Notable Buildings No. 4 & 5: The Priscilla Talbee Lindsey House and The Susan Gorham Cottage

A two-fer!  Well, not really.  The Gorham Cottage and the Lindsey House are completely unrelated.  But, they sit side by side on Hope St., so it’s convenient to talk about them together.

Let’s start with the Lindsey House, which is the earlier of the two.  It dates to 1789; in fact, it’s the earliest-identified building built for a woman in Bristol.  If you know of an earlier one, let me know. 

Priscilla Talbee Lindsey (1762-1806) was the daughter of Edward Talbee (c. 1730-1807) and Anstis Waldron (1728-1796).  Did you catch that her father died only a year after her, in 1807?  He was 77.  That’s a long life for an eighteenth-century man.  Priscilla married Stephen Lindsey, a housewright (that’s a house builder). In 1787, Edward gave Priscilla the lot on Hope St. and according to my sources, Stephen built the house on it.  It is possible that the lot was a wedding present.  Or, it might have been Edward’s way of providing his daughter with an asset in case she needed it.  Hard to say. 

The house is charming.  The gambrel roof—that’s the part that looks like a barn—was typical for this time.  Such construction created more space on the second floor than a gable (triangular) roof.  See how wide the gambrel is?  Relative to other second stories of this time, this second story was commodious and very functional.  Ignore the one-story addition on the north (right) side.  That part, which contains the entrance to i boutique, is later construction.  By the way, if i is open, go in, turn left and go up the stairs.  You are now standing in the Lindsey House.

Move to the left so that you can see the south (left) side of the building.  That’s where the show is.  This face contains the front door and windows.  Actually, it contains two front doors and two windows.  But that blue front door isn’t original, so if you could pretend it’s a window, that would be great.  I really like this building’s sense of scale.  See how petite it is?  Buildings built around the Revolution were often small and practical.  Their size distinguishes them from later copies.

The details here are simple.  Except for the columns around the front door, which are not original, everything is very plain.   How do I know the columns are a later change?  Look how they cut into the roofline.  If they had been planned, they wouldn’t do that.  The second-story dormer is also a later addition.  It wouldn’t have been necessary in the original design because the windows on the Hope St. side would have provided ample sunlight. 

Why is the entrance on the side?  Great question!  Because that was fashionable and because it was private!  Moving the door to the side of the building was one way of mediating several concerns.  One of these was the question of how to physically construct a building.  Another was how to handle public and private space.  Still another was that side entries were popular in other cities like Philadelphia and Boston.  Together, these ideas led Priscilla to opt for this configuration.  Need more on this subject?  Check out Bernard Herman’s book Town House.  It’s a fascinating read.

Now, take five steps to the left and clear your mind.  This is the Gothic Revival-style Susan Gorham Cottage.  Completely different, right?  That’s why you need to clear your mind.  It was built in 1855 and expanded in 1867.  It uses Gothic motifs, like pointed windows, to connote religious values and natural motifs.  The Gothic Revival style was extremely popular during this time.  You can see lots of other examples around town.

I can’t tell you much about Susan Gorham because there were several living in Bristol at that time.  One was a Mayflower descendent.  Another petitioned the RI General Assembly for permission to adopt a child.  And, annoyingly enough, that child was renamed Mary Susan Gorham.  I’ll keep researching and post a follow-up as the information becomes available.

But for now, please appreciate the splendid details!  See the cut-out decorations that run along the roof and door?  Look at how carefully crafted they are.  They meet, with great precision, right at the peaks.  Such decoration (called bargeboard decoration) is typical of a Gothic Revival cottage.  What is extra special here is how thick and three-dimensional the decorations are, with wide spaces between them and the house.  And, if you look down the north (right) side to the back of the house, you can see that the rear roofline was not neglected.  Susan cut no corners by omitting decorations that couldn’t be seen from the street.  Good for her! 

We may not know much about her, but we do know that she valued a quality product.  That product remains for us to admire over a century and a half later. 

Next up:  Harriet F. Munro