Prairie Avenue Historic District [Glessner House - II]

This post is continued from the above post .. Glessner House, click here ..

The Glessners hired Boston architect Henry Hobson Richardson to build their house. The result was this fortress like mansion in a style named after the architect, Richardsonian Romanesque. It's also called Romanesque Revival style ..
It's common characteristics are ..
- heavy, rough-cut stone walls ..
- round arches and squat columns ..
- deeply recessed windows ..
- pressed metal bays and turrets ..
The Romanesque Rivival is uniquely American style, with horizontal lines and rough in texture replacing the vertical silhouettes and smooth stone facings.

South Prairie Avenue entrance, with oak doors, tree-of-life motif, egg-n-dart ornamentation, mirrored-R...

The stone tympanum over the front door bears the motif of the tree of life ..

Richardson’s motif, mirrored R’s, decorates the central support of the windows over the oak door.

The egg-and-dart ornamentation, and also the central position of mirrored R motif..

While the above images are of the S. Prairie Avenue entrance, in the image below we see the East 18th Street entrance...

The East 18th Street entrance, is G-shaped. The tour guide informed us that this was the servants entrance. The Glessners had about ten servants, and there was servant quarters built in the mansion ..

Although the exterior is fortress-like, the interiors of the building is very warm and inviting .. Since photography was not allowed inside the building, there are no images to showcase the tastefully done interiors ... The inside is filled with ornate furniture and picture frames .. many of the home’s original furnishings and decorations have been returned by the Glessner’s granddaughter ... The oak paneling, grand staircase and stately fireplaces provided an ideal setting for the Glessner's collection of decorative arts.

A large central courtyard provided natural lights to the rooms ...

This post is continued from the above post .. Glessner House, click here ..

For more on ..
The Prairie Avenue Historic District .. click here ...