united states department of the interior heritage ... · of the estates front these years still...

35
FIIR-o._00 iI-;8l 1 United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation ServiCe National Register of Histot!ic Places Inventory-Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms. Type all entries-complete applicable sections ,r.r For HCRS use V _e4. - dats sntsrsd.’ 1. Name . historic Blithewold and:orcommon Blithewold; Blithewold Gardeng and Arboretum 2. Location street & number Ferry Road for publication Hon.. Fernand J. StGermain . city, town Br is to 1 - vicinity of congressional district 1 state Rhode Island code 44 county Bristol code 001 3. Classification . Category Ownership Status district -. public occupied Present Use . agriculture ..X museum buildings piivate unoccupied - structure - both work in progress commercial park it_educational private residenco - site Public Acquisition Accessible - entertainment - religious - object - in process ......X. yes: restricted - government scientific - being considered yes: unrestricted- - industrial -- transportation - no :‘ -. - military other: 4. Owner of Property . name He ri tage Foundation of RuodeIs 1.anJ1r._jV.JL_i1anLicwi,_j’rcsidant street & number city, town Providence state Rhode is lalid 5. Location of Legal Description . courthouse, registry ot deeds, etc. Bristol Town__Hal]. street& number 9 Court Street city, town Bristol state Rhode Island 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Bristol, Rhode Island: flUe Historic and Cultural Resourcdl9sthispropertybeendeterminedelegible?_yes__iLno 02903 1972- 1981 ____________ - federal X. state county -- - local depository for survey records Rhode Is land H is tor]cal P res e rva tiofl conuni s 5 011 city, town Prjjce ____ _ ____ . .. - ta!!_Rhod lsland date

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Page 1: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

FIIR-o._00 iI-;8l1

United States Department of the InteriorHeritage Conservation and Recreation ServiCe

National Register of Histot!ic PlacesInventory-Nomination FormSee instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms.Type all entries-complete applicable sections

,r.rForHCRSuse

V_e4. -

dats sntsrsd.’

1. Name .

historic Blithewold

and:orcommon Blithewold; Blithewold Gardeng and Arboretum

2. Location

street & number Ferry Road for publication

Hon.. Fernand J. StGermain.

city, town Br is to 1 - vicinity of congressional district 1

state Rhode Island code 44 county Bristol code 001

3. Classification .

Category Ownership Statusdistrict -. public occupied

Present Use. agriculture ..X museum

buildings piivate unoccupied- structure - both work in progress

commercial parkit_educational private residenco

- site Public Acquisition Accessible - entertainment - religious- object - in process ......X. yes: restricted - government scientific

- being considered yes: unrestricted- - industrial -- transportation- no :‘ -. - military other:

4. Owner of Property .

name He ri tage Foundation of RuodeIs 1.anJ1r._jV.JL_i1anLicwi,_j’rcsidant

street & number

city, town Providence state Rhode is lalid

5. Location of Legal Description .

courthouse, registry ot deeds, etc. Bristol Town__Hal].

street& number 9 Court Street

city, town Bristol state Rhode Island

6. Representation in Existing SurveysBristol, Rhode Island:

flUe Historic and Cultural Resourcdl9sthispropertybeendeterminedelegible?_yes__iLno

02903

1972- 1981

____________

- federal X. state county -- - local

depositoryfor survey records Rhode Is landH is tor]cal P res e rva tiofl conuni s 5 011

city, town Prjjce

____

_

____

. .. - ta!!_Rhod lsland

date

Page 2: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

-. :7.Description

Condition Check one Check one- excellent - deteriorated - unaltered original site_. good - ruins _i. altered - moved date

fair - unerposed

Describe the present and original if known physical appearance

Blithewold is a turn-of-the-century summer estate which includes alarge house, several outbuildings, extensive gardens, and an arh return onthirty-three acres of well maintained land stretching westward from FerryRoad to Bristol Harbor overlooking Narragansett iay. Built for a privateowner in 1895 nd 1907, Blithewold is currently owned by a private Latindation and is operated as a horticultural museum. The estate formerly included 41.6 acres west of Ferry Road as well as two additional lots eastof the road , but part of the acreage was sold in 1933 and is now the siteof St. Columban’s Foreign Mission Society Seminary. This section of Bristol was the site of extensive and exclusive summer development in the lasthalf of the nineteenth and the early part of the twentieth century. Someof the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, aselsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates are being broken tipfor condominium or tract housing development.

Construction of Blithewold was begun following the purchase in September 1894, by coal magnate Augustus Stout VanWickle, of an earlier, lesspretentious, summer estate owned by John Rogers Gardner. Vanwickle engaged landscape architect John DeWoif to lay out the grounds and the NewYork architects Mead and Taft to design a new mansion to be placed westof the existing Gardner House. Ground was broken for Blithewold in 1895,but the house was destroyed by fire only eleven years later in 1906. Thepresent house dates from 1907. Several of the outbuildings the stables,well house, and summerhouse, however, and the basic outlines of gardensand arboretum date from the 1890’s.

The forty-five room mansion, designed in the style of an Englishmanor by Boston architects Kilham and Hopkins, is set well back from FerryRoad amid manicured lawns see photos 1 and 2 and site plan . It is asomewhat irregularly shaped, rectangular, three-story stucco and stonestructure with an attached stucco and half-timbered servantswing on thesouth. The main section of the house is capped by a steeply-pitched, truncated gable roof of slate which is broken by three symmetrically spacedcross-gables and a series of third-story dormers. The central gable, finished in stone, rises above the main entrance which is sheltered by a wooden porte-cochére. On the west, or water side, the two flanking gables haveporches on both the first and second stories; the central gable shelters abrick terrace on the ground level with a porch above it.

The main part of the mansion is laid out on an essentially symmetricalcross-axial plan. The front entrance vestibule opens directly into thehall photo 3, which in turn opens to a loggia on the west, overlookingthe terrace. At a right angle to the hall is a long corridor leading fromthe living room on the north to the dining room on the south. Immediatelyat the right as one enters is the staircase, which rises from its landingin a straight run over the vestibule. Opposite the staircase, on the waterside, is the billiard room. All the major rooms on the first floor have

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFOR KCRS USE ONLY

HERITAGE CONSERVATION PND RECREATION SERVICERECEIVED .

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATEENTERED..

INVENTORY _ NOMINATION FORM

___

CONTINUATION SHEET 1 ITEM NUMBER PAGE 2 .

direct access to outside living spaces, reflecting the summer use ofthe property. The rooms vary in style. The living room photo 4 islight and airy with a delicate plastered ceiling and classic mantle-piece designed by I nigo Jones for Gloucester Ilotise , I’ icad iii y * andrescued when that residence was demolished in 1902. The hilt lardroom is smaller and more cozy with natural oak woodwork and a stone

______

fireplace lintel incised "RI i thewold’’ which was saved from the orig -

____

thai Blithiewold. In contrast, the dining room is aI1c’letI in dark-stained oak and has a long carved table seating twenty.

The main staircase, with an elaborate Colonial Revival balustrade,leads up to an open balcony-like hail on the second floor. Prom thiscentral gallery corridors lead to five bedrooms, each with its ownbath, a powder room, and a servants’ ironing room. All the bathroomshave fixtures with gold plated handles, with taps for hot, cold, andsalt water. The urnster bedroom on the north, measures thirty-five bytwenty- six feet and has hand-painted wallpaper murals and a Dutchdelft-tiled fireplace surround. It also features an elaborate matchedset of inlaid furniture, including two canopy bedsand an assortmentof bureaus, tables, and chairs. The room opens onto an outdoor sleeping porch that measures twenty- seven by nineteen feet. The other bed-rooms are not so grand but all have fireplaces anti most have patiosoverlooking the water. Marj one VantVi cki e s bedroom photo 61 is particularly interesting for its dark panelled finish and mixture olseventeenth-century antique and carefully executed reproduction fur

____

nishings. The third floor has always been called "Bachelor’s Quarters"and contains five bedrooms and two baths.

The servants wing, accessible to the main house on all three 1ev- r.els, contains kitchen, pantry, flower arranging room, as well as aservants’ sitting or dining room on the first floor and eight bed-rooms with two baths above. The servants wing also has its own porch.

hue mansion has been little altered except for moderni ::it iüii OLthe servants cIU:IItei’S to accouijiiodate the till -time resiht’it Exectit iveDirector of the museum. .

.

A number of outbuildings remain with the house see site planthe 1395 shingle style stable or carriage house,now used for storagephoto 10 ; the 1907 stucco garage with living quarters at either end,

: --

‘*

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FHp8 300.OA11 / 78

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORHERITAGE CONSERVATION N’JD RECREATtON SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACESINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

CONTINUATION SHEET 2 ItEM NUMBER 7

one section of1895 Colonial Revival well-house, in toctagonal shingle style summer house,a turn-of-the-century greenhouse, nowwing, a fern house, was removed and soat the end of the long allêe known asboat house, and dock visible only frontbuilt in 1895 and is stone with woodenframe boatoriginally

Two foundationsto the carriage houserounded by the bamboo grove. Ated near the dock, but the 1938trace of its existence.

opedpachAt tted

At the eastern edge of the bosquet is theyond it, the enclosed garden, a 1arte lawn areaIIICfl trees including the estate’s famous eighty- foplanted here in 1911 when it was ten feet tallgarden is said to have been first laid out by Jowho planted its perimeter with larches, spruces,

the 1938 burn cane, was

stillilIle i house., and he -

stir rotIIi¼Ied by siec i -

ot g i ant redwoodpliut 7 . The ejic I usedhn Gardner d.l841,

and English oaks;

FOR HCRS USE ONLY

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED

PAGE

which is now rented to the resident groundskeeper; thelie middle of the front lawn; thewith an open porch 1895; and"L" shaped because an originalld in the 1920’s. By the water

house, partially rebuused as bathhouses.

ilt following

‘‘Lovers Lane’’ a it a pump housethe shore. The pump house wasdoors. The adjacent stone and

remain on the estate:and the other for an

one for anearl’ green

small house For the boahurricane destroyed it,

ice house nexthouse, now stit’t man va s I ocaleaving no

.4

-.

ii4 #.i. r.

r..:’. W.r’ç.

As interesting as the house, outbuildings, and family furnishingsare, Blithewold is most noted for its gardens and arboretum, designedby John DetVolf, of Bristol and New York, over the period of 1895 to1912. Immediately south of the mansion is a rose garden with a stone"moon gate" entrance c .1910 photo 10 . Just north of the house isa small sunken garden 1910-1911. First laid out with formal bedsdefined by boxwood, the sunken garden was remodeled following the deathof the boxwood after the severe winters of 1913 and 1933 and is nowplanted with perennial beds around a central grassy area. It is presently referred to as the north garden.

North of this garden Is the "bosquet," a woodsy area also devel -in 1910, planted with various groundcovers including ymca andysandra through which spring bulbs and wildflowers rise each year.he center of the bosquet is a small fountain and nearby are locathe graves of many of the ownei’ s much beloved dogs

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORHERITAGE CONSERVAThON AND RECREATION SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES C:

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM

___

CONTINUATION SHEET 3 ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE

some of the spruces and oaks still survive.

North of the enclosed garden is a bamboo grove and to the westis a water garden, both inspired by oriental landscape tradition. ..., 4,The water garden is composed of two small irregularly shaped pondsbordered by grass and flowers, crossed by an arched stone bridge, andpartly shaded by a Japaneseweeping maple photo 8 . A rock gardenwas incorporated nearby in 1929.

Directly east and west of the mansion are broad lawns. The western lawn, once usedfor tennis , is now kept mostly in Lii I grass andhayed; it extends meadow-like nine hundred feet to the shore! inc Iphoto 9 . The eastern lawn, which extends two hundred and fifty feet toFerry Road, is broken by the Curving sweep and oval of the graveldriveway and by several specimen trees, including a lare weepingbeech, a silver maple, a cryptomeria, and a giant sequoia. The lawnis bordered along the road by a carefully built field-stone wall intowhich are set, at the south, the main entrance--two stone piers, capped with a delicate wrought-iron arch--and farther north, a small stonearchway which formerly gave family members access from the wooded areasurrounding the enclosed garden to Blithewold property east of FerryLane.

Some of the numerous original gravel and slate paths are still in

_____

use; others have been grassed over. Plantings along these paths orig

____

inally included herbaceous borders interspersed with small shrubs;over the years, however, the shrubs have taken over. Other changes inthe landscaping have resulted from the destruction caused by the hurricanes of 1938 and 1954; .over four hundred trees on the property werelost.

p1’*

FOR I-ICRS USE Y’1LY

RECE WED

DATE ENTERED.. . :

Page 6: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

*Significance

Areasof Significance-Check and justify belowarcheology-prehistoriccommunity planning . X. landscape architecture . religion

archeology-historic - conservation . law . scienceagriculture economics - .. literature .. sculpture

._.. architecture - education - military X.. social,art engineering -- music humanitariancommerce .. explorationsettlement -. .. philosophy theatercommunications -- industry _.. politics.government . . transportation

invention -- other specify

::i S9S19i2 LäiidScCping* . . JohnDeWolfSpecificdates

BuilderArchitect Kil1iain.. ..lIopki.nsStatement of Significance in one paragraph

Neither the house nor the outbuildings are part iclilarly un

they are good examples of their period and style - The house, aof the English manor style popular for country houses and sumineat the turn of the twentieth century, is generously proportoI1fully finished, but modest when compared to the summer "cottagecontemporaneously at Newport and other watering spots - In thistion of modesty and attention to detail, Blithewold is typicalof Kilhaln and Hopkins, a good but undistinguished firm.

A contemporary account of the work of Kilham and Hopkins summarizedtheir contribution as follows:

all’ pecu ia rly individualThey have added to the

of s t rtic V ti ic s whi i cli

and renewed life to sound local

article suggests, further, that Kilham and Hopkins displayed more van-in their approach to summer homes than to any other genre.

Surely the firm’s "high standard of excellence" is visible in the careand quality of the construction and finishing at nil thtewold : the stairhal 1and staircase, the living room ceiling and m:intel , the panelled dining roomwith its banks of windows at e.i thor end and its ii rep! ace wi thi pa mt ingfitted into the niche above, and the lattice-work breakfast room al di splay attention to detail and responsiveness to the specific desires of theclient. The use of fire-resistant construction -- stone and stucco withmany fire-stops in the interior walls - - is another reflection of’ responseto a particular client. The first ‘‘Blithewold , a large shingle style househad burned; and ilr. and Mrs. William L. McKee were taking no chances withits replacement.

1TheArchitecturalRecord, February, 1912

Period- prehistoric

1400-1499- 1500-1599

1600-16991700-1799

-X.._ 1800-1899.-Y--_ 1900-

Blithewold is significantBristol’s social history, and,gardens and arboretum which are

itsfor its al-chiteL-ttlre, for its role inmost particularly, for its landscaping,outstanding iii New Hug laud -

ique, butI 111011

r estatesed and care-

s" builtcombma -

of the work

"Their work has been very varied hlroughout their careerthey have lived up to a high standard of excel hence .. hutthey have not, on the other hand, madecontribution to American architecture.stock of New England buildings a large utunherhave served admirably the purpose for which they were erectedand which have given prolongedtradition".

Theety

see contijutat ion sheet its

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HR-8-50JA1.1/78 .- -

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFOR HCRS-USE ONLY

- HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATE ENTEREDINVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM - -

CONTI NIJATION SHEET 4 ITEM NUMBER 3 PAGE 2.

Blithewold’s ability to give a definite sense of time and lifestyle is enhanced by the integrity of the family furnishings. Many

_____

of the furnishings from the original Blithewold were saved from thefire and installed in the second Blithewold; very few of them or subsequent additions were removed from the house when it left familyhands finally in 1976.

____

The property which became Blithewold has a long history of social gatherings. It was first developed as a summer retreat in the L -;:

mid-nineteenth centuryby John Rogers Gardner, a prominent New Yorkbanlçer. While Mr. and Mrs. Gardner owned the property, it was thesetting for visits and following Mr. Gardner’s death, rentals bynumerous native and foreign luminaries, M. de Struvie, the Russian -. -

Minister to the United States, General Burnside, and Nelson tg. Aldrichamong others.

____

Coal baron Augustus Stout Vanls’ickle, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania,purchased the property in 1894, having been impressed with Bristol *: *.

while steam yachting across the bay from Narragansett, where he wassummering that year. VanWickle made his fortune in various coal mming operations in Pennsylvania Ebervale Coal Company and VanWickle, - -

Stout, and Company and was a trustee of the Peddie Institute, theMetropolitan Museum of Art, and the American Museum of Natural Illstory. lie is most well rememberedin Rhode Island for his bequeststo Brown University in Providence, wit icit funded VanW i c k Ic I Ia 11 , theAdministration Building demolished in the 1960’s, and VanwickleGates, the highly ornamental gates to the college green through which

____

all graduating classes have passed since they were built in 1901.

Vanwickle died in 1898, leaving his wife, Bessie Pardee VanWickledaughter of Ario Pardee, "the millionaire coal and iron merchant"2from Hazleton, Pennsylvania and two daughters, Marjorie, then four-teen, and Augustine, born after her father’s death. Mrs. TanWicklemarried William L. McKee, then of Boston, in 1901. McKee prosperedin the wholesale shoe business. At the time of his retirement in1932 after fifty-three years of leathers and lasts, he was co-ownerof the A. W. Tedcustle Company of Boston. -

2NationalCyclopedia of AmericanBiography, p. 303.

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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR ro HCRS-USE ONLY -.

-HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE -. - - .- -

RECEIVED -

.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES DATE ENTERED- INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM - - -

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CONTINUATION SHEET 6 ITEM NUMBER 3 PAGE 4

There seems to be relatively little information on .John IleWol 1,

_____

landscape architect. Born in Bristol in 1850, a member of one of that -

town’s leading families, he studied landscape arçhitecture in RhodeIsland, Boston, New York, England, and Europe. The was employed as -

an engineer and landscape architect in "all the Atlantic states"5 anddesigned Villa Maria on Lake Como, Italy. He was a topographer andhydrographer with the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey front .1871 to

_____

1888 and subsequently was landscape architect of the borough of Brooklyn, New York; in that capacity, lie completed Prospect Park. lie after-wards was appointed landscape architect in charge of park work through-out the entire city of Greater New York, following the consolidation ofthe boroughs. It would seem that he must have beenaffiliated with theOlmsted firm in some way. being so involved in. the New York parks atthis time; however, this conjecture awaits verification. .-,

The landscaping for Blithewold does reflect the kind of naturallandscape tradition used by the Olmsted firm, particularly in the combination of open lawn areas with naturalistic groupings of specimentrees and shrubs. The use of specific areas for specific single planttypes -- for example, the collection of rhododendrons west of the en-closed garden and the groundcovers of the bosquet -- and the placement .

of the formal garden near the house are typical of other large-scale . --

residential landscape designs of this era. The perennial beds whichformerly existed along some of the paths reflected then-new ideas in --

English gardening developed by William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll.

____

The variety of plant material on the grounds is another noteworthyfeature. Trees and shrubs have beenmarked with botanical and commonnames at least since Mrs. McKee’s tenure. A list of all existing plant

____

materials has been compiled by the Heritage Foundation and entered inthe computerized inventory of the Plant Sciences Data Center in MountVernon, Virginia.

Mrs. I,yon left Dli tliewold to the lleritage Fotindat ion of Rhodeisland which is operating it primarily as a hurt ictil tura I museum andarboretum open to the public on a seasonal basis. The Foundat ion iswell aware of the value o’ the landscaping and the hLIi 1dirtts and fur-nishings, and is a good trustee br this important. and he:ititi IttI pro- .

perty.

_____

4 S’ At

4. WhoWas Who InAmerica, p. 320

5Ibid.

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.-

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR . .

HERITAGE CONSERVATION PND RECREATION SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES F . - -

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORM-

CONTINUATION SHEET S ITEM NLJMBrn 3 PAGE 3

Mr. and Mrs. McKee saw to it that Blithewold was rebuilt followingthe 1906 fire. They continued the Vanwickle’s interest in yachts and

_____

- yachting. They owned personally several fine steam yachts and sailing .

sloops and offered their lawn for the drying of the sails of the"Resolute," the Herreshoff-built America’s Cup contender in the 1920race run off Newport. It is said that Blithewold’ s lawns were theonly sward in town large enough to accommodate the sails. The Mc Kecs - F’.also continued the traditions of hospitality associated with l3lithewold. FThe estate was the scene for many parties and visits by illustrious per- rsonalities of the era, among whom were Admiral Sir William Arthur, of . . --

Port Arthur fame, and Jennie Jerome, mo ther of ti ns ton ILl rc liii I - it lie rpolitical and social luminaries visited as well and some of the most r.famous yachts of the day tied up at the Blithewold dock. This socialactivity continued through World War I, gradually declining in the1920’s. Following the Depression it was no longer feasible to maintain -

the house and grounds as they had been previously and social activitieswere further reduced. No longer could eight women, a butler, and ahouseman for the house and eleven men for the grounds be kept on. -- :1

Mrs. McKee died in 1936 and Mr. McKee died in 1946. Thereafter

_____

Marj one VanWickle Lyon bought out her sister Augustine’s interest andsummered there with her husband George Armstront Lyon, an i nVCStlItCIit

counselor with the Boston firm of Scudder, Stevens, and Clark. DuringMrs. Lyon’s tenure -- 1946 until her death in 1976 -- the grounds of

___

Blithewold were opened to the public on a selective basis and their

_____

landscape importance was increasingly recognized. In 1076 Mrs. lyonwas awarded the Garden Club of America’s Horticultural Award, its highest honor. The award cited Mrs - Lyon’s "horticultural knowledge, particularly in propagating the Sequoia Redwood in this climate, and herinterest in the preservation of endangered species of plants andshrubs. "3

Acts of nature the hurricanes of 1938 and 1954, the severe winters oh 1 913 and 19331 , the inn t u t I on of p1 ant inn t e r 1:1 I s , attI theeconomic reality which can no longer suppori eleven ma iliteltalice mcii,have necessarily caused some changes to Blithewold’s grounds. Essentially, however, the landscaping plan developed by John DeWolf between

____

1895 and 1912 remains surprisingly intact. Deh’olf’s 1395 landscaping r-- -

plan is said to be still in the house and, when found, should prove -

instructive in understanding the evolution of the grounds through rsz

time.

3Blithewold, p. 156

-I.-.

Fog :FICgSLJSE ONLY - -

RECEIVED

DATE ENTERED

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HR-8-300A11/78

___________________________________

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORFOR HCRS USE ONLY

HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICERECEIVED -. - -

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ENTERED

INVENTORY-- NOMINATION FORME - -

CONTI NUATION SHEET 7 ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE 2 ::;j

ArchitecturalRecord, Vol. 31, February 1912, pp. 97-128.

Bristol Historical and Preservation Society, Collections. -

S.-Bristol Town Hall, Official Records. - -

.

Buma, Donald, Various interviews and telephone conversations withMr. Buma, Executive Director of Blithewold, February and March, 1080.

HistoricalCatalog of Brown University1764-1904. Brown University,Providence,Rhode Island, 1904. p.329.

NationalCyclopedia of AmericanBiography. James T. White Company,New York, 1907. Vol. V, p. 303.

Pardee, Alice DeWolf. Blithewold. The Heritage Foundation ofRhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island, 1978.

ProvidenceJournal, July 8, 1946. "William L. McKee Dead in Bristol."

ProvidenceJournal, January 20, 1954. Obituary for "George Armstrong ‘

Lyon, . .

.

SocialRegister Summer1925. Social Register Association, New York

_____

City, 1925. Vol. XXXIX, #62, June 1925.

____

-

Who’sWho in NewEngland. Albert Nelson Marquis, ed.A. N. Marquis Co., Plihlishers, Chicago, 1909. pp. 300-301.

WhoWas h’ho inAmerica. The A. N. Marquis Company, Chicago, 1942.4Vol. I, p. 320.

-

-. Tutr . - --

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*1 ... . .-,.. -

Major Bibliographical References

American Architect and Building News, Vol. XCVII#1776, January 5, 1910, and # 1785, March 9, 1910.

See continuation sheet 7.

10. Geographical DataAcreage of nominated property 33 -

Quadrangle name - Quadrangle scale 1.: 24,000 -

UMT Relerences

A191 I3Ilili3iOiOI 14l61ll318l6i0lB1191

1311i114i0l01 I4i611i3I5t210IZone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing -

C11i91 I311i018i8,0I j416jl13J319,OJ DIli9I !311i017i9p01 l4i6lli3l7iSiOl

El I Ii ii 1 F j I ii I iiii I.

GtIIlI_IiIIllitIII HlI iilliIIlIttllI

Verbal boundary description and justification

Plat 165, lots 7 8; plat 166, lot 6.

List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries

state code county code

state - code county code

11. Form Prepared By

name/title Kevin Jordan..rpfesso/Ancc1in* V. Lynch, National Register Coor

d nat ororganization Roger Williams College/RIHPC date March 1980

street&number 150 Benefit Street telephone 401-277-2678

cityortown Providence state Rhode Island 02903

.12.State Historic Preservation Officer CertificationThe evaluated significance of this property within the state is:

national state local

As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 PublIc Law 69.-665, I hereby nominate this property for inclusio, tic National Register a,icl ce, tifv that it ha9 LIt’t’II t’vtilti,,t,’tIaccording to the criteria and procedures set fort by th’ Her e Conservation and Recreation Service.

StateHistoric Preservation Officer signature - - -"

________________________

ti tie State Historic. Prcservtion 0f19cci- - date MaY 14. 1930

L-

ForHCflSuseonlyI hereby certify that this property Is Included In the National Register

, ç t7-z 4

--.-.;-* - -:::-‘,-:..:--::t-.-

.

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Page 12: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 13: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 14: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 17: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 18: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 19: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 20: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 21: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 23: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 24: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

B ii thewo1 dFerry Road, Bristol, Rhode Island

Copy negative: Brown Photo Lab February, 1980On file at: Rhode Island Historical Preservation

Commission

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Page 25: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 26: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 27: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 28: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

BlithewoldFerry Road, Bristol, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, Photographer - March, 1980Negative filed at:Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission

View southeast from driveway showing moongate with 1895carriage house at left and rose garden at right inbackground.

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Page 29: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 30: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 31: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates
Page 32: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Warren Jagger, Photographer March, 1980Negative filed at:Rhode Island Historical Preservation Commission

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Page 33: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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Page 34: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

BlithewoldFerry Road, Bristol, Rhode Island

Warren Jagger, Photographer March, 1980Negative filed at Rhode Island Historical

Preservation Commission

View west northwest from near southwest cornerof terrace, showing sweep of lawn and curve oftrees.

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Page 35: United States Department of the Interior Heritage ... · of the estates front these years still remain; but increasingly here, as elsewhere along Bristol’s waterfront, large estates

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