Longfield (or Charles Dana Gibson House) is an historic house at 1200 Hope Street in
Bristol, Rhode Island
Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States, as well as the county seat. The population of Bristol was 22,493 at the 2020 census. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. Major industries include boat buil ...
.
History
The large house was designed in 1848 by architects
Russell Warren & Son on sixty acres of DeWolf family land; it was given to Charles Dana Gibson (the grandfather of the
famous artist and namesake) upon his marriage to Abbey DeWolf, the daughter of the late US Senator
James DeWolf
James DeWolf (March 18, 1764 – December 21, 1837) was an American slave trader and politician. He served as a state legislator for a total of nearly 25 years, and in the 1820s served as a United States senator from Rhode Island. Along with tra ...
.
Warren had built many other important buildings in Bristol for the DeWolf family, who rose to prominence through wealth gained from the Atlantic
slave trade Slave trade may refer to:
* History of slavery - overview of slavery
It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas:
* Al-Andalus slave trade
* Atlantic slave trade
** Brazilian slave trade
** Bristol slave trade
** Danish sl ...
.
In 1901, the house was passed down from Abbey DeWolf Gibson to granddaughter Josephine Gibson, who became the longtime
chatelaine
Chatelaine may refer to:
*Chatelaine (chain), a set of short chains on a belt worn by women and men for carrying keys, thimble and/or sewing kit, etc.
* Chatelaine (horse), a racehorse
* ''Chatelaine'' (magazine), an English-language Canadian wom ...
of the estate. Josephine was one of the models of the "
Gibson Girl
The Gibson Girl was the personification of the feminine ideal of physical attractiveness as portrayed by the pen-and-ink illustrations of artist Charles Dana Gibson during a 20-year period that spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...
" illustrated by her brother, named Charles Dana Gibson after their paternal grandfather.
Josephine Gibson married a Mr. Knowlton and made Longfield a center of social and artistic gatherings until her death in 1969. Her son, bookbinder
Daniel Gibson Knowlton, sold the house in 1972. In May of that year, it was nominated to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. The property includes smaller houses and cottages, originally constructed to house servants and caretakers.
Knowlton built an adjacent home and
bookbindery, named Longfield Studio, on the property at 1202 Hope Street.
The property has been sold several times since it passed out of the family.
Various owners announced intentions to convert the property to a single-family house, a "green inn", a place for weddings and functions, or an artists' residency.
In the early 21st century, renovations were begun, then halted, and the property was sold twice in 2012.
By January 2014 the structure was seriously neglected and derelict,
missing windows and the porch floor. Its future is uncertain.
There is a nearly identical house, built c. 1845, at 64 Kay Street in
Newport
Newport most commonly refers to:
*Newport, Wales
*Newport, Rhode Island, US
Newport or New Port may also refer to:
Places Asia
*Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay
* Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...
.
[Yarnall, James L. ''Newport Through its Architecture''. 2005.]
Architecture
The house is a slightly altered example of
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
architecture interpreted in wood. According to a
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
survey, the foundation of the house is of
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...
ed stone and the walls are constructed of wood
clapboard
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Clapboard'', in modern Am ...
s. The house has four chimneys. The original cut-out
bargeboard
A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pr ...
trim was removed from the
gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...
s around 1907. The front porch was rebuilt with a steeper
shingled roof and its Gothic bracing and wooden
crocket
A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...
s were removed. The Gothic window over the front porch may have had its
sill-level raised. The south side porch was enlarged from a half-octagon shaped protrusion, which had been accessible from only the south parlor window. Its Gothic
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 ...
, bracing and
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...
railing were kept. The original exterior window blinds of the house are stored in the attic. The rear entrance porch was rebuilt in 1963. The original partition separating the front southwest bedroom from a dressing room was removed. The house originally had a wood-shingled roof and was painted light red with darker trim. As of 1979, the house was painted white with black trim.
Literature
Josephine Gibson Knowlton and Andrea Hurley recorded the history of the house and the family in a number of books.
* ''Longfield: The House on the Neck'' (1956)
* ''Butterballs and Finger Bowls'' (1960)
* ''What a Life: The Incredible Story of Josephine "Dadie" Jordan'' (2004)
See also
*
References
External links
*{{HABS , survey=RI-129 , id=ri0359 , title=Longfield, 1200 Hope Street, Bristol, Bristol County, RI , photos=4 , dwgs=10 , data=7 , cap=1
Houses completed in 1848
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island
Houses in Bristol County, Rhode Island
Gothic Revival architecture in Rhode Island
Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island
Buildings and structures in Bristol, Rhode Island
National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Rhode Island