The Greek Revival style was prevalent 1840 to 1880. This style is easily recognizable due to its bold features and prevalence in institutional, civic, and residential architecture and was at times referred to as the “national style.”  These homes have low pitched gable roofs with wide trim bands at the roof and cornice.  The entry door is clearly defined, often covered by a pedimented gable on columns and almost always with a decorative surround.  Decorative pilasters combine with bold, but simple mouldings and six over six pane windows with simple trim.  When the gabled ends are on the side, the front façade is typically symmetrical, often with a colonnaded porch.  When the gabled end faces front (like a Greek temple) a lower side wing was very common throughout New England.  The front facing gable is one of the Greek Revival’s most enduring legacies.  Continued in the Italianate and subsequent styles and rarely seen outside of New England.

In the Christian Hill neighborhood, we find fine examples of the symmetrical side gable format for two of the towns prominent citizens in the Tyler Thayer House at 98-100 Vernon (ca. 1855) and the Lyman Smith House at 15 Vernon (ca. 1851) are symmetrical.  Contemporaneous, we can also find examples of the gable front with side wing in the more modest homes of William Harlow Pond at 49 Maple (ca. 1857), Elbridge Shumway at 54 Maple (ca. 1858) and Augustus Stockbridge at 128 Vernon (ca. 1861).

Links to Christian Hill’s Greek Revival homes:

76 Day Street – The Masonic Temple

15 Vernon Street – The Lyman Smith House

98-100 Vernon Street – The Tyler Thayer House

49 Maple Street – The William Harlow Pond House

54 Maple Street – The Elbridge Shumway House

128 Vernon Street – The Augustus P. Stockbridge House

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House Styles Found in the Christian Hill Neighborhood

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One might expect to find a large variety style of homes in any neighborhood in a New England town. After all the area was settled…

Italianate

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The Italianate style was prevalent from 1840 to 1880, and like the Greek Revival, frequently has pedimented gables on columns at the front entry and…

99 Day Street – The James A. Hartshorn House

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James A. Hartshorn house circa 1990 (Source: MACRIS database.) This house Italianate style with stick style elements was built by merchant, James A. Hartshorn around…

75 Day Street – The Joseph & Hannah (Rhoades) Day House

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The Joseph Day house, circa 1990 (Source: MACRIS database) Joseph Day had Tyler Thayer build this Italianate style house in 1855 for him and his…

12 Vernon Street – The Joel Metcalf Baker House

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Joel Baker house, circa 1900, when it was still situated on Washington Street (Norwood Historical Society collection) Joel M. Baker bought this house lot in…

120 Vernon Street – The Daniel P.  Pond House

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The Daniel P. Pond house circa 1990 (Source: MACRIS database) Daniel P Pond bought this empty house lot in 1861 from Joseph Day, Lyman Smith…

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