Charles Ives House

Last updated
Charles Ives House
Ives House New.jpg
East profile and south (rear) elevation, 2008
USA Connecticut location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location7 Mountainville Road, Danbury, CT
Coordinates 41°22′53″N73°26′41″W / 41.38139°N 73.44472°W / 41.38139; -73.44472
Area7 acres (2.8 ha) [1]
Built1780 [1]
NRHP reference No. 76001968 [2]
Added to NRHPApril 26, 1976

The Charles Ives House, also known as Charles Ives Birthplace, is located on Mountainville Avenue in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame structure built in 1780 and expanded on since. Over the course of the 19th century, it was the residence of several generations of Iveses, a family important in the city's history. In 1874, it was the birthplace of Charles Ives, who became an internationally recognized composer in the early 20th century.

Contents

It was originally on Main Street, but was moved twice when two local banks needed to expand. [1] The second move took it to near the current location, west of Rogers Park. It was moved a third time to allow for the construction of a nearby school. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. [2] Today it is operated by the Danbury Museum and Historical Society.

Building

The house is located on a seven-acre (3 ha) parcel on the east side of Mountainville Road just south of where Southern Boulevard splits off and Mountainville Avenue becomes Mountainville Road. It is south of Rogers Park and west of Rogers Park Junior High School. A small pond separates those two buildings. To the north the land is generally level and open, with single-family homes on the streets giving way to baseball diamonds in the park. South of the house the land rises to a hill and becomes wooded, with larger houses. [1]

A driveway comes into the south side of the house, and large mature trees shelter its north. The building itself is a one-and-a-half-story wood frame structure on a brick foundation sided in clapboard with beaded corner boards in two sections. Two brick chimneys pierce the roof of the western wing. [1]

The main section has a gambrel roof, with slightly overhanging eaves and raked cornice on its eastern side. The east (front) entrance is located in a gabled portico with its roof supported by two square fluted columns with similar capitals. Two Corinthinan pilasters join it to the house. Its closed pediment has a half-round molded dentil course. Three dormer windows with semicircular fanlights pierce the roof's lower slant at the front. [1]

A western wing projects from the main block at that side. Connecting it and the main block on the north side is a small porch with square fluted columns similar to those on the front. Its southern roof pitch is greater than that on the north. On that elevation is a double-windowed dormer without the fanlight. On the south side of the wing is a small one-story, three-bay addition with a wheelchair ramp. A shed-roofed porch is on the west side. [1]

The interior has been extensively altered. The woodwork is plain Victorian. The house is floored in uniform width tongue and groove boards and the walls appear to be lath and plaster. [1]

History

The main section was built by Thomas Tucker in 1780, as the Revolutionary War was ending. At that time Danbury was a small area of houses and shops around a Congregationalist church on what is today Main Street. Tucker ran a private school out of the house as well. [1]

In 1828, Isaac Ives bought the house. He was in his 80s at the time, and it would become identified with the family primarily due to his son George White Ives. At informal gatherings in the house, the younger Ives would help found the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, still in use today as the Danbury Branch of Metro-North's New Haven Line, and the Savings Bank of Danbury, one of the earliest local banks. [1]

Other Ives descendants sat on the board of what became the Danbury Fair and Danbury Hospital. George Edward Ives fought in the Civil War with the 1st Connecticut Heavy Artillery during the Overland Campaign. Lyman Brewster, who married into the family, met in the house with Woodrow Wilson while drafting the Negotiable Instruments Act. The Iveses also developed side streets off Main, one of which is now named for the family, as the settlement grew into a city by the end of the century. They also added the wing on the house and redecorated its interior in accordance with the taste of the times. [1]

Charles Ives was born in the house in 1874, while it was still located at 210 Main Street. While he was still in early childhood his family moved to Stevens Street, but they came back for frequent family occasions, which often included playing classical music on the piano. Even after he went to Yale University and lived in places other than Danbury for the rest of his life, he often returned to the family home. In 1924 the front dormers were added, the year the Iveses moved the house to Chapel Place, just behind the first site, so the Danbury National Bank could expand. Charles and his brother also felt that, in a neighborhood that was by then heavily commercial, it had lost the aura that had helped inspire his music. [1]

Ives still visited the house frequently over the rest of his life, even after he gave up composing and moved to nearby West Redding, where he died in 1954. It is the only extant former residence of his that is connected to his musical career, since the two houses where he lived in Hartsdale, New York, during most of his productive years are no longer in existence. After his death his sister-in-law remained in the house until her death in 1964. [1]

Three years later, in 1967, another bank, Fairfield County Trust, wanted to expand its parking lot adjacent to the house. The bank conveyed the house to the Danbury Historical Society, which bought a 14-acre (5.7 ha) site south of Rogers Park and moved it to Memorial Drive. It was moved for the last time in 1971, four years later, when the local school district wanted to build Rogers Park Junior High School. To facilitate this move, the schools leased the eastern seven acres from the museum for 99 years with an option to renew. [1] The Danbury Museum & Historical Society Authority is fundraising to rehabilitate the house and open it as a museum. Phase I (restoration of the exterior) was completed in 2016. Phase II, the rehabilitation of the interior, was completed in 2021. The building is now open via appointment for tours year-round.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Railway Museum</span> United States historic place

The Danbury Railway Museum is a railway museum housed in the former Union Station on the east end of downtown Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It was established in the mid-1990s following the closure of the station by the Metro-North Railroad in favor of a new station nearby, and primarily focuses on the history of railroading in southern New England and neighboring New York. In addition to the former station building, the museum has a collection of heritage railcars in the neighboring rail yard it shares with Metro-North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">German-English Academy Building</span> Historic place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States

The German-English Academy Building is a school built in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1891 for the German-English Academy, which later became the University School of Milwaukee. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is now owned by the Milwaukee School of Engineering. Since 2012, it has been leased to the company Direct Supply as a technology center. It is beside the Grohmann Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danbury Museum and Historical Society</span>

The Danbury Museum and Historical Society is a museum located in Danbury, Connecticut, the purpose of which is to acquire, preserve, exhibit, and interpret the heritage of the Greater Danbury area for education, information, and research. The main campus of the museum is located on 43 Main Street. It is home to five historic buildings: Huntington Hall, the 1785 Rider House, the 1790 John Dodd Hat Shop, the Little Red Schoolhouse, and the Marian Anderson Studio. The Museum also operates a sixth building: the Charles Ives Birthplace, located on Mountainville Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holland Land Office</span> Historic building and museum in Batavia, New York

The Holland Land Office building is located on West Main Street in downtown Batavia, New York, United States. It is a stone building designed by surveyor Joseph Ellicott and erected in the 1810s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Street Historic District (Danbury, Connecticut)</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

The Main Street Historic District in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, is the oldest section of that city, at its geographical center. It has long been the city's commercial core and downtown. Its 132 buildings, 97 of which are considered contributing properties, include government buildings, churches, commercial establishments and residences, all in a variety of architectural styles from the late 18th century to the early 20th. It is the only major industrial downtown of its size in Connecticut not to have developed around either port facilities or a water power site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Rider House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The John Rider House is located on Main Street in Danbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a wooden frame house dating to the late 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Payne House</span> Historic house in Rhode Island, United States

The Charles Payne House is an historic site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The house was built in 1855–56 by Charles Payne and later expanded with the addition of two ells and a porch. The 1+12-story Gothic-Italianate vernacular cottage is architecturally significant as a 19th-century vernacular cottage in a picturesque setting. Though the round-head picket fence and entry gates were later removed, the property retains a large shaded garden on with ample street frontage. The Charles Payne House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannondale Historic District</span> Historic district in Connecticut, United States

Cannondale Historic District is a historic district in the Cannondale section in the north-central area of the town of Wilton, Connecticut. The district includes 58 contributing buildings, one other contributing structure, one contributing site, and 3 contributing objects, over a 202 acres (82 ha). About half of the buildings are along Danbury Road and most of the rest are close to the Cannondale train station .The district is significant because it embodies the distinctive architectural and cultural-landscape characteristics of a small commercial center as well as an agricultural community from the early national period through the early 20th century....The historic uses of the properties in the district include virtually the full array of human activity in this region—farming, residential, religious, educational, community groups, small-scale manufacturing, transportation, and even government. The close physical relationship among all these uses, as well as the informal character of the commercial enterprises before the rise of more aggressive techniques to attract consumers, capture some of the texture of life as lived by prior generations. The district is also significant for its collection of architecture and for its historic significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Southeast Town Hall</span> United States historic place

The Old Southeast Town Hall is located on Main Street in Brewster, New York, United States. Built in 1896, it served as the main office of the Town of Southeast, which surrounds and includes Brewster. In 1964, the town's clerk and supervisor moved to the recently closed First National Bank of Brewster's building down the street.

Rogers Park is a 56-acre public park and recreational facility in Danbury, Connecticut, United States, located at the end of Main Street at South Street. It hosts six baseball fields, four softball fields, a multi-purpose turf field, eight tennis courts, seven volleyball courts, four handball-paddleball courts, a spray park, a playground, an outdoor ice rink, a concession stand, a pond with a hiking/nature trail, the War Memorial building, several veterans monuments and the Charles Ives House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeRham Farm</span> Historic house in New York, United States

The former DeRham Farm is located along Indian Brook Road just off NY 9D in the Town of Philipstown, north of Garrison, New York, United States. It is a complex of buildings assembled by a gentleman farmer in the early 19th century that remain intact today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Bellamy-Ferriday House and Garden is a historic house museum at 9 Main Street North in Bethlehem, Connecticut. The main house was built between about 1754 and 1767 by the Rev. Joseph Bellamy, a prominent Congregationalist minister who played an influential role in the First Great Awakening. The property, the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The house and surrounding gardens are owned and operated by Connecticut Landmarks; admission is charged. Another 81 acres of forest and fields adjacent to the museum property are maintained as Bellamy Preserve, the town of Bethlehem's "Central Park," by the Bethlehem Land Trust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glenville School (Greenwich, Connecticut)</span> United States historic place

The Glenville School is a historic school building at 449 Pemberwick Road in the Glenville section of Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. It was one of several schools built in the town in the 1920s, when it consolidated its former rural school districts into a modern school system, with modern buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lambert House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The David Lambert House is a historic house museum at 150 Danbury Road in Wilton, Connecticut. Built about 1726 by one of the town's early settlers, it is a well-preserved colonial-era house with later Federal and Colonial Revival alterations. It is now owned by the local historical society. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butler-McCook Homestead</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Butler-McCook Homestead is a historic house museum at 396 Main Street in Hartford, Connecticut. Built in 1782, it is one of the city's few surviving 18th-century houses. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It is now operated as the Butler-McCook House & Garden by Connecticut Landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delavan Terrace Historic District</span> Historic district in New York, United States

The Delavan Terrace Historic District is located along the street of that name in Northwest Yonkers, New York, United States. It consists of 10 buildings, all houses. In 1983 it was recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Benjamin Williams House</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The Captain Benjamin Williams House, also known as deKoven House or DeKoven Community Center, is a historic house at 27 Washington Street in Middletown, Connecticut. Built in the late 18th century, it is a particularly fine example of late Georgian architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It is now owned and operated by the Rockfall Foundation and operated as a community center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">House at 36 Forest Street</span> Historic house in Connecticut, United States

The house at 36 Forest Street, sometimes called the Burton House in Hartford, Connecticut, United States, is a wooden Shingle Style structure built in the late 19th century and largely intact today. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bardon House</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Bardon House is a heritage-listed detached house at 41 The Drive, Bardon, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1864 to 1926. It is also known as Franciscan Sisters' Convent. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lord Mansion</span> Historic house in Maine, United States

The Lord Mansion is a historic house at 20 Summer Street in Kennebunk, Maine. The multi-part house includes a 1760 Georgian house as an ell to its main element, an 1801 Federal period structure. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 for its architectural significance; it is also a contributing element to the Kennebunk Historic District.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Schling, Dorothy (February 18, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places nomination, Charles Ives House". National Park Service . Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  2. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.