The Henry Powell House is a historic house in the Mount Auburn neighborhood of

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. Constructed in the mid-19th century, it experienced a radical transformation near the end of the century under the direction of a leading regional architect. This French-style residence has been named a historic site. William Powell established a Cincinnati metalworking firm in 1846 under the name of "Powell Valve and Brassworks Company". Among his sons was Henry Powell, who became wealthy enough to finance the construction of a larger and more ornate house. This residence, the present house,Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 654. was constructed in 1858. At the time of construction, Powell's home was a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

structure, greatly different in appearance from its present form. Its structure was profoundly modified in an extensive reconstruction of 1882, performed according to a design by leading Cincinnati architect Samuel Hannaford; by replacing the old roof with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

and adding a wooden porch, Hannaford destroyed the original Greek Revival styling and replaced it with the Second Empire exterior that remains today.Gordon, Stephen C., and Elisabeth H. Tuttle. '.

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

, 1978-12-11. The Powell House was reconstructed during Hannaford's longest period of independent practice: his reputation solidified by his design of

Music Hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

, Hannaford operated without partners from 1877 until 1887. During this time, he produced many buildings in various

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

architectural styles. Today, the Powell House is a brick building with stone foundation and a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

roof, plus additional elements of brick and wood., Ohio History Connection, 2015. Accessed 2015-12-26. Three

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

tall, the facade is divided into three

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

, with the wooden porch extending across the entire width of the first story. More decorations are present on the porch than on any other sections of the exterior, due to components such as an exceptional

balustrade A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...

and an unusually flat mansard roof featuring a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

with dentils; the structure comprises similar sides that differ substantially from the central section. In 1973, much of Mount Auburn was designated the Mount Auburn Historic District and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

embraced both sides of Auburn Avenue throughout the neighborhood, and the Powell House was considered important enough to the district's integrity that it was designated a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...

. Although it was already part of the district, the house was added to the Register again in 1980, this time by itself; it was part of a group of dozens of buildings designed by Samuel Hannaford, nominated as a

multiple property submission The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of Historic districts in the United States, districts, sites, buildings, struc ...

due to their place as examples of the work of the most important architect to practice in nineteenth-century Cincinnati.

References

External links

Additional documentation from the University of Cincinnati
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Henry, House Houses completed in 1858 Houses in Cincinnati National Register of Historic Places in Cincinnati Second Empire architecture in Ohio Historic district contributing properties in Ohio Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Buildings with mansard roofs