Paine Art Center and Gardens

Paine Art Center and Arboretum
Paine Art Center
Location: 1410 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Area: 14.7 acres (5.9 ha)
Built: 1927
Architect: Bryant Fleming
Architectural style: Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Tudor Gothic
Governing body: Private
NRHP Reference#: 78000152[1]
Added to NRHP: December 1, 1978

The Paine Art Center and Gardens (3 acres) is a historic mansion with art galleries and botanical gardens located at 1410 Algoma Boulevard, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is open Tuesday-Sunday throughout the year; an admission fee is charged.

The house was built for lumber baron Nathan Paine and his wife, Jessie Kimberly Paine. Construction of the Tudor Revival mansion began in 1927, and all work was halted in 1932 as the Great Depression crippled the Paine Lumber Company. The Paines returned to the project in 1946 and established a non-profit organization to own and manage the estate for public benefit. The mansion was originally built as a home for the Paine's but workers of the lumber company threatened to bomb the building should they move in.[2] Nathan Paine died in 1947 at the age of 77. Jessie oversaw remaining work on the estate, and the property opened to the public in 1948. The Paines never lived in the house.

The house features an art gallery and is surrounded by gardens. The house contains French Barbizon school and American paintings, sculptures, and decorative woodworkings, Persian rugs, tapestries, and English and American silver and china. The property has twenty garden areas in various traditional and contemporary designs featuring thousands of plant specimens. The Paine also hosts changing exhibitions and offers educational programs related to historic architecture, art and nature.

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