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A complex, fascinating building rich in architectural and historical importance, this began as a three-story brick cube, entered from the center of the George Street (north) elevation. Charlotte Rhode Ives Goddard (1792-1881), sister of Moses Brown Ives (see 10 Brown Street), and her husband, William Giles Goddard (1794-1846), professor at Brown University, across the street, built a house typical in form and style of those constructed by Providence’s uppermost crust between 1770 and 1860, including the house at 66 Power Street, in which Mrs. Goddard grew up, as well as the cadet version at 136 Transit Street.

Following Mrs. Goddard’s death, her son William Goddard (1825-1907) built a large addition to the south of the original section and reoriented the principal entrance to its present location, on Brown Street. On the outside, the addition is compelling for its highly contextual form and detail (would you really know it’s an addition?), while its interior spaces, the stair hall, library, and dining room are state-of-the-art Queen Anne, remarkable both for their spatial sequence and fine detail (including a Tiffany stained-glass window at the staircase landing).

Brown University acquired the property from Hope Goddard Iselin in 1940 and maintains it exquisitely, as testify the several historic preservation awards it has received in recent years, including one from PPS.

— 2008 Festival of Historic Houses Guidebook


A complex, fascinating building rich in architectural and historical importance, this began its life as yet another three-story brick cube, hard on the corner of George and Brown Streets, with its principal entrance centered on the George Street elevation. Charlotte Rhoda Ives Goddard (1792-1881) and husband William Giles Goddard (1794-1846), professor and board member at Brown University, built, as did her brother Moses Brown Ives, near the home of her parents. After his mother’s death, William Goddard (1825-1907) reoriented the front of the house to its present location on Brown Street, constructing a large addition. Stone, Carpenter & Willson handled the remodeling. The addition is compelling because of its highly contextual exterior (would you otherwise know that it is an addition?) and its high-style Queen Anne interior. The library and dining room, published in Artistic Houses: Interior Views of Homes in the United States (1883), state-of-the-art interiors of their time beautifully maintained by Brown University, are well worth a peek. The university acquired the house from William Goddard’s daughter, Hope Goddard Iselin, in 1940. Irving B. Haynes & Associates carried out the 1973 renovation to the building, and Clifford M. Renshaw designed the connector to Francis W. Goddard House.

— 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture

The image below is taken from the PPS Gowdey Database.

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© 2024 Guide to Providence Architecture. All rights reserved. Design by J. Hogue at Highchair designhaus, with development & support by Kay Belardinelli.