Herndon Hall
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Polk House (Herndon Hall)
1881–1883, T. A. Roberts Foster and Liebbe, 2000 Grand Ave.
The architect of Herndon Hall must have been in close touch with the latest in fashion in the Northeast and in England, for he provided a Queen Anne design, a style that would have been up-to-date in those areas. Although picturesque, everything is kept under firm control. The brick-surfaced first floor of the house provides a solid base for the lighter wood-sheathed walls above. Even when the playful device of a window through a masonry chimney was introduced, it was treated coldly with its own picture-frame surround and pediment. The house has lost some of its detailing, including its porte-cochère, some of its porches, and its patterned slate roof, but it still commands its large site overlooking Grand Avenue. The house was restored in 1979 by Bloodgood Architects and is now used for offices.
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