Whitehall Museum House - Middletown RI
Posted by: nomadwillie
N 41° 30.825 W 071° 16.265
19T E 310482 N 4598281
The Whitehall Museum House is the farmhouse modified by Dean George Berkeley, when he lived in the northern section of Newport, Rhode Island that comprises present-day Middletown in 1729–1731.
Waymark Code: WM167CC
Location: Rhode Island, United States
Date Posted: 05/25/2022
Views: 0
The Whitehall Museum House is the farmhouse modified by Dean George Berkeley, when he lived in the northern section of Newport, Rhode Island that comprises present-day Middletown in 1729–1731, while working to open his planned St Paul's College on Bermuda. It is also known as Berkeley House or Bishop George Berkeley House and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
In February 1729, Berkeley purchased a 96-acre (390,000 m2) farm with a small house on it, adjacent to Honeyman's own farm. He also purchased several slaves to work the land. Berkeley enlarged the house to his own design and named it "Whitehall," saying that this was "in loyal remembrance of the palace of the English Kings from Henry VIII to James II."
In September 1731, Berkeley donated his library and the Whitehall property to Yale University, with the stipulation that the income from the property would be used to support three scholars at Yale. In 1899, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America obtained a 999-year lease on the property, and in 1936, commissioned the noted restoration architect Norman Isham to restore two rooms.
The Colonial Dames in Rhode Island maintain the house and garden, which is furnished with period pieces and opened for tours on a limited basis during the summer months, when it is also used by accommodation for scholars specializing in studies on Berkeley.
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