Carrollcroft as Women's Space: An Architectural History

Type of resource
Authors/collaborators
Title
Carrollcroft as Women's Space: An Architectural History
Abstract
Carrollcroft, a cut granite and fieldstone house in the Italianate style in the town of Stanstead in the Eastern Townships, was built for businessman and politician Charles Carroll Colby (1827-1907) and his family in 1859. The authors engage a wide range of sources about the original design and subsequent use of Carrollcroft to show how the home was shaped by powerful women. Period photographs, diaries, family letters, wills, paintings, insurance plans, and family memoirs illustrate how the house was a fluid and flexible living environment regulated by Harriet (Hattie) Child Colby (1838-1932) and her daughters Abby Colby Aikins (1859-1943) and Jessie Colby (1861-1958). The authors argue that as powerful agents of architectural change, these women transformed the house from a popular pattern book design to the epicenter of the family’s cultural landscape, adding considerably to the Colby’s sense of cohesion and pleasure.
Publication
Journal of Eastern Townships Studies/Revue d’études de Cantons de l’Est
Volume
No. 35
Pages
21-48
Date
2010
Language
en
URL
Citation
Adams, Annmarie, and Silvia Spampinato. “Carrollcroft as Women’s Space: An Architectural History.” Journal of Eastern Townships Studies/Revue d’études de Cantons de l’Est No. 35 (2010): 21–48. http://www.etrc.ca/journal/jets-archive/.
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