Blithewold
a.k.a. Blithewold Gardens & Arboretum
Ferry Rd., Bristol, RIBlithewold is significant for its architecture, for its role in Bristol's social history, and, most particularly, for its landscaping, its gardens and arboretum which are outstanding in New England.
Neither the house nor the outbuildings are particularly unique, but they are good examples of their period and style. The house, a specimen of the English manor style popular for country houses and summer estates at the turn of the twentieth century, is generously proportioned and carefully finished, but modest when compared to the summer "cottages" built contemporaneously at Newport and other watering spots. In this combination of modesty and attention to detail, Blithewold is typical of the work of Kilham and Hopkins, a good but undistinguished firm.
A contemporary account of the work of Kilham and Hopkins summarized their contribution as follows:
"Their work has been very varied ... Throughout their career, they have lived up to a high standard of excellence... but they have not, on the other hand, made any peculiarly individual contribution to American architecture. They have added to the stock of New England buildings a large number of structures which have served admirably the purpose for which they were erected and which have given prolonged and renewed life to sound local tradition".
The article suggests, further, that Kilham and Hopkins displayed more variety in their approach to summer homes than to any other genre.
Surely the firm's "high standard of excellence" is visible in the care and quality of the construction and finishing at Blithewold: the stairhall and staircase, the living room ceiling and mantel, the paneled dining room with its banks of windows at either end and its fireplace with painting fitted into the niche above, and the lattice-work breakfast room all display attention to detail and responsiveness to the specific desires of the client. The use of fire-resistant construction - - stone and stucco with many fire-stops in the interior walls -- is another reflection of response to a particular client. The first "Blithewold," a large shingle-style house had burned; and Mr. and Mrs. William L. McKee were taking no chances with its replacement. Local significance of the building:
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
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.