Lockwood–Mathews Mansion

Lockwood -Mathews Mansion is a country house in Norwalk (Connecticut), which today serves as a museum.

History

The building with its 62 rooms, was built in 1868 by Detlef Lienau for the banking and railroad millionaire LeGrand Lockwood. This was in 1863 bought about 30 acres of land between the Western Avenue and the Norwalk River to build his house here. Lockwood House Hotel is one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the Second Empire in the U.S. and as a major work Lienaus, who worked with American craftsmen and numerous immigrant artists. The historicist building that combines many styles in itself, has a ground plan in the shape of a Greek cross and outer walls of granite. Above the entrance door can be seen Lockwoods initials. The Frederick Law Olmsted -designed park.

In 1864 started the construction; 1868 drew the landlord a who could keep from this property from two sources of his wealth in mind: Norwalk Horse Railway and Danbury - Norwalk Railroad.

But LeGrand Lockwood, who was among the victims of the Black Friday 1869, died in 1872 and shortly thereafter the property whose construction had cost $ 1.5 million, was sold for reportedly $ 90,000 to Charles Drelincourt Mathews and his wife Rebecca. The Mathews family, who came from New York, lived until 1938 in the country house. 1941 passed into the possession of the city Norwalk and the Elms Park, which was the house was made ​​available to the public. When in the middle of the 20th century threatened with demolition, the Lockwood -Mathews Mansion Museum was founded to save the building. The museum is to maintain the memory of the Victorian era in the United States. Since December 30, 1970 Lockwood -Mathews Mansion is considered as a National Historic Landmark.

Ground floor premises

Through vestibule and entrance hall are located on the narrow western side of the building, you get to a straight axis in the central octagonal rotunda of the house. This rotunda takes the whole height of the house of 42 foot one, is surrounded at the height of the second floor of a gallery and receives its light from above. It has a parquet floor from five different types of wood and a fireplace and is decorated with, among others, a representation of Pomona.

Off from the rotunda leads into the rear dining room on the east side. This space was designed by George Platt in the French Renaissance style. It is equipped with furniture made from exotic woods, which can accommodate 24 diners.

In the north-facing rear of the house are on the one hand, in close proximity to the dining room, the kitchen, on the other hand, the billiard rooms. At the southeast corner adjoins the dining room initially called the Drawing Room, a kind of living room, at. This space, which the company Herter Brothers had come, was restored with the help of photographs in its original state. The ceiling painting was created in 1869 by Pierre -Victor Galland. It shows Venus in the game with cupids. The picture was painted in oil on canvas. In the center of the ceiling hangs since 1997 the restored chandelier. The Drawing Room is built out at the front corner of the cardroom, which represents the lowest floor of the Ecktürmchens.

The center of the southern front, behind the semi-circular terrace occupies the well -equipped by Herter Brothers Music Room. Noteworthy here is especially the pictorial decoration of the walls and the ceiling panels.

The third major area of representation of the house is the library on the southeast corner of the house. It is decorated in the style of the Italian Renaissance and the work of designer Leon Marcotte. Called the Conservatory itself adjoins the library, which served as a winter garden.

Use

Apart from the use as a museum serves Lockwood -Mathews Mansion now and again as a film set, so in 1975 and 2004 for The Stepford Wives (1975) and The Stepford Wives ( 2004).