Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum
Encyclopedia
The William Rotch, Jr. House, now the Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum, is a National Historic Landmark
at 396 County Street in New Bedford
, Massachusetts
, in the United States
. The three families whose names are attached to it were all closely tied to the city's nineteenth-century dominance of the whaling
industry. Because of this, the house is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
.
Richard Upjohn
built the house in the Greek Revival
architectural style
for William Rotch, Jr. in 1834, on a New Bedford plot Rotch had inherited from his father. It was Upjohn's first house, near the beginning of a long career. Rotch also commissioned a garden in the rear, which later owners would significantly expand. The property remained private until 1981, when it was bought by local preservationists
and reopened as a historic house museum. It was declared a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places
in 2005. Today the museum educates visitors not only about whaling but, through its gardens and associated programs for local schools, about the environment as well.
, where its wealthy citizens built their mansions in the 19th century. It is a three-by-five-bay
two-story yellow building with a front porch and balustraded balcony
on either end and several tall chimney
s emerging from the roof. Inside, many of the original mahogany
doors and their walnut
veneer
s remain. The cornerblocks and baseboard
s have elliptical
echinus
profiles of the kind commonly found in many Greek Revival interiors. The window muntin
s have a beaded knife blade profile and the plaster ceiling cornice
s and medallions also have finely carved ornamentation
.
A circular driveway leads up to the house, set back a mere 40 feet (12.2 m) from the street to allow for outbuildings and the property's garden
. It includes elements of all three of its periods of private ownership: a formal boxwood
rose parterre
garden with tall calla
lilies, boxwood specimen garden, cutting garden and Woodland Walk surrounding a 19th-century wooden latticework
pergola
.
center, potentially surpassing even Nantucket, then the center of the industry in the colonies. Unlike the island, it had a deep harbor where ocean-going vessels could come directly to port and unload their harvest.
Despite some setbacks during the Revolution
and War of 1812
, the city's whaling fleet kept growing and by the late 1820s had begun catching up to Nantucket's. Ship captains and owners grew wealthy and built themselves homes in the County Street area. "Nowhere in all America", Herman Melville
later wrote in Moby-Dick
, "will you find more patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford ... all these brave houses and flowery gardens..." The Rotches, who practiced vertical integration
and had interests at every step of the whaling process, grew very wealthy.
Joseph's son William died in 1828 and left his own son, William Jr., the plot on which the present house was built. Three years later the deed
was formally transferred to the younger man, who had already distinguished himself in New Bedford's civic life by helping to found banks and schools, upon the execution of his father's estate
. He hired a young English immigrant
named Richard Upjohn
to design a house on the plot, insisting it be more modest and restrained than its neighbors, even though he was the third-wealthiest man in the city after his late father and brother-in-law. As a founder of the New Bedford Horticultural Society, he began the specimen garden in the back of the property.
By 1851, New Bedford had completely displaced Nantucket as the center of American whaling. In that year, Edward Coffin Jones, a Nantucket native who had moved to New Bedford and become a successful ship owner, bought the house for $17,000. The Joneses expanded the garden, adding the pergola
, a common Victorian
touch. One of his daughters, Amelia Hickling Jones, lived there for the next 85 years, becoming a major civic benefactor as the city transitioned from whaling to textile
s as the mainstay of its economy. With no heirs, the property was put up for sale when she died in 1935.
Mark Duff, a descendant of one of New Bedford's whaling families that had expanded into other businesses, bought it the following year. Under the direction of Boston landscape architect
Mrs. John Coolidge, they redecorated it extensively and planted 7,000 tulip
bulb
s in the garden, as well as adding landscaping, walkways and ornamental ponds.
The Duff family decided to sell the house in 1981, and it was bought by the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE), a local historic preservation
group that had been instrumental in restoring, protecting and establishing the nearby New Bedford Historic District
, a National Historic Landmark
(NHL). WHALE's goal was to save it from commercial development and turn the house and garden into a museum, which it opened in 1983. In 1996 it became the only city property outside of the New Bedford Historic District to be included as part of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
, and in 2005 the house and garden were themselves designated an NHL, as a legacy of New Bedford's whaling supremacy, an outstanding example of a Greek Revival house, and the first house built by Upjohn.
Several educational programs are available, using the house and gardens to teach students in grades 4
-6
about botany
, beekeeping
and whaling, with teacher support material available online. High school
and college
students may work as intern
s. The grounds and gardens are also available for wedding
s, wedding photos and other ceremonies or occasions.
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
at 396 County Street in New Bedford
New Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The three families whose names are attached to it were all closely tied to the city's nineteenth-century dominance of the whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
industry. Because of this, the house is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service. The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent whaling port during the nineteenth century.Established in 1996, the...
.
Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to such popularity in the United States. Upjohn also did extensive work in and helped to popularize the...
built the house in the Greek Revival
Greek Revival architecture
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in Northern Europe and the United States. A product of Hellenism, it may be looked upon as the last phase in the development of Neoclassical architecture...
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...
for William Rotch, Jr. in 1834, on a New Bedford plot Rotch had inherited from his father. It was Upjohn's first house, near the beginning of a long career. Rotch also commissioned a garden in the rear, which later owners would significantly expand. The property remained private until 1981, when it was bought by local preservationists
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
and reopened as a historic house museum. It was declared a National Historic Landmark and added to 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...
in 2005. Today the museum educates visitors not only about whaling but, through its gardens and associated programs for local schools, about the environment as well.
Property
The house sits on a one-acre (4,000 m²) block of New Bedford, between County, Madison, Joli Gonsalves and Seventh streets, in the middle of the County Street Historic DistrictCounty Street Historic District
County Street Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Acushnet, Page, Middle, and Bedford streets in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA.The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976....
, where its wealthy citizens built their mansions in the 19th century. It is a three-by-five-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:...
two-story yellow building with a front porch and balustraded 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...
on either end and several tall chimney
Chimney
A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...
s emerging from the roof. Inside, many of the original mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
doors and their walnut
Walnut
Juglans is a plant genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are known as walnuts. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts , but not the hickories...
veneer
Wood veneer
In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices of wood, usually thinner than 3 mm , that are typically glued onto core panels to produce flat panels such as doors, tops and panels for cabinets, parquet floors and parts of furniture. They are also used in marquetry...
s remain. The cornerblocks and baseboard
Baseboard
In architecture, a baseboard is a board covering the lowest part of an interior wall...
s have elliptical
Ellipse
In geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
echinus
Echinus
Echinus may refer to:* Mallotus , synonym for a genus of the plant* Echinus , a genus of animals* Echinus , a window manager* Molding , similar to the ovolo molding...
profiles of the kind commonly found in many Greek Revival interiors. The window muntin
Muntin
Muntin or Muntin bar is a strip of wood or metal separating and holding panes of glass in a window. Muntins are also called "glazing bars", "muntin bars", or "sash bars". Muntins can be found in doors, windows and furniture, typically in western styles of architecture...
s have a beaded knife blade profile and the plaster ceiling 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...
s and medallions also have finely carved ornamentation
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...
.
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
. It includes elements of all three of its periods of private ownership: a formal boxwood
Buxus
Buxus is a genus of about 70 species in the family Buxaceae. Common names include box or boxwood ....
rose parterre
Parterre
A parterre is a formal garden construction on a level surface consisting of planting beds, edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging, and gravel paths arranged to form a pleasing, usually symmetrical pattern. Parterres need not have any flowers at all...
garden with tall calla
Calla
Calla is a genus of flowering plant in the family Araceae, containing the single species Calla palustris...
lilies, boxwood specimen garden, cutting garden and Woodland Walk surrounding a 19th-century wooden latticework
Latticework
Latticework is a framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a network...
pergola
Pergola
A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained...
.
History
Joseph Rotch, William's grandfather, had been one of the early settlers in New Bedford when the town began to grow in the 1760s. He had realized, along with Joseph Russell, a major area landowner, that the town was well-positioned to become a whalingWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
center, potentially surpassing even Nantucket, then the center of the industry in the colonies. Unlike the island, it had a deep harbor where ocean-going vessels could come directly to port and unload their harvest.
Despite some setbacks during the Revolution
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
and War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, the city's whaling fleet kept growing and by the late 1820s had begun catching up to Nantucket's. Ship captains and owners grew wealthy and built themselves homes in the County Street area. "Nowhere in all America", Herman Melville
Herman Melville
Herman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
later wrote in Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
, "will you find more patrician-like houses; parks and gardens more opulent, than in New Bedford ... all these brave houses and flowery gardens..." The Rotches, who practiced vertical integration
Vertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
and had interests at every step of the whaling process, grew very wealthy.
Joseph's son William died in 1828 and left his own son, William Jr., the plot on which the present house was built. Three years later the deed
Deed
A deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, or affirms or confirms something which passes, an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions sealed...
was formally transferred to the younger man, who had already distinguished himself in New Bedford's civic life by helping to found banks and schools, upon the execution of his father's 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...
. He hired a young English immigrant
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
named Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn
Richard Upjohn was an English-born architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to such popularity in the United States. Upjohn also did extensive work in and helped to popularize the...
to design a house on the plot, insisting it be more modest and restrained than its neighbors, even though he was the third-wealthiest man in the city after his late father and brother-in-law. As a founder of the New Bedford Horticultural Society, he began the specimen garden in the back of the property.
By 1851, New Bedford had completely displaced Nantucket as the center of American whaling. In that year, Edward Coffin Jones, a Nantucket native who had moved to New Bedford and become a successful ship owner, bought the house for $17,000. The Joneses expanded the garden, adding the pergola
Pergola
A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained...
, a common Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
touch. One of his daughters, Amelia Hickling Jones, lived there for the next 85 years, becoming a major civic benefactor as the city transitioned from whaling to textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s as the mainstay of its economy. With no heirs, the property was put up for sale when she died in 1935.
Mark Duff, a descendant of one of New Bedford's whaling families that had expanded into other businesses, bought it the following year. Under the direction of Boston landscape architect
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
Mrs. John Coolidge, they redecorated it extensively and planted 7,000 tulip
Tulip
The tulip is a perennial, bulbous plant with showy flowers in the genus Tulipa, which comprises 109 species and belongs to the family Liliaceae. The genus's native range extends from as far west as Southern Europe, North Africa, Anatolia, and Iran to the Northwest of China. The tulip's centre of...
bulb
Bulb
A bulb is a short stem with fleshy leaves or leaf bases. The leaves often function as food storage organs during dormancy.A bulb's leaf bases, known as scales, generally do not support leaves, but contain food reserves to enable the plant to survive adverse conditions. At the center of the bulb is...
s in the garden, as well as adding landscaping, walkways and ornamental ponds.
The Duff family decided to sell the house in 1981, and it was bought by the Waterfront Historic Area LeaguE (WHALE), a local historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
group that had been instrumental in restoring, protecting and establishing the nearby New Bedford Historic District
New Bedford Historic District
The New Bedford Historic District is a National Historic Landmark District in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States, west of the community's waterfront. During the 19th century, when the city was the center of the American whaling industry, this was its downtown...
, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
(NHL). WHALE's goal was to save it from commercial development and turn the house and garden into a museum, which it opened in 1983. In 1996 it became the only city property outside of the New Bedford Historic District to be included as part of New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and is maintained by the National Park Service. The park commemorates the heritage of the world's preeminent whaling port during the nineteenth century.Established in 1996, the...
, and in 2005 the house and garden were themselves designated an NHL, as a legacy of New Bedford's whaling supremacy, an outstanding example of a Greek Revival house, and the first house built by Upjohn.
Museum
The museum and garden are open daily (except major holidays year-round. Admission is charged except for the second Thursday evening of every month except January, when it is free.Several educational programs are available, using the house and gardens to teach students in grades 4
Fourth grade
Fourth grade is a year of education in the United States and many other nations. The fourth grade is the fourth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 9 or 10 years old, depending on their birthday. It is a part of elementary school. In some parts of the United States, fourth grade...
-6
Sixth grade
Sixth grade is a year of education in the United States and some other nations. The sixth grade is the sixth school year after kindergarten. Students are usually 11 – 12 years old...
about botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, beekeeping
Beekeeping
Beekeeping is the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives, by humans. A beekeeper keeps bees in order to collect honey and other products of the hive , to pollinate crops, or to produce bees for sale to other beekeepers...
and whaling, with teacher support material available online. High school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
and college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
students may work as intern
Intern
Internship is a system of onthejob training for white-collar jobs, similar to an apprenticeship. Interns are usually college or university students, but they can also be high school students or post graduate adults seeking skills for a new career. They may also be as young as middle school or in...
s. The grounds and gardens are also available for wedding
Wedding
A wedding is the ceremony in which two people are united in marriage or a similar institution. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes...
s, wedding photos and other ceremonies or occasions.