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Vaucluse Farm

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1784 and later. 340 Wapping Rd.

A complex of large, white gambrel-roofed dairy barns (c. 1925) is the agricultural focus of Vaucluse Farm, one of the first large-scale gentlemen's farms in the area. About 1760 Metcalf Bowler established a country seat near Wapping Road, famous during the colonial period, but it did not survive. Vaucluse, built by Garvais Elam in 1784, has survived, sometimes barely, down to the present. Elam spent $80,000 on the original house and formal gardens, importing specimen trees and shrubs, and setting out six miles of winding walks to create a scenic ambience for his livestock operations. The existing main house is a Georgian Revival house of 1938.

Writing Credits

Author: 
William H. Jordy et al.
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Citation

William H. Jordy et al., "Vaucluse Farm", [Portsmouth, Rhode Island], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/RI-01-PO14.

Print Source

Buildings of Rhode Island, William H. Jordy, with Ronald J. Onorato and William McKenzie Woodward. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, 505-505.

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