Linden Place is a

Federal-style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

mansion located 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 ...

. It was built in 1810 by slave trader, merchant, privateer and ship owner General George DeWolf and was designed by architect, Russell Warren. The mansion now operates as a historic house museum. Built in the

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

–inspired

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

, popular in the early decades of the new American nation, Linden Place magnificently reflects the prosperity of the DeWolf slave trading merchant princes and the exquisite

Adamesque The Adam style (also called Adamesque or the Style of the Brothers Adam) is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and ...

Federal taste inspired by the architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. Linden Place is one of the best examples of Federal architecture in New England, from the magnificent Palladian windows to the fluted

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

, which gracefully flank the front entrance to the mansion. Also of architectural significance are the later added

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

conservatory and four-story spiral staircase. Tour highlights include tales of

DeWolf family The DeWolf family (also spelled D’Wolf or DeWolfe) is a prominent Canadian and American family that traces its roots to Balthazar DeWolf. The family's lineage can be traced back to Balthazar DeWolf, who was born in 1620 in the Netherlands and ...

exploits, from their privateering and slave trading to their financial ruin and triumphant return to prosperity during

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 literatur ...

times. Residents included family members Samuel Pomeroy Colt, founder of United States Rubber, now

Uniroyal Uniroyal, formerly known as the United States Rubber Company, is an American manufacturer of tires and other synthetic rubber-related products, as well as variety of items for military use, such as ammunition, explosives, chemical weapons and op ...

, his mother Theodora DeWolf Colt, who as Madam Colt ran Bristol Society from Linden Place as if she were Queen Victoria, and the great actress

Ethel Barrymore Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...

who married in to this most prominent of American families. The mansion sits on 1.8 acres of sculpture-filled gardens where there are Greek bronzes and an 18th century gazebo. Today the estate is sponsored by the non-profit Friends of Linden Place, which was created in 1989, based on the urgent need to save the magnificent 1810 DeWolf mansion from destruction or development. Due to the formidable drive of the earliest volunteers, the “crown jewel” of Bristol’s historic waterfront district was saved and is today maintained through visitation, fundraisers, grants and memberships. The mansion was prominently featured in '' Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North'', a 2008 film documentary about the DeWolf family and the legacy of the slave trade in the North of the United States.Paul Davis, "The DeWolf Family Burden"
''Providence Journal'', 3 February 2008 It was used as a filming location for the 1974 movie ''

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' () is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with Jay Gatsby, a mysterious mi ...

''. The Bristol Art Museum occupies the former carriage house at Linden Place, with its entrance located at 10 Wardwell Street, Bristol, RI.

Prominent residents

Samuel P. Colt Samuel Pomeroy Colt (January 10, 1852 – August 13, 1921) was an industrialist and politician from Rhode Island. He formed the United States Rubber Company, later called Uniroyal, the largest rubber company in the nation. Early life and educa ...

, politician, industrialist (died at Linden Place in 1921) *

, actress * Ethel Colt Miglietta, daughter of Ethel Barrymore and Russell Colt, singer

References

External links

Linden Place

Bristol Art Museum
{{coord, 41.6714, -71.2762, type:landmark_region:US-RI, display=title Museums in Bristol County, Rhode Island Historic house museums in Rhode Island Houses completed in 1810 Russell Warren buildings Buildings and structures in Bristol, Rhode Island Houses in Bristol County, Rhode Island

Prominent residents

See also

References

External links