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Miller House

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c. 1840. 30 Oak Hill Rd., Williston village

This striking interpretation of Greek Revival is sophisticated and inventive, but also touched with naive vigor. It was built for Solomon Miller, one of the first settlers in Williston Village and owner of carding-and gristmills. A member of the governor's council and a charter owner of the Winooski turnpike (now U.S. 2), Solomon's political and business interests put him in contact with the state's important patrons and building centers. It is not surprising that his ambitious house should reflect high-style tastes found at the Burlington and Montpelier termini of his turnpike. Although its details may have been drawn from builders' guides, the quality of its composition approaches that of Burlington's Follett House (CH33).

The house is a square, two-story, hipped-roof brick block with a long, single-story rear wing. However, its first floor reads as one-and-a-half stories with recessed panels set above tall windows, while its second floor is expressed with square windows tucked within a broad entablature zone supported by stocky brick corner pilasters. Ionic columns carry a west-facing veranda and three-bay, one-and-a-half-story porticoes that mark entrances on both street fronts. A pedimented parapet and acroteria crowning the portico that faces Miller's turnpike are repeated on a square monitor, its massive proportions once screened by an eaves balustrade. The careful composition and fine details indicate more than copybook inspiration, but the weightiness and overscaling of the motifs on a modestly sized house suggest a builder unconstrained by classical refinements.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Glenn M. Andres and Curtis B. Johnson
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Citation

Glenn M. Andres and Curtis B. Johnson, "Miller House", [Williston, Vermont], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VT-01-CH53.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Vermont

Buildings of Vermont, Glenn M. Andres and Curtis B. Johnson. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 173-173.

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