Lockwood-Mathews Mansion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lockwood-Mathews Mansion | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
 |
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| Location: | 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut |
| Built/Founded: | 1864 |
| Architect: | Detlef Lienau |
| Architectural style(s): | Renaissance, Other |
| Designated as NHL: | December 30, 1970[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | December 30, 1970[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 70000836 |
| Governing body: | Local |
The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows.
The 62-room mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.[1][3]
It has been described as "one of the earliest and finest surviving Second Empire style country houses ever built in the United States."[4] "The Museum's mission is to conserve the building while creating educational programs on the material, artistic and social culture of the Victorian era," according to the museum organization's Web site.[4]
A master plan for renovating the mansion was expected to be completed in 2007.[5] Plans for renovation work at the museum include adding an elevator, and systems for heating, air conditioning, and sprinklers. Renovation costs are likely to total about $6 million, museum officials said in May 2007, before the master plan was complete.[6]
In a decades-long Christmastime tradition, interior decorators deck out about a dozen rooms in the mansion with holiday decorations. An annual "community celebration" is held in December with Christmas music, refreshments and a Santa Claus. In 2007, 10 interior decorators volunteered their services and materials for the event.[7]
The mansion, at 295 West Ave., sits in Mathews Park, where the Stepping Stones Museum for Children is also located.
[edit] Mansion history
The estate, then called "Elm Park," was built by LeGrand Lockwood, who made his fortune in banking and the railroad industry.[8] Construction began in 1864 just west of the Norwalk River in Norwalk and was completed four years later. Designed by European-trained, New York-based architect Detlef Lienau, the mansion "is considered his most significant surviving work," according to the association. Both American and immigrant artisans worked to construct and decorate the house.[4] Prominent New York decorating firms, including Herter Brothers and Leon Marcotte were contracted to furnish the mansion's interiors. Financial reversals in 1869 and Lockwood's death in 1872 resulted in loss of the estate by Lockwood's heirs. In 1874 the family lost the mansion and grounds through foreclosure.[4]
Charles D. Mathews, a prominent importer originally from Staten Island, New York, and his wife, Rebecca, bought the property in 1876. The Mathews family continued to live in the mansion until 1938.[4]
In 1941 the estate was sold to the City of Norwalk, which designated it a public park. In the 1950s, the building was threatened with demolition, but local preservationists succeeded in saving it. They formed Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Inc. to run the site, which was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971.[4]
The museum has hosted an annual antique show since 1978. In 2006 the show was held the last weekend in October and attracted dealers from Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as Connecticut.[9]
In the 2000s, statues and furniture that had originally been in the mansion were bought and placed back in it. Two marble statues, sculpted in 1859 by Joseph Mozier, an American artist, and bought by LeGrand Lockwood, were purchased for $185,000. A $165,000 sofa original to the home was also acquired and brought back to it.[5]
Paramount Pictures paid the museum $400,000 to restore the rotunda, which was used as a filming location for the second version of The Stepford Wives.[6]
The mansion has been used by survivors and victims of the September 11 attacks.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Lockwood-Mathews Mansion. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2007-10-05.
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ Marilyn Larew (February, 1978), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Lockwood-Mathews Mansion / Elmenworth / Elm ParkPDF (612 KiB), National Park Service. Accompanying 9 photos, from 1969, 1970, and undated.PDF (1.38 MiB)
- ^ a b c d e f http://www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.org/3.html "History" Web page of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Web site, accessed July 27, 2006.
- ^ a b c Breslow, Matt, "Mansion director out of work after filing complaint", news article in The Advocate of Stamford, Norwalk edition, page 1, March 26, 2007
- ^ a b Stelloh, Tom, "Museum will get an upgrade", article in The Advocate (Stamford) of Stamford (Norwalk Edition), pp A7, A8, May 15, 2007
- ^ DeLoma, Jamie, "Designers get mansion ready for the holidays", article in The Advocate of Stamford, pp 1, A4, Norwalk edition, November 29, 2007
- ^ Lauren Keach Lessing (2006). Presiding Divinities: Ideal Sculpture in Nineteenth-Century American Domestic Interiors. Ph.D. dissertation: Indiana University.
- ^ "Antiques show will benefit museum" in "Area briefs" feature, The Advocate of Stamford, October 25, 2006, page A18, Stamford edition, "... the 29th annual Lockwood-Mathews Antiques Show ..." Remember, if the 29th was held in 2006, the first would have been held in 1978, counting must be done the way we count centuries such as the "first century" from the years 1-100 AD.
