The first of a member of Civil-War-era Italianate houses on this tour designed by Alpheus Morse and built on northern Benefit Street for local manufacturers fabulously enriched by that bloody conflict, this house abandoned the build-to-street-line tradition of its neighbors. The sprawling suburban villa form demanded such a posture (for contrast, St John’s Rectory), though it is less noticeable now because of the open space to the north and southeast that had been densely built upon when this house was erected. Clad (admittedly carefully) in aluminum siding, the building now requires routine repainting, an ironic sequel to a “maintenance-free” solution of the 1970s.
– 2003 Guide to Providence Architecture
Is there Ashlar siding beneath the aluminum, or clapboard as it semi appears now. So ashamed when these houses lose their shadow lines by flush application of of “siding”? And don’t get me started on windows! Thank you, Eric Johnson