Denison, William, House

The William Denison House is a 2 1/2 story L-shaped brick structure set on a foundation of tooled sandstone and covered with a polychromic slate gabled In plan, the main part of the house is a central hallway I-house, 2 rooms Revival style of the house, features a trabeated doorway with glazed transom The main part of the house is laid in Flemish bond, extremely rare for this part which terminates in a partial return in each gable end. Originally each gable end had quarter-round fanlights (not atypical of the earlier Federal period); to accommodate a growing family. and vandalism has taken some toll, although much of the simple Greek Revival and windows are trimmed with molded frames and bull's-eye cornerblocks. c. 100' northeast of the house.

The finest outbuilding by far is a bank barn Condition ruins unexposed stone piers.Several joists run the entire length of the structure. 7. Description The interior of the house has suffered most over the years. Tenant occupancy Denison married late in life and had 3 children many years after he built his of Ohio, especially as late as the 1840s; the rest of the house features conventional architectural remnants of his life here.A very small brick smoke house stands Check one and sidelights.The door is set off from the sidelights by fluted pilasters. Denison once owned 15o0 acres; the nominated property includes only the - unaltered those on the west gable end were removed at some point.

Presently the house features a long 2-story ell, however, extant window form suggests that this has been changed, probably from a smaller, 1-story kitchen ell. All windows are The addition, suggesting Italianate window proportions, might have been deteriorated house. over two, with a symmetrical 5-bay facade.

(in one paragraph) The William Denison House is nominated for its architecture, embodying many of the physical characteristics of the Greek Revival, and as the first brick house from the fact that its builder was the benefactor for whom Denison University in Granville, Ohio, was named. Architecturally, the house combines the traditional folk house plan of an The centered doorway with transom and sidelights, the exclusive use of trabeated voids on the original section, and the gable treatment with the partial cornice the township when it was built, and even today is anomalous in Salem Township, an area which is dotted with vernacular wood frame farmhouses.

William Denison's father had received 200 acres for his service during the planted the first orchard and built the first frame house in the township in 1820. he built his brick dwelling, the first of its kind in Salem Township. In 1853, he agreed to donate $10,000 to Granville College if the institution would be i county history published after his death heralds William Denison as being 1700-1799 1600-1699 commerce economics 8.

Significance communications 1400-1499 1500-1599 industry engineering art exploration/settlement invention humanitarian science military "widely known as a man of broad humanitarian spirit, generous impulses, and helpful 1900- Specific dates renege on his offer; the case was finally decided in court during the Civil War, X_1800-1899 Areas of Significance-Check and justify below _ archeology-prehistoric - - community planning _ landscape architecture - religion Sconstructed in Salem Township. Further, the property derives considerable significance I-house with Greek Revival ornament still in vogue at the time of its construction. return and fascia ornament all are characteristic of the Classical Revival in the midwest.

His son, William (1794-1880) probably lived in the frame house until 1841, when named in his honor.