Norman Isham
Encyclopedia
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and RISD.
Biography
Norman M. Isham was born in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, but as a child his family moved to Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. Norman Isham attended Mowry and Goff's preparatory school and Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. He received a A.B. from Brown in 1886 and an A.M. in 1890. After graduation in 1886, Isham worked for architectural firm of Stone, Carpenter and Wilson and later Martin and Hall. He also served as an architecture instructor at Brown University.
In 1899 Isham and Benjamin Wright created an architecture partnership which existed from 1912 to 1920 and 1923 to 1933. Isham also chaired the architectural department at the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
. He was a member of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects and published several architecture texts, including "Early Rhode Island Houses" in 1895. Isham was well-known for his renovations of many prominent early Rhode Island and other New England houses, particularly, stone-enders.
After Isham's wife, Elizabeth Barbour Ormsbee, died in 1917, he moved from Providence to Wickford, Rhode Island
Wickford, Rhode Island
Wickford is a small village in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, which is named after Wickford in Essex, England. Wickford is located on the west side of Narragansett Bay, just about a 20 minute drive across two bridges from Newport, Rhode Island...
and constructed a permanent home there having summered in Wickford for many years. Norman Isham is buried in Wickford and has no descendants.
Historic buildings restored by Isham
- Clemence-Irons HouseClemence-Irons HouseThe Clemence-Irons House is an historic residential home in Johnston, Rhode Island, USA. It was built by Richard Clemence in 1691 and is a rare surviving example of a "stone ender," a once common building type first developed in the western part of England. The structure is on the U.S...
, Johnston, Rhode IslandJohnston, Rhode IslandJohnston is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 28,769 at the 2010 census. Johnston is the site of the Clemence Irons House a stone-ender museum and the only landfill in Rhode Island...
, 1691 - Clement Weaver House, East Greenwich, Rhode IslandEast Greenwich, Rhode IslandEast Greenwich is a town in and the county seat of Kent County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 13,146 at the 2010 census. East Greenwich is the wealthiest municipality within the state of Rhode Island....
, 1679 - Eleazer Arnold HouseEleazer Arnold HouseThe Eleazer Arnold House is a historic house built for Eleazor Arnold in about 1693, and located at 487 Great Road, Lincoln, Rhode Island in the Great Road Historic District...
, Lincoln, Rhode IslandLincoln, Rhode IslandLincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 21,105 at the 2010 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence....
, 1693 - Gilbert Stuart birthplaceGilbert Stuart BirthplaceThe Gilbert Stuart Birthplace and Museum is a small museum located in Saunderstown, Rhode Island, USA. On December 3, 1755, Gilbert Stuart, a famous American portraitist of the 18th and 19th centuries, was born in the colonial-era house located on the property...
, Saunderstown, Rhode IslandSaunderstown, Rhode IslandSaunderstown is a small village and historic district in the towns of Narragansett and North Kingstown in Washington County, Rhode Island, United States....
, 1751 - John Balch HouseJohn Balch HouseThe John Balch House , located at 448 Cabot Street, Beverly, Massachusetts, is one of the oldest wood-frame houses in the United States. It is now operated as one of the historic house museums of the Beverly Historical Society, and open June 1 to October 15, Tuesday through Saturday, 12:00 p.m...
, Beverly, MassachusettsBeverly, MassachusettsBeverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
, 1679 - Newport Colony House, Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, 1739 - Newport Brick Market, Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, 1762 - Smith's CastleSmith's CastleSmith's Castle, built in 1678, is a house museum on Cocumscussoc near Wickford, a village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States. Smith's Castle is one of the oldest houses in the state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1993 as Cocumscussoc Archeological Site, due to the...
, Wickford, Rhode IslandWickford, Rhode IslandWickford is a small village in the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States, which is named after Wickford in Essex, England. Wickford is located on the west side of Narragansett Bay, just about a 20 minute drive across two bridges from Newport, Rhode Island...
, 1678 - Stephen Hopkins House, Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode IslandProvidence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, 1708 - Redwood Library, Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, 1747 - Trinity Church (Newport, Rhode Island)Trinity Church (Newport, Rhode Island)Trinity Church, on Queen Anne Square in Newport, Rhode Island, is a historic parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. Founded in 1698, it is the oldest Episcopal parish in the state. The current Georgian building was designed by architect Richard Munday and constructed in...
, 1725 - Wanton-Lyman-Hazard HouseWanton-Lyman-Hazard HouseThe Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House is the oldest surviving house in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. Built ca. 1697, it is also one of the oldest surviving houses in the state...
, Newport, Rhode IslandNewport, Rhode IslandNewport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
, 1697 - Whitehall Museum HouseWhitehall Museum HouseWhitehall Museum House is the farmhouse modified by Dean George Berkeley, when he lived in the northern section of Newport, Rhode Island that comprises present-day Middletown, Rhode Island in 1729-31, while working to open his planned St Paul's College on Bermuda...
, Middletown, Rhode IslandMiddletown, Rhode IslandMiddletown is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 16,150 at the 2010 census. It lies to the south of Portsmouth and to the north of Newport on Aquidneck Island, hence the name "Middletown."-Geography:...
, 1729