97 Tremont Circle
- History:
- This designated city landmark is a fascinating example of Victorian eclecticism.
- The date of construction is unknown, but its present form is due to Nelson L. Button, who bought it 1865, after moving from Boston.
- Three generations of Buttons lived here until 1973, when Nelson's granddaughter, Editha, died at age 85 in the bed and room in which she was born.
- Mark Van Volkinburg and Sheppard Williams bought the house from her estate in 1975, during which the house was vacant and damaged from fire.
- The Newburgs puchased the house in 1977 and completed its restoration.
- Style and Features:
- Many of the original features survived throughout the years.
- The downstairs doors are painted in a false wood pattern called "graining" which is often mistaken for real mahogany.
- The sliding doors between the study and dining room have brass hardware embossed with five honey bees, the emblem of Napoleon's family, a Francophile touch.
- The kitchen still has its tin ceiling, walnut and oak wainscotting, and an original hand pump that brought water from a cistern in the cellar.
- The butler pantry, now a bathroom, has retained its original tin ceiling and walls, built in 1865 refirgerator, and 1895 sink.
- The upstairs has rosewood grained doors, parquet floors, and a cherry banister.
- Elements similar to the Landmark Society Brewster-Burke House are the unusual porch columns of Egyptian style, and the etched glass panels in the from door.
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