Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House

The Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House is the oldest house in Newport, Rhode Island, built around 1697. It is also one of the oldest houses in the state.[3] It is located at the corner of Broadway and Stone Street, in the downtown section of the city in the Newport Historic District. The house "was damaged by Stamp Act riots in 1765 when occupied by a Tory Stampmaster."[2]

See also: List of the oldest buildings in Rhode Island

Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House
Front elevation and side profile of house, 2008
Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House is located in Rhode Island
Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House
Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House is located in the United States
Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House
Location17 Broadway,
Newport, Rhode Island
Coordinates41.49084°N 71.31261°W / 41.49084; -71.31261
Builtc. 1697
ArchitectStephen Mumford
Architectural styleColonial, Georgian
Part ofNewport Historic District (ID68000001[1])
NRHP reference No.66000016
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960[2]
Designated NHLDCPNovember 24, 1968

The house has passed through several owners since its construction and has been renovated and improved by some of them. The three for whom it is named were not the first, but they were members of a family related by marriage that owned it from shortly before the Revolution to 1911. Since the 1920s, it has been owned by the Newport Historical Society (NHS) which renovated it and converted it to a historic house museum. In 1960, it was among the first National Historic Landmarks designated by the Department of the Interior.

Building

Today the house is a five-bay wooden clapboard structure with a high peaked roof that slopes down in the rear and plaster cornice. It is painted a historic shade of dark red, except for a white door and entryway with pilasters and a small pediment.

The Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House in the 1920s, prior to renovation, with dormer windows later removed

History

Merchant Stephen Mumford built the house in the late 17th century as a simple two-story structure with one room on either side of a central chimney. His son sold it to Richard Ward, a lawyer and governor of Rhode Island in the early 18th century. Sometime before 1725, a lean-to-styled kitchen was built on the north side of the house.

Loyalist lawyer Martin Howard, Jr. owned the house afterwards. He decorated it with molding and paneling. He fled in 1766 following the Stamp Act Riots, during which he was hanged in effigy as a reaction to his co-authorship of a pamphlet criticizing the opponents of the Act for their disrespect to the Crown and Parliament. The house was slightly damaged by an angry mob.[3]

Quaker merchant John Wanton bought the house at auction later that year. In 1782, his son-in-law Daniel Lyman inherited it. Three years later, he added the rear wing to accommodate his growing family. From him it passed to Benjamin Hazard, who had married another of Wanton's daughters in 1807.[3] The Hazard family sold the property in 1911, after Benjamin's daughter Mary died. The building then fell into disrepair and remained vacant.

In 1927, the Newport Historical Society purchased it and renovated it with the help of colonial architectural historian Norman Isham. He and the Society chose to renovate it in a combination of several of the period architectural styles which it had passed through. That resulted in removing the rear wing and restoring the upstairs bedroom to its original appearance.[3]

The house was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960.[2][4]

In 1995, a Preliminary Historic Structure Report was done, allowing the historical society to get grants for another renovation and stabilization. The four-year project was finished in 2001. During that time, the NHS had also agreed to work with the Newport Garden Club to restore the original grounds and plantings. Archeological research conducted on the property for that project has led to some newer revelations about the house. Among them was an interior and exterior paint analysis, which has led to the house's paint scheme being adjusted.[3] In 2005, a dendrochronology survey of the tree rings in the building confirmed a 1696 construction date.[5]

  • View from Northwest in 1937
    View from Northwest in 1937
  • North and West elevations
    North and West elevations

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House.

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. "Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved April 22, 2008.
  3. "NHS/The Wanton–Lyman–Hazard House". Newport Historical Society. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008. Retrieved April 23, 2008.
  4. Patricia Heintzelman and Charles E. Shedd, Jr. (January 10, 1975) National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Wanton–Lyman–Hazard, National Park Service and Accompanying seven photos, exterior and interior, from 1974
  5. "Oxford Tree-Ring Laboratory - Wanton-Lyman Hazard House, Rhode Island".
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