-story, weatherboard sheathed Cape Cod cottage with a cross-gable roof and large center chimney. Kane was president of Senak Company of America.
![]() | ![]() |
Allen H. Grimwood House; c. 1925: 38 Balton Road, Providence, RI; George W. Waterman, architect; Silvan Brothers, builder. A two-and-a-half-story shingled Colonial Revival dwelling with a projecting central vestibule and a front dormer. Grimwood was a salesman at H. A. Grimwood Company, lumber dealers at 1163 Westminster Street.
Garage 1925 : A two-car, one-bay, gable-roofed, weatherboard sheathed structure built contemporaneously with the house.
![]() | ![]() |
Edmund J. and Margaret A. Sullivan House; 1931–32; 45 Balton Road, Providence, RI; Edwin E. Cull, architect; A. H. Leeming & Sons, builder. A large, handsome, two-and-a-half-story brick dwelling in the Georgian Colonial style of the middle Atlantic region, with segmental-arch ground floor windows, paneled shutters, a modillion cornice, segmental-arch dormers, and a high hip roof with a flat central deck surrounded by a balustrade. Set on a corner lot, the house has two facades: one facing Balton Road and one facing a motor court of f Intervale Road. The Balton Road front contains a recessed central doorway trimmed with Ionic pilasters on pedestals, a cushion-frieze entablature, and a segmental-arch pediment. The more elaborate courtyard front has a pedimented doorway in a central projecting entrance pavilion flanked by large bow windows. Sullivan, grandson of rubber magnate Joseph Banigan, lived with his new bride and parents in the family home at 254 Wayland Avenue until this house was completed. Like others in his family, he worked in manufacturing.
![]() | ![]() |
John J. Bidder House; c. 1926; 50 Balton Road, Providence, RI; A two-and-a-half-story, five-bay facade, brick, Colonial Revival dwelling with a center entrance with sidelights. Bidder was the founder of the J. J. Bidder Cordage Company, manufacturers of cordage and rope, located at 251 Tockwotton Street.
The Blackstone Canal was a waterway linking Worcester, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island through the Blackstone Valley via a series of locks and canals during the early 19th century. Construction was started in 1825, and the canal opened three years later. Following the opening of the Boston and Providence Railroad in 1835, the canal struggled for business. It was ultimately replaced by the Providence and Worcester Railroad, which completed a parallel line in 1847. The canal shut down in 1848. Several segments of the canal are preserved, with the canal alignment and remains listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Blackstone is a predominantly residential neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. It is in the northeast corner of the city and is bounded to the south and west by Lloyd Avenue and Hope Street respectively. It is one of six neighborhoods comprising the East Side of Providence.
The Vernon House is a historic house in Newport, Rhode Island built in 1758 for Metcalf Bowler. The house is an architecturally distinguished colonial-era house with a construction history probably dating back to the late 17th century, with alterations made in the 18th century, possibly by architect Peter Harrison. During the American Revolutionary War this house served as the headquarters of the Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French forces stationed in Newport 1780–1783. The house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1968.
Blackstone Park Historic District is roughly bounded by the Seekonk River, Laurell Avenue, Blackstone Boulevard, and South Angell Street in Providence, Rhode Island within the Blackstone neighborhood of the East Side.
The Elmgrove Gardens Historic District is a residential historic district in northeastern Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is bounded on the north by Rochambeau Street, on the south by Woodbury Street, on the east by Cole Street, and on the west by Morris Avenue. This area was developed most heavily between 1908 and 1948, and is a well-preserved example of an early automotive suburban residential area. Most of the houses in the district are either 1-1/2 or 2-1/2 stories in height, and are built in an architecturally diverse variety of styles. The district also includes to 18th-century farmhouses, reminders of the area's agrarian past.
The Wayland Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district on the east side of Providence, Rhode Island. It is a large area, covering about 122 acres (49 ha), bounded roughly on the north by Everett and Laurel Avenues, on the east by Blackstone Boulevard and Butler Avenue, on the west by Arlington Avenue, and on the south by Angell and South Angell Streets. This area, which was in the 19th century part of the Moses Brown farm, was platted for development in 1891, with most of the construction taking place in the early decades of the 20th century. Most of the residential properties in the district are single-family houses, typically built in revival styles popular at the time. They are set on similarly sized lots with fairly uniform setbacks, and were typically built without garages. There are a number of two-family houses, and a small number of apartment buildings, most of which are found on the arterial roads of the area. There are several religious buildings, including several churches; the most architecturally distinctive religious building is the Jewish Temple Beth El, built 1951–54.
The Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District is a neighborhood located on East Jefferson Avenue between Eastlawn Street and Alter Road in Detroit, Michigan. The district is the only continuously intact commercial district remaining along East Jefferson Avenue, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
Forest Park Southeast Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Chouteau Ave., Manchester and Cadet Aves., Kingshighway Blvd., and S. Sarah St. in St. Louis, Missouri. It was mainly developed as a working class residential district. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, deemed significant in both community planning and development and in architecture.
Frederick E. Field was an American architect who practiced in Providence, Rhode Island, and Orlando, Florida, in the period between 1883 and 1927.
The Caleb Baldwin Tavern is a historic house at 32 Main Street in the Newtown Borough Historic District in Newtown, Connecticut, built around 1763. The two-and-a-half-story house is considered historically significant for its role in movement of French Army forces under General Rochambeau, as it housed some of the army's officers in June 1781 on their march to the Siege of Yorktown. It is also an example of traditional 18th-century New England architecture and retains some details from that time period. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 23, 2002.
Domenic Thomas Russillo, AIA (1902-1980), was a minor American architect who practiced in mid-20th-century Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
The Blackstone Boulevard–Cole Avenue–Grotto Avenue Historic District is a predominantly residential historic district roughly bounded by Blackstone Boulevard, Cole Avenue, Grotto Avenue, President and Rochambeau Avenues on the east side of Providence, Rhode Island. It encompasses one of the last areas of the city be developed residentially. Covering about 100 acres (40 ha), most of its building stock was built between about 1889 and the 1940s, with a notable building spurt taking place in the 1920s. The architecture in the area is heterogeneous, with Colonial and Georgian Revival styles predominating. The area was developed after the city built Blackstone Boulevard with the intention of developing the area into a streetcar suburb.
John F. O'Malley was an American architect from Rhode Island.
Ranch Acres is a residential area in Midtown Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was designated in 2007 as Ranch Acres National Historic District (RAHD) because it is an excellent example of a ranch house type of subdivision built after World War II. The area is bounded by 31st Street on the north, Harvard Avenue on the east, 41st Street on the south and both Delaware Avenue and Florence Avenue on the west.
Clarke & Howe was an American architectural firm from Providence, Rhode Island that was active from 1893 to 1928.
Edwin E. Cull (1891–1956) was an American architect in practice in Providence, Rhode Island, from 1921 to 1956. In 1946 he was founder of what is now the Robinson Green Beretta Corporation, one of the largest architecture firms in Rhode Island.
The Richford Primary School is a historic school building at 140 Intervale Avenue in Richford, Vermont. Built in 1903 to address an overcrowding problem in the local schools, it served the town until 1968, and has since been converted into residential use. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The Edgewood Historic District–Aberdeen Plat is a residential historic district in the Edgewood neighborhood of eastern Cranston, Rhode Island. Bounded by Berwick Lane and Sefton Drive to the north, Broad Street to the west, Chiswick Road to the south, and the Providence River to the east, this area was developed between 1901 and 1957 as a streetcar suburb for middle and upper middle class residents on what was once a country estate. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016.
The Blackstone Park Conservation District is a public, 45-acre woodland conservation area on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island. It is run by the non-profit Blackstone Parks Conservancy in partnership with the Providence Parks Department. The park is situated on the west bank of the tidal Seekonk River, the northernmost part of Narragansett Bay tidewater. The park lies within the watershed and wildlife corridor of the Blackstone River Valley. Unlike many city parks, it is actively managed as a preserve for the purpose of providing habitats for wildlife and supporting a healthy ecosystem for native flora and fauna.
Blackstone Boulevard Park is a public park and footpath that runs down the center of Blackstone Boulevard on the East Side of Providence, Rhode Island. It is located in the Blackstone neighborhood, an affluent and primarily residential part of Providence. The park is well-used by joggers and dog walkers from the East Side of Providence and surrounding areas. Along with the Blackstone Park Conservation District, it is run in partnership between the non-profit Blackstone Parks Conservancy and the Providence Parks Department. The Conservancy actively maintains the condition of the park and path, as well as planting and caring for the trees and other flora along the path. Blackstone Boulevard is also a part of the National Register of Historic Places, at the boundary of the Blackstone Park Historic District and Blackstone Boulevard Realty Plat Historic District.