The 35-room Park-McCullough House was built by Trenor Park, a native Vermonter who made his fortune as one of California's most successful attorneys during the gold rush.
Visitors to the Second Empire-style home are greeted inside by a 75-foot-long front entryway, complete with 14-foot ceilings, parquet floors and a grand oak and chestnut staircase lined by fluted columns and crowned by a Tiffany skylight (figure A).
Park passed away in 1882, and the house was passed on to his daughter Lizzie. In 1891, president Benjamin Harrison came to Bennington to dedicate a Revolutionary War monument. Lizzie completely redecorated the home for the occasion and even expanded the grand dining room to accommodate a massive Italian Renaissance-style dining table (figure B).
With its mansard slate roof, sweeping verandas and imposing central tower, Park's home was a fitting representation of the success he enjoyed during the California gold rush.
Resources Park-McCullough House
This Vermont home was built by attorney Trenor Park in 1865 from the fortune he made overseeing mining interests during the California Gold Rush. The home is operated by the nonprofit Park-McCullough House Association, and is open for tours from late May through late October.
Park-McCullough House
PO Box 388
North Bennington, VT 05257
USA
Phone: 802-442-5441
Email:
thehouse@sover.net
URL:
www.parkmccullough.org
The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities
Website:
www.spnea.org
Vermont: An Illustrated History
by John Duffy and Vincent Feeney (ISBN: 1892724081)
American Historical Press, 2000
Order this
title.
American Historical Press
10755 Sherman Way, No. 2
Sun Valley, CA 91352
USA
Phone: 818-503-0133
Fax: 818-503-9081
Email:
amhistpress@worldnet.att.net
Guests Jane Nicholls
Executive Director, Park-McCullough House
Park and West streets
North Bennington, VT 05257
Phone: 802-442-5441
Email:
thehouse@sover.net
URL:
www.parkmccullough.org
Tordis Ilg Isselhardt
Publisher / Former Executive Director, Park-McCullough House
PO Box 137
Bennington, VT 05201
Phone: 802-442-3204
Email:
info@ImagesfromthePast.com
URL:
www.ImagesfromthePast.com
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