John Kendrick House
Encyclopedia
The John Kendrick House is located on West Main Street in Waterbury
, Connecticut, United States. It is a brick Tuscan villa house in the Italianate
architectural style
built in the 1860s, one of the last remaining on Waterbury Green from that period, after which many of the older houses were replaced with commercial buildings. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
individually, after having been included as a contributing property
when the Downtown Waterbury
Historic District
was created a few years earlier.
It was built by Greene Kendrick, an early industrialist, for his son John, a lawyer who later served as a judge and a mayor of Waterbury. Unpublished papers on file at the Yale University Library
, stylistic traits and other historical evidence suggest the house was the work of Henry Austin
, although there is no definite proof. In the early 20th century Green's son donated it to the local historical society. It was later used to house the Mattatuck Museum
in its early years, and is still owned by the museum although not currently in use.
. To the south are parking lots accessible from Kendrick Street. On either side are large commercial blocks that dwarf the house. The terrain is level and the neighborhood is an extensively developed urban core.
A much deeper setback
than either of its neighbors provides the house with a front lawn behind a cast iron
fence. The building itself is a square two-story three-bay
structure of common-bond brick two courses thick on a foundation
of granite
ashlar
with brownstone
facing. It is topped by a gently hipped roof
surfaced in standing-seam metal pierced by two brick chimneys at the center. A two-story service wing, added later, projects from the rear. It is largely sympathetic but has more restrained decoration.
the centrally located main entrance is sheltered by an extensively ornamented
wooden portico
. A balustrade at the top creates a balcony
accessible from a round-arched window the recessed section above it. All the other windows are single-pane double-hung sash window
s.
Those on the bottom have small cast-iron balconies of their own with similar patterns to the front fence. Their brownstone sills are matched with pediment
ed lintels on console
s; the second-story side windows have the same sills but their lintels lack the pediment. The balcony door has a lintel that curves with the arch. Above it there is a pediment in the roofline, where broad wooden eaves are supported by large brackets
with leaf carvings.
The entrance portico has square paired fluted
Composite
pilasters on high pedestals with egg-and-dart and rope-turn molding
. Their capitals
are more vegetative than is typical for the Composite order, with thick acanthus
leaves at the volute
s. Above each, foliate paired brackets support the roof.
and dropped ceilings with modern lighting. All the rooms have their original woodwork, including molded baseboard
s, door and window surrounds and cornice
.
The east rooms were combined into a large gallery when the museum occupied the space. The lower hall and stairs have a flat-paneled dado
, and the upstairs hallway has a dado of its own with floral and ornamental designs on the plaster. The library, upstairs, has a parquet floor more intricate than the other rooms.
The former museum office is the best-preserved room in the house. In addition to the same original woodwork s the other rooms, it has its original white marble mantel
. Its design, referred to as "Grecian" in contemporary catalogs, has a complex-curved shelf supported by consoles
over an arched firebox
opening with a keyblock carved into the shape of a scallop
shell.
, built the house in 1866 for his son John. At that time it was one of many grand houses on Waterbury Green, the two-acre (8,000 m²) remnant of the original town common that was by then the center of a growing industrial city. John was unable to replicate his father's success in business and so turned to the law, where he rose to serve as judge and eventually mayor of Waterbury. He lived well; upon his death in 1877 the estate
lists rugs and mirrors valued at half the average annual salary of a worker in the city's factories.
The house has all the typical features of the Tuscan villa, an Italianate
house type popular with wealthy Victorians embracing the Picturesque
mode: a cubical form, nearly flat roof with wide overhanging eaves, and a three-bay facade with most of the decorative touches lavished on the main entrance. Another original detail, a belvedere
at the center of the roof, was replaced when the roof was resurfaced. Following their Italian Renaissance models, decoration tended toward very free applications of classical touches, and the Kendrick House's portico is no exception. The square columns in particular do not follow classical proportions, and their plush capitals
and leaf brackets
further depart from more restrained classical originals.
There is no documentary record that identifies the architect. Several of the additional details—the cast iron balcony balustrades, brownstone trim and verticality created by the emphasis on the central bay—are typical of Henry Austin
. Sketches found among Austin's papers after he died, now kept at the Yale University Library
, show a very similar house with the same chimney and belvedere placement, but without the brackets and central pediment. They date to the 1840s, prior to the known date of construction, and Austin was known to have been active in Waterbury in the 1860s.
These details are not enough to positively associate the house with Austin, however. Other architects borrowed from his patterns, as he did from theirs. It is quite possible as well that the house is the work of R.W. Hill, a Waterbury native who had worked in Austin's New Haven
office.
In 1911, Kendrick's son Greene Kendrick II sold the house to the Mattatuck Historical Society for use as a museum. By that time most of the other houses on the Green and neighboring streets had been demolished and replaced by the larger commercial blocks that dominate the area now. The historical society converted the house for museum use, merging all the east rooms into a large gallery for exhibits. It remained in the house until the construction of its current home across the Green in 1987.
Waterbury, Connecticut
Waterbury is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, on the Naugatuck River, 33 miles southwest of Hartford and 77 miles northeast of New York City...
, Connecticut, United States. It is a brick Tuscan villa house in the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
built in the 1860s, one of the last remaining on Waterbury Green from that period, after which many of the older houses were replaced with commercial buildings. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
individually, after having been included as a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
when the Downtown Waterbury
Downtown Waterbury Historic District
The Downtown Waterbury Historic District is the core of the city of Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a roughly rectangular area centered around West Main Street and Waterbury Green, the remnant of the original town commons, which has been called "one of the most attractive downtown...
Historic District
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
was created a few years earlier.
It was built by Greene Kendrick, an early industrialist, for his son John, a lawyer who later served as a judge and a mayor of Waterbury. Unpublished papers on file at the Yale University Library
Yale University Library
Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It is the second-largest academic library in the North America, with approximately 12.5 million volumes housed in 20 buildings on campus...
, stylistic traits and other historical evidence suggest the house was the work of Henry Austin
Henry Austin (architect)
Henry Austin was a prominent and prolific American architect based in New Haven, Connecticut. He practiced for more than fifty years and designed many public buildings and homes primarily in the New Haven area...
, although there is no definite proof. In the early 20th century Green's son donated it to the local historical society. It was later used to house the Mattatuck Museum
Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center
The Mattatuck Museum Arts and History Center is a cultural institution based in Waterbury, Connecticut.-Collection:The Mattatuck Museum is unique because it focuses on the work of painters and sculptors who were born and/or based in Connecticut...
in its early years, and is still owned by the museum although not currently in use.
Building
The Kendrick House is on a small lot on the south side of West Main opposite Waterbury Green, the small park at the center of the city. It is midway between Church and Leavenworth streets. Across the Green are the main Mattatuck Museum building and the Elton HotelElton Hotel
The Elton Hotel is located on West Main Street in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is an early 20th century building by local architect Wilfred E. Griggs in the Second Renaissance Revival architectural style....
. To the south are parking lots accessible from Kendrick Street. On either side are large commercial blocks that dwarf the house. The terrain is level and the neighborhood is an extensively developed urban core.
A much deeper setback
Setback (land use)
In land use, a setback is the distance which a building or other structure is set back from a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which needs protection. Depending on the jurisdiction, other things like fences, landscaping, septic tanks, and various...
than either of its neighbors provides the house with a front lawn behind a cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
fence. The building itself is a square two-story three-bay
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
structure of common-bond brick two courses thick on a foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
ashlar
Ashlar
Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...
with brownstone
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
facing. It is topped by a gently hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
surfaced in standing-seam metal pierced by two brick chimneys at the center. A two-story service wing, added later, projects from the rear. It is largely sympathetic but has more restrained decoration.
Exterior
On the north (front) facadeFacade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
the centrally located main entrance is sheltered by an extensively ornamented
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
wooden portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
. A balustrade at the top creates a balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
accessible from a round-arched window the recessed section above it. All the other windows are single-pane double-hung sash window
Sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels or "sashes" that form a frame to hold panes of glass, which are often separated from other panes by narrow muntins...
s.
Those on the bottom have small cast-iron balconies of their own with similar patterns to the front fence. Their brownstone sills are matched with pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
ed lintels on console
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s; the second-story side windows have the same sills but their lintels lack the pediment. The balcony door has a lintel that curves with the arch. Above it there is a pediment in the roofline, where broad wooden eaves are supported by large brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
with leaf carvings.
The entrance portico has square paired fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
Composite
Composite order
The composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
pilasters on high pedestals with egg-and-dart and rope-turn molding
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
. Their capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
are more vegetative than is typical for the Composite order, with thick acanthus
Acanthus
Acanthus , in its feminine form acantha , is the Latinised form of the ancient Greek word acanthos or akanthos, referring to the Acanthus plant. It can also be used as the prefix acantho-, meaning "thorny"...
leaves at the volute
Volute
A volute is a spiral scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals...
s. Above each, foliate paired brackets support the roof.
Interior
A small set of brownstone steps with a modern iron railing leads up to the portico. The plain entrance door has sidelights and a transom. It opens into a central hallway with carpeting over its interwoven oak and maple parquet floorParquetry
Parquetry is a geometric mosaic of wood pieces used for decorative effect. The two main uses of parquetry are as veneer patterns on furniture and block patterns for flooring. Parquet patterns are entirely geometrical and angular—squares, triangles, lozenges. The most popular parquet flooring...
and dropped ceilings with modern lighting. All the rooms have their original woodwork, including molded baseboard
Baseboard
In architecture, a baseboard is a board covering the lowest part of an interior wall...
s, door and window surrounds and cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
.
The east rooms were combined into a large gallery when the museum occupied the space. The lower hall and stairs have a flat-paneled dado
Dado (architecture)
In architectural terminology, the dado, borrowed from Italian meaning die or plinth, is the lower part of a wall, below the dado rail and above the skirting board....
, and the upstairs hallway has a dado of its own with floral and ornamental designs on the plaster. The library, upstairs, has a parquet floor more intricate than the other rooms.
The former museum office is the best-preserved room in the house. In addition to the same original woodwork s the other rooms, it has its original white marble mantel
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
. Its design, referred to as "Grecian" in contemporary catalogs, has a complex-curved shelf supported by consoles
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
over an arched firebox
Firebox
In a steam engine, the firebox is the area where the fuel is burned, producing heat to boil the water in the boiler. Most are somewhat box-shaped, hence the name.-Railway locomotive firebox :...
opening with a keyblock carved into the shape of a scallop
Scallop
A scallop is a marine bivalve mollusk of the family Pectinidae. Scallops are a cosmopolitan family, found in all of the world's oceans. Many scallops are highly prized as a food source...
shell.
History
Greene Kendrick, an early Waterbury brassmaker who later served in the state legislatureConnecticut General Assembly
The Connecticut General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. There are no term limits for either chamber.During...
, built the house in 1866 for his son John. At that time it was one of many grand houses on Waterbury Green, the two-acre (8,000 m²) remnant of the original town common that was by then the center of a growing industrial city. John was unable to replicate his father's success in business and so turned to the law, where he rose to serve as judge and eventually mayor of Waterbury. He lived well; upon his death in 1877 the estate
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
lists rugs and mirrors valued at half the average annual salary of a worker in the city's factories.
The house has all the typical features of the Tuscan villa, an Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
house type popular with wealthy Victorians embracing the Picturesque
Picturesque
Picturesque is an aesthetic ideal introduced into English cultural debate in 1782 by William Gilpin in Observations on the River Wye, and Several Parts of South Wales, etc. Relative Chiefly to Picturesque Beauty; made in the Summer of the Year 1770, a practical book which instructed England's...
mode: a cubical form, nearly flat roof with wide overhanging eaves, and a three-bay facade with most of the decorative touches lavished on the main entrance. Another original detail, a belvedere
Belvedere (structure)
Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
at the center of the roof, was replaced when the roof was resurfaced. Following their Italian Renaissance models, decoration tended toward very free applications of classical touches, and the Kendrick House's portico is no exception. The square columns in particular do not follow classical proportions, and their plush capitals
Capital (architecture)
In architecture the capital forms the topmost member of a column . It mediates between the column and the load thrusting down upon it, broadening the area of the column's supporting surface...
and leaf brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
further depart from more restrained classical originals.
There is no documentary record that identifies the architect. Several of the additional details—the cast iron balcony balustrades, brownstone trim and verticality created by the emphasis on the central bay—are typical of Henry Austin
Henry Austin (architect)
Henry Austin was a prominent and prolific American architect based in New Haven, Connecticut. He practiced for more than fifty years and designed many public buildings and homes primarily in the New Haven area...
. Sketches found among Austin's papers after he died, now kept at the Yale University Library
Yale University Library
Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It is the second-largest academic library in the North America, with approximately 12.5 million volumes housed in 20 buildings on campus...
, show a very similar house with the same chimney and belvedere placement, but without the brackets and central pediment. They date to the 1840s, prior to the known date of construction, and Austin was known to have been active in Waterbury in the 1860s.
These details are not enough to positively associate the house with Austin, however. Other architects borrowed from his patterns, as he did from theirs. It is quite possible as well that the house is the work of R.W. Hill, a Waterbury native who had worked in Austin's New Haven
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
office.
In 1911, Kendrick's son Greene Kendrick II sold the house to the Mattatuck Historical Society for use as a museum. By that time most of the other houses on the Green and neighboring streets had been demolished and replaced by the larger commercial blocks that dominate the area now. The historical society converted the house for museum use, merging all the east rooms into a large gallery for exhibits. It remained in the house until the construction of its current home across the Green in 1987.