Mark Twain House
Mark Twain House | |
Nook Farm and Woodland Street District (ID79002674) | |
NRHP reference No. | 66000884 |
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Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[2] |
Designated NHL | December 29, 1962[1] |
Designated CP | November 29, 1979 |
The Mark Twain House and Museum in
Clemens wrote many of his best-known works while living there, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Prince and the Pauper, Life on the Mississippi, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, A Tramp Abroad, and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.[5]
Poor financial investments prompted the Clemens family to move to Europe in 1891.
The building later functioned as a school, an apartment building, and a public library branch. In 1929, it was rescued from possible demolition and put under the care of the newly formed non-profit group Mark Twain Memorial. The building was declared a
The house faced serious financial trouble in 2008 due partly to construction cost overruns related to the new visitors' center,[9] but the museum was helped through publicity about their plight, quick reaction from the state of Connecticut, corporations, and other donors, and a benefit performance organized by writers.[10] Since that time, the museum has reported improved financial conditions, though the recovery was marred by the 2010 discovery of a million-dollar embezzlement by the museum's comptroller, who pleaded guilty and served a jail term.[11]
The museum claimed record-setting attendance levels in 2012.[12] It has featured events such as celebrity appearances by Stephen King, Judy Blume, John Grisham, and others; it has also sponsored writing programs and awards.[13] Also in 2012, the Mark Twain House was named one of the Ten Best Historic Homes in the world in The Ten Best of Everything, a National Geographic Books publication.[14]
Move to Hartford
Mark Twain first came to
The family first rented a house at what was called
Architecture and construction
The house was designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter, an architect from New York City.[20] When it was being built, the Hartford Daily Times noted, "The novelty displayed in the architecture of the building, the oddity of its internal arrangement and the fame of its owner will all conspire to make it a house of note for a long time to come."[21] The cost of the house was paid out of Mrs. Clemens' inheritance.[21]
The home is in the style of Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, including the typical steeply-pitched roof and an asymmetrical bay window layout. Legend says the home was designed to look like a riverboat.[6] According to A Field Guide to American Houses the house was built in the Stick style of Victorian architecture.[22]
In 1881, an adjoining strip of land was purchased, the grounds re-landscaped, and the home was renovated. The driveway was redrawn, the kitchen rebuilt and its size doubled, and the front hall was enlarged. The family also installed new plumbing and heating and a burglar alarm.[23] After its renovations, the total cost of the home amounted to $70,000, $22,000 were spent on furnishings, and the initial purchase of land cost $31,000.[24]
Life in the house
The Clemens family moved into the home in 1874 after its completion.
The children had their own area with a nursery and a playroom/classroom. Mrs. Clemens tutored her daughters in the large school room on the second floor.[26] Clemens played with his children in the conservatory, pretending to be an elephant in an imaginary safari. He noted that the house "was of us, and we were in its confidence and lived in its grace and in the peace of its benediction."[27]
Clemens enjoyed living in the house, partly because he knew many different authors from his Hartford neighborhood, such as Harriet Beecher Stowe who lived next door and Isabella Beecher Hooker.[21] He also hosted several authors as guests, including Thomas Bailey Aldrich, George Washington Cable, and William Dean Howells, as well as actors Henry Irving, Lawrence Barrett, and Edwin Booth.[28]
Clemens worked on many of his most notable books in this home, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and Life on the Mississippi (1883).[24] The success of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer inspired him to renovate the house, and he had Louis Comfort Tiffany supervise the interior decoration in 1881.[29] He also was fascinated with new technologies, leading to the installation of an early telephone.[30]
Clemens invested heavily in the
Post-Twain
Katharine Seymour Day was a grand-niece of Harriet Beecher Stowe who had known the Clemens family, and she saved the Twain House from destruction in 1929. She founded the Friends of Hartford organization, which raised $100,000 to secure a mortgage on the home through a two-year capital campaign. It was carefully restored between 1955 and 1974.[34] It took many decades to pay off the mortgage and raise money to restore the deteriorating property, as well as to retrieve artifacts, furnishings, and personal possessions. The entire process finally ended in 1974, just in time for the 100th anniversary of the house.[21] It also earned the David E. Finley Award in 1977 for "exemplary restoration" from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[35] Admission to the Mark Twain House is by guided tour only; tours are organized around various themes.[36] The House and Museum offer a wide variety of events, in addition to tours, such as lectures, writers' workshops, and family events.[37]
Renovation
The house underwent a major renovation starting in 1999, including work on the exterior wood, tile, and terra cotta brick, and rebuilding the purple slate roofs.
Financial problems
The number of admissions leveled off at around 53,000, and the house's trustees decided that they must expand or be forced to shrink their operations. They commissioned Robert A. M. Stern to design a visitor's center that would not draw attention away from the house.[21] The Education and Visitors Center was built adjacent to the Carriage House where the Clemens family's coachman once lived with his family. The
In 2000, the house was generating $5 million in tourism from 50,000 visitors.[43] The Aetna foundation gave $500,000 to the campaign.[44] The National Endowment for the Humanities gave $800,000 in challenge grants for teacher development programs, a student writing contest, and an educational website.[45]
After building the Visitors Center in 2003, the house became financially unsustainable and launched a campaign to raise awareness and funds. In response, the state government, the governor, United Technologies, and many others contributed.[46] As of 2011, officials of the museum said that it had recovered financially.[47][48][49]
In 2011, staff writer Steve Courtney published a book detailing the house's history and renovations. It includes a foreword by Hal Holbrook, a trustee of the house.[50]
Gallery
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From the west, 1970
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From the northeast, with the Mark Twain carriage house in the background, 1995
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From the north, 1995
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From the south, 1995
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From the southeast, 2004
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From the east, 2007
See also
- Stormfield
- List of National Historic Landmarks in Connecticut
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Hartford, Connecticut
- North American Reciprocal Museums
References
- ^ a b "Mark Twain House". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 7, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2007.
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^
Courtney, Steve (2011). The Loveliest Home That Ever Was: The Story of the Mark Twain House in Hartford. Dover Publications. p. 29. ISBN 978-0486486345.
- ISBN 9780671748074.
- ^ "Mark Twain Chronology". PBS Learn More website. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-89133-180-8. p. 31
- ^ Blanche Higgins Schroer and J. Walter Coleman (November 6, 1974). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mark Twain House". National Park Service.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help). Accompanying 5 photos, exterior and interior, from c.1965, 1968, 1974 and pre-1970 (2.14 MB) - ISBN 978-0486486345.
- ^ Tedeschi, Bob (September 19, 2008). "Writers Unite To Keep Twain House Afloat". The New York Times. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ Larcen, Donna (January 30, 2009). "Museum in Better Financial Health". The Hartford Courant. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
- ^ Mahoney, Edward (November 21, 2011). "Twain House Embezzler Sentenced to 3½ years". The Hartford Courant.
- ^ Goode, Stephen (June 29, 2012). "Mark Twain House Executive Director Resigning". The Hartford Courant.
- ^ Goldberg, Carol (February 28, 2014). "Mark Twain House Comeback". Hartford magazine.
- ISBN 978-1426208676.
- ^ ISBN 0-571-19816-3
- ^ ISBN 0-918222-51-6
- ^ "History of the Institution". The Mark Twain House and Museum. 2004. Archived from the original on June 2, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ "Stowe's Hartford Neighborhood, Nook Farm". Harriet Beecher Stowe Center. Archived from the original on July 4, 2017.
- ISBN 0-89133-180-8. p. 29
- ISBN 0-89133-180-8. p. 29–30
- ^ a b c d e f Charles, Eleanor (January 20, 2002). "In the Region/Connecticut; Visitors' Center to Be Built at Mark Twain House". New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- )
- ISBN 0-918222-51-6
- ^ ISBN 0-571-19816-3
- Paine, Albert Bigelow (1912). "In the Day's Round". Mark Twain: A Biography, Volume III. New York and London: Harper & Brothers. p. 1301. Retrieved July 9, 2009.
- ISBN 0-918222-51-6
- ^ Singer, Stephen (June 4, 2002). "Twain's house a symbol of his success". The Associated Press. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ISBN 0-07-015435-X
- ^ a b "Remodeling:The Mark Twain House". HGTV. 2006. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ "Mark Twain House". frommers.com. 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ a b "Mark Twain Biography". hannibal.net. 2006. Archived from the original on April 15, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ISBN 0-918222-51-6
- ^ "Where Tom and Huck Were Born". The Attic. Retrieved January 7, 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-8262-1976-3
- ^ "Senators Dodd, Lieberman Secure $496,000 for Mark Twain House and Museum". Senate.gov. August 5, 2005. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ "Tour Information". The Mark Twain House & Museum. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ "Events & Programs". The Mark Twain House & Museum. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ^ Purdy, Stephen L. (July 11, 1999). "The View From/Hartford; A $22 Million Restoration for Mark Twain House". New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
- ^ Kendall, David. "The Mark Twain House". Antiques and the Arts Online. Archived from the original on June 8, 2012. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ Ruhling, Nancy A. "John Canning & Co.: Mark Twain House & Museum, Mahogany Suite". Traditional Building. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
- ^ Chatalbash, Roy. "Museums Are Going Green - Why Not You?". Antiques and Fine Art. Retrieved June 5, 2008.
- ^ Schain, Dennis (January 31, 2005). "Governor Rell Announces $1 Million for Mark Twain House and Museum". ct.gov. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ Larson, John B. (October 13, 2000). "Larson announces $1 million in funding for Mark Twain House". house.gov. Archived from the original on June 8, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ Bush, David (2001). "Aetna And The Aetna Foundation Announce $500,000 Gift To The Mark Twain House". Aetna. Archived from the original on October 16, 2006. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- ^ Olson, Elizabeth (December 23, 2005). "Arts, Briefsly; New Humanities Grants". New York Times. Retrieved June 12, 2006.
- Hartford Advocate. Archived from the originalon October 15, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
- ^ Emami, Gazelle (2012). "Donna Gregor, Mark Twain House Employee, Jailed For Embezzling $1 Million From Museum". huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ Banjo, Shelly (2012). "Former Staffer at Mark Twain Museum Admits Theft - Metropolis - WSJ". blogs.wsj.com. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ^ Godin, Mary Ellen (2012). "Employee admits embezzling $1 million from Mark Twain House | Reuters". reuters.com. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0486486345