Stubbs, Elizabeth, House
Main St., Little Creek, DEThe Elizabeth Stubbs House built c. 1866, is significant within the context of Little Creek as an unusual example of Second Empire residential architecture, which represents a stylistic departure from the dominant vernacular forms of architecture in the town. The Stubbs House is invested with an uncommon style to Little Creek. It is significant in being one of the few buildings in the town that suggests high-style pretensions. It is the only structure in the town with a mansard roof and its exterior and interior details speak a conscious awareness of style. This two-story, three-bay frame dwelling is adorned with oversized dentil molding on its roof cornice and on its facade window and door lintels. Square and hexagonal patterned slate tiles ornament the roof and small, delicate cut-out scrolls flank the dormers. A massive porch with square column supports runs the full length of the facade and continues around one side of the house. This same consciousness is apparent on the interior also. Originally a side-hall plan, the hall wall was later removed to create one large front room. This front room contains a staircase, has raised wood panels beneath the windows on the facade wall, French doors leading into the rear wing, and small chimney closets flanking the stove flue. The three main rooms on the first floor are all equipped with parlor stoves. One of the rear rooms has an open corner winder staircase and French doors connecting the adjoining room. The floors throughout the house are painted and grained, but only at the edges of the rooms as there appear to have been carpets on the floors.
The majority of dwellings in Little Creek are small, simple, two-story, frame, unadorned structures, and the Stubbs House stands out from among them because of its deliberate styling. In its departure from the architectural norm, it shows an awareness of lifestyles and events beyond Little Creek and its immediate environment. It is significant as a local interpretation of the Second Empire style at this time in more urban centers. Because it is less ornate, and perhaps not proportioned in quite the same manner as examples of Second Empire design found in populous cities, it retains the character and spirit of Little Creek.
In Beer's Atlas of Delaware (1868) it appears that this property was owned by E. Stubbs, and the 1880 census for the town of Little Creek reveals Elizabeth Stubbs, age 55, as a head of household, keeping house. Her daughter Linda Stubbs, 24, lived with her and served the community as one of two local dressma- kers. Mrs. Stubbs kept two boarders: James Barber, a seven-year-old boy, and Pernel Emmerson, 30, the local school teacher. Another Stubbs household appears on the census also. Edward Stubbs, a thirty-eight-year-old waterman, his wife Annie, and their three young children could also possibly have been the inhabitants of this house. Between these two households, we see represented the water trade, which was one of the chief occupations of the citizens of Little Creek, and some of the community services necessary to the town as a whole.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.