Samuel Russell House (1828)

Built between 1828 and 1830, on High Street in Middletown, the Samuel Russell House is regarded as “one of the premier examples of Greek Revival architecture in the Northeast.” It was constructed for Samuel Wadsworth Russell, who was an important figure in the early nineteenth century China trade. Russell commissioned the well-known architect, Ithiel Town, a proponent of the Greek Revival, to design the house. The construction of the house was supervised by the builder-architect, David Hoadley. With the Russell House, Town created one of the first homes in America to feature a Greek temple design, utilizing correct Greek proportions and six Corinthian columns on the facade. Its design would prove influential in the creation of other Greek Revival houses. It also set a high standard of elegance for Middletown’s High Street, which Charles Dickens is supposed to have called the most beautiful street in America. The house was given to Wesleyan University by Thomas Macdonough Russell, Jr in 1937.