The largest of Columbus’s remaining houses combining Greek, Gothic, Italianate, and Tudor features was built for Martha Fort and originally occupied an entire block. Rising in two wooden stories above a brick, raised-basement servants’ level, it sits prominently on its hill-top site. Three-bay, giant-order, octagonal-columned wooden porticos with jigsawn frieze ornament above Tudor arches project from the five-bay west and south facades. Trabeated entrance frontispieces beneath cantilevered balconies, a full entablature, and huge paneled brick chimneys contribute to the house’s grand scale.
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OLD FORT HOUSE (THEMERLAINE)
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