Sunday, May 15, 2011

Prevost House

The Prevost House was originally constructed in 1877 for Nick Prevost, an Anderson businessman. It is significant for its architectural design. The house was constructed in the Renaissance Revival style along the lines of the German Pavilion at the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 in Philadelphia. Prevost and his wife visited the Exhibition and were impressed by the Pavilion designed by H.J. Schwarzmann. The house is a one-story, frame residence on a high brick foundation. The building has a central, rectangular block with flanking wings to the east and west. In its original configuration, the façade was characterized by a central, three-bay, arcaded portico based on Renaissance precedents, with engaged Tuscan colonettes in the piers, semicircular arches with pronounced keystones and a bracketed cornice. The central block of the house has a low-hipped roof sheathed in standing seam metal. Simulated quoins define the corners of the block. Each of the wings has a lower roofline, consistent with the portico’s cornice. Single stuccoed brick chimneys with octagonal caps rise within each wing. The details of the façade were originally defined by contrasting paint. The house has undergone several significant alterations since its construction. The original outbuildings have been destroyed. Listed in the National Register July 10, 1984. The Nick Prevost House is no longer extant. Removed from the National Register December 8, 2005.