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| Aerial view of Hill-Stead Museum, the restored Pope Riddle house. Photo by Jerry L. Thompson. Image courtesy of Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
Website: Hill-Stead Museum
The Treasure: Theodate Pope Riddle, one of the first American woman architects, built Hill-Stead,
a masterpiece of the Colonial Revival style that served as both a country
estate for her parents and a fitting home for their magnificent art
collections.
Accessibility: Hill-Stead Museum
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| Painter scraping and caulking clapboard on the Makeshift Theater exterior. Photo by East West Builders. Image courtesy of Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
Background: The
fourth registered female architect in the country, Theodate Pope Riddle
(1867-1946) was self-taught in her chosen art, yet she quickly asserted her
talents and skills. Throughout the
1890s, Theodate refined her architectural skills by rehabilitating and
significantly expanding an old farmhouse in Farmington to serve as her home. She called it the O’Rourkery. Then she purchased land behind her house with
the intention of creating a much grander estate for her parents, Alfred and Ada
Pope.
To some degree, the architecture of Hill-Stead was a
collaborative work, with initial plans and oversight by the prestigious firm
McKim, Mead & White and advice from local master carpenter Hal Mason—but
the guiding intelligence clearly belonged to Theodate right from the
start. She tapped into the expertise of
her collaborators to achieve her
vision. Unlike a typical McKim, Mead
& White building, Riddle embraced a somewhat rambling, asymmetrical look
for the exterior which perfectly complemented the charming and gracious
interior. Inside the house, her
carefully chosen wallpapers and furniture set off the Impressionist paintings
her father loved to collect.
Other buildings on the property received her attention as
well. She designed a carriage garage and
Arts and Crafts theater, stone garages, various barns and a sheep shed, a silo,
a stone pump house, and a tool-and-carpenter shop. To top it all off, she worked with the
landscape architect Warren Manning to place the mansion and the working farm
within a varied and picturesque landscape.
When Theodate died in 1946, her will stipulated that
Hill-Stead become a museum as a memorial to her parents. According to the will, the contents were to
remain intact, never to be moved, lent, or sold. The main house, as well as the farm buildings
and gardens, remain a lasting testament to the vision of this early female
architect.
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| Carpenters rebuilding the servants' porch foundation and floor. Photo by East West Builders. Image courtesy of Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
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| Woodworker removing one of 174 five-foot-high shutters. Photo by East West Builders. Image courtesy of Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
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| Pair of restored shutters reattached to the exterior of the newly repainted house. Photo by Cynthia Cagenello. Image courtesy of Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
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| "Fumette" (1858) by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903). Etching, fourth state, from "The French Set," a series of 12 etchings. 6 3/8 x 4 1/4 in. Alfred Atmore Pope Collection, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
Notes from the Editor: While
the building itself is a distinctly American treasure, the collections within
the house widen its value to international importance. Theodate’s father Alfred Pope was a smart and discerning
collector of art, with a preference for Impressionist paintings and Japanese
prints.
Pope traveled throughout the United
States and Europe ,
amassing a collection of important paintings from such artists as Edgar Degas, Édouard
Manet, Claude
Monet, and Mary Cassatt. He also
appreciated European prints, with purchases that included three engravings by
Albrecht Dürer and 17 copper plate etchings and lithographs by James McNeill
Whistler. Among his Japanese woodblock
prints are works by Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige, and Kitagawa Utamaro—artists
among the most acclaimed of the Japanese masters.
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| "The Sea Monster" (ca. 1498) by Albrecht Durer (1471-1528). Engraving, 9 15/16 x 7 1/2 in. Alfred Atmore Pope Collection, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
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| "Kneeling Lady with Fan" (1790s) by Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). Woodblock print from the series "Seasonal Poems Composed by Famous Women." 10 7/16 x 15 3/16 in. Alfred Atmore Pope Collection, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
Other Recommended Sites: If
you appreciate the architecture of Hill-Stead, you may enjoy visiting some of
the other sites which Theodate Pope Riddle designed. The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York City was reconstructed by Riddle on the site where it was demolished in 1916. Two of her most important commissions were for
educational institutions that are still flourishing: the Avon Old Farms School (Avon ,
CT ) and Westover School (Middelbury , CT
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| "Grainstacks, in Bright Sunlight" (1890) by Claude Monet (1840-1926). Oil on canvas, 23 x 28 inches. Alfred Atmore Pope Collection, Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT. |
Guest author for this entry: Terry Price
Tour America's History Itinerary
Monday’s destination: Weir Farm National Historic Site
© 2012 Lee and Terry Price
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