Samuel Russell House | |
Location | 350 High Street, Middletown, Connecticut |
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Coordinates | 41°33′36.88″N72°39′20.01″W / 41.5602444°N 72.6555583°W Coordinates: 41°33′36.88″N72°39′20.01″W / 41.5602444°N 72.6555583°W |
Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
Built | 1828 |
Architect | Ithiel Town; David Hoadley |
Architectural style | Greek Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 70000688 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 6, 1970 [1] |
Designated NHL | August 7, 2001 [2] |
The Samuel Russell House is a neoclassical house at 350 High Street in Middletown, Connecticut, built in 1828 to a design by architect Ithiel Town. Many architectural historians consider it to be one of the finest Greek Revival mansions in the northeastern United States. Town's client was Samuel Russell (1789-1862), the founder of Russell & Company, the largest and most important American firm to do business in the China trade in the 19th century, and whose fortunes were primarily based on smuggling illegal and addictive opium into China.
The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, and designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2001. [2] [3] It has been owned by Wesleyan University since 1937 and now houses the Department of Philosophy.
This building was erected in 1828 for Samuel Russell (1789–1862). Russell founded the trading firm of Russell & Company in Canton, China, after serving there as trading representative of the Providence, Rhode Island firm of Edward Carrington & Company. Between 1818 and 1831 Russell made his fortune in the illegal yet highly profitable importation of Turkish and Bengal opium into the port of Canton, and the exportation of fine teas and silks from there to Europe and the United States. In 1828 when his house was built, Russell was in Canton. His friend Samuel D. Hubbard worked with his wife, Mrs. Russell, to supervise the construction of the house. In 1831 Russell returned to Middletown and his new home, where he resided until his death in 1862.
The Russell House was designed by Ithiel Town, one of the period's foremost architects and major proponent of the Greek Revival style in America. David Hoadley (of Curtis and Hoadley), a prominent New Haven builder-architect, supervised the construction. The house has the form of a Greek temple with six full-height Corinthian columns supporting a heavy entablature and low flushboarded pediment. The front (west) wall has five bays with recessed panels between the first and second story windows except in the center bay, where pilasters support a high entablature over the double entrance door. This doorway is surrounded by side and overlights whose frames are decorated with fretwork. The windows on the two-bay side facades are separated vertically by panels like those on the front. Stucco scribed to resemble large-block ashlar covers the brick masonry walls. The house has a brownstone foundation supported by load-bearing masonry walls and a gable roof.
An antemion decorative motif is used on the portico column capitals, front corner pilasters, and in the attic window screen covers. The heavy entablature has three bands in the architrave; a band of foliated molding under the plain frieze; and a denticulated cornice defined by a bead and reel molding and an elaborate crown molding. Around 1855 the rear portico was enclosed and is now divided by six pilasters (originally square pillars) into five bays of windows with small protruding balconies in the end bays. A two-story north wing, added around 1855, is attributed to Alexander Jackson Davis, a former partner of Ithiel Town. Although not consistent with the symmetry of the whole, it is treated sympathetically through the use of identical pilasters and entablature.
The Russell estate occupied all of the block bounded by High, Court, Pearl and Washington streets. Extensive grounds behind Russell House, sloping down to Pearl Street, were planted with formal gardens, which included boxwood imported from England and plants brought from China by Samuel Russell. A double stair of intricate ironwork was added to the rear of the house at the time the portico was enclosed. It leads from the first floor down to the garden lawn.
The interior is divided by a spacious center hall with two rooms on either side. A stairway with landing is at the end of the hall. The four chimney stacks are placed in the outside wall of each of the rooms off the hall. The south parlors communicate through a set of folding doors, while the original north rooms have been opened up to provide a single large space.
Close attention to detail characterizes the decorative treatment throughout the interior. Trompe-l'œil wall paintings simulate panelling on the walls of the north main rooms, entrance hall, and stairwell. Similarly elaborate decoration is seen in the marble fireplaces, with Ionic columns supporting the mantelpieces, and in the recessed panelling of the doors and folding window shutters. A wide frieze and deep cornice of decorative plaster define the high ceilings of the interior.
The Russell House represents a significant stage in the development of Greek Revival architecture in America. In his work Town and Davis, Architects, Roger Hale Newton mentions the Russell House as "indicative of the hand of Town in its undeniable sophistication." Professor Talbot Hamlin places its design "in the richest Greek vein" and also states that "its Corinthian columns and open plan are urban and magnificent rather than in the simple old tradition." Newton elaborates on the latter point when he says that the communicating suite of parlors with their grand scale "may have reflected an urban development quite contrary... to the prevailing modern provincial places."
The Russell House demonstrates an early attempt by Ithiel Town to match the sophisticated design of an imposing Greek temple form with a compatible interior plan suited to living and entertaining on a grand scale. This plan was used in Town and Davis' later work in New York. Its successful application to the temple form provided a basis for vernacular interpretations of the Greek Revival style, which dominated residential construction until the advent of picturesque architecture.
The construction of the Russell House in 1828 established a standard of luxury and elegance for the residential architecture on High Street during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although many other imposing homes were built in this area of Middletown, the Russell House was never surpassed in sophistication and grandeur. It stands as a monument to the personal qualities of Samuel Russell and to the exciting era of the China trade, when Russell carried Middletown's mercantile tradition to its greatest heights.
The mansion faces west from the southeast corner of High and Washington Streets. The large scale of execution and the imposing qualities of the architecture enable this building to dominate the surrounding area. High Street during the 19th and early 20th centuries was the most prestigious residential area in Middletown. It is now part of the campus of Wesleyan University.
After the Russell family retained the house for five generations, in 1937 Thomas Macdonough Russell, Jr. deeded it to Wesleyan University. The building was used as Honors College until 1996. The building is currently used as a special events facility and as the home of the University's Philosophy department. [4]
Ithiel Town was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the first half of the 19th century. His work, in the Federal and revivalist Greek and Gothic revival architectural styles, was influential and widely copied.
The Asa Gray House, recorded in an HABS survey as the Garden House, is a historic house at 88 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. A National Historic Landmark, it is notable architecturally as the earliest known work of the designer and architect Ithiel Town, and historically as the residence of several Harvard College luminaries. Its most notable occupant was Asa Gray (1810–88), a leading botanist who published the first complete work on American flora, and was a vigorous defender of the Darwinian theory of evolution.
The Richard Alsop IV House is a historic house at 301 High Street in Middletown, Connecticut. Completed in 1839, the house is a distinctive example of transitional Greek Revival and Italianate architecture, and is nationally significant for the extremely well-preserved drawings on its interior walls. The site was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark on January 16, 2009. The house serves as the Davison Arts Center of Wesleyan University.
The Coite–Hubbard House is a historic house at 269 High Street in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. Built in 1856, it is a prominent local example of high-style Italianate architecture. Since 1904, it has served as the official residence of the president of Wesleyan University. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
The Edward Augustus Russell House is a Greek Revival house on the Wesleyan University campus in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. The house, at 318 High Street, faces west from the east side of High Street north of the corner at High and Court Streets. A large wooded lawn extends to the Honors College property to the north. High Street between Church and Washington Streets was the most prestigious residential area in Middletown during the 19th century. It was later home to the KNK Fraternity of Wesleyan University. The structural system consists of load-bearing masonry with a flat roof, and materials include brick and flushboarding walls and a brownstone foundation.
The Nathaniel Russell House is a historic house at 51 Meeting Street in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Built in 1808 by wealthy merchant and slave trader Nathaniel Russell, it is recognized as one of America's most important neoclassical houses. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
The Lanier Mansion is a historic house located at 601 West First Street in the Madison Historic District of Madison, Indiana. Built by wealthy banker James F. D. Lanier in 1844, the house was declared a State Memorial in 1926, and remains an important landmark in Madison to the present day. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1994 as one of the nation's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture.
The First Church of Christ, Unitarian, also known as First Church of Christ, Lancaster and colloquially as "the Bulfinch Church", is a historic congregation with its meeting house located at 725 Main Street facing the Common in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The church's fifth meeting house, built in 1816, was designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, recognizing it as one of Bulfinch's finest works.
The Benjamin Beard House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1850s, it is a well-preserved example of a distinctive local variant of Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Call-Bartlett House is a historic house in Arlington, Massachusetts. Built in 1855, it is one of the town's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
The Gene Snyder U.S. Courthouse and Custom House, also known as United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House, is a historic courthouse, custom house, and post office located at Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. It is the courthouse for the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the "United States Post Office, Court House and Custom House" name.
The Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, Port Huron, Michigan is a historic courthouse and federal office building located at Port Huron in St. Clair County, Michigan. It is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The Elm Street Congregational Church and Parish House is a historic church complex at Elm and Franklin Streets in Bucksport, Maine. It includes a Greek Revival church building, built in 1838 to a design by Benjamin S. Deane, and an 1867 Second Empire parish house. The church congregation was founded in 1803; its present pastor is the Rev. Stephen York. The church and parish house were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is a congregational member of the United Church of Christ.
The Dr. Ambrose Pratt House is a historic house on Pratt Street in Chester, Connecticut. Built in 1820, it is a fine example of high-style Federal architecture, with a long history of associate with the locally prominent Pratt family. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The Charles Daniels House is a historic house at 43 Liberty Street in Chester, Connecticut. Built about 1830 for a local factory owner and moved to its present site in 1978, it is a prominent example of high-style Greek Revival architecture with a temple front, possibly designed by the firm of Ithiel Town. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The William Rossiter House is a historic house at 11 Mulberry Street in Claremont, New Hampshire. Built in 1813 and enlarged by about 1850, it is a distinctive local example of Greek Revival architecture, with many surviving Federal period features. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
The Deerfield Town House is the town hall of Deerfield, New Hampshire. Built in 1856, it is one of the state's finest examples of public Greek Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, as "Town House".
The Moses Camp House is a historic house at 682 Main Street in the Winsted area of Winchester, Connecticut. Probably built about 1840 for one of the region's major merchants, it is a high quality example of Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984; it now houses professional offices.
The George Baldwin House is a historic house at 530 Foxon Road in North Branford, Connecticut. Probably built in the 1830s, its distinctive Greek Revival design has been attributed to architect Ithiel Town. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The Dr. Andrew Castle House, also known as the Castle-Russell House, is a historic house at 555 Amity Road in Woodbridge, Connecticut. Built in 1838, it is a locally distinguished example of high-style Greek Revival architecture, and is notable as the home of three prominent local physicians. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
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(help). Accompanying 15 photos, exterior and interior, from 1999 and 2000. (3.62 MB)Wikimedia Commons has media related to Samuel Wadsworth Russell House . |