Allen House

461 Main Street

Photo Credit: Katie Briscoe

Located at the corner of Main Street and South Prospect Street facing the southern end of the University Green is the “Allen House.” The two-and-a-half-story structure is rectangular in frame, five bays wide, with a hipped roof. It was built by Henry Boardman [i] in 1838 in the Greek Revival style, a style which was popular all across the United States at the time. [ii] Henry Boardman was the son of Benjamin Boardman, a “pioneer of navigation” and shipbuilder who came to Vermont from Norwich, Connecticut in 1788. [iii] Henry Boardman followed in his father’s footsteps and was a shipbuilder.  He set up a business in 1797 in Colchester, Vermont, and with the completion of the Champlain Canal in 1820, began trading with merchants in New York and other towns along the Hudson River. [iv] He married Deborah Bishop around 1804 and together had seven children (four died within a year of birth) before she died in 1821. [v] He married his second wife Sabra Boardman in October 1823 and had four additional children. [vi] Boardman built his home and barn at what was then 471 Main Street and lived there until the house was sold to Professor Farrand N. Benedict.

Benedict was a professor of mathematics and engineering at the University of Vermont and was chair of the department from 1832 to 1854. [vii] Benedict was an “ardent conservationist with a keen interest in the Adirondacks, where he purchased large tracts of land to ensure their preservation.” [viii] Benedict and his wife lived at 471 Main Street until he left UVM in 1855 for his wife’s health. [ix] He rented the property for several years until it was purchased by Dr. Leonard Marsh in 1865. [x]

Dr. Marsh was a “Professor of Natural History” at UVM and was cousin to UVM Presidents James Marsh and George P. Marsh. [xi] Marsh died in 1870 and his wife continued living in the property until 1880 when it was purchased by John Johnson Allen. [xii] A deed dated March 16, 1881 shows the transfer of property to John Johnson Allen and Louise Allen, both of the city of Brooklyn, County of Kings and State of New York for the amount of $800.00. [xiii]

The Allen Family lived at 471 Main Street, later 461 Main Street, for over 50 years. [xiv] John Johnson Allen was a lawyer from New York who used the house as a summer property for his wife Louise and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marguerete. [xv]   It is possible the family moved to Burlington permanently around 1886 when the house was remodeled with Queen Anne style features, popular during the time.  A bay window was added on the first floor of the northern façade, a square porch was constructed off of the eastern elevation, and a pair of dormers were added to the center of the roof on the northern façade. [xvi] When street addresses were renumbered in 1920, 471 Main Street became 461 Main Street. [xvii] John Johnson Allen died in 1926 and his wife Marion continued to occupy the house until her death in 1935. Their daughter Elizabeth, a teacher, lived in the house for one year before selling the property to the University of Vermont. [xviii]

In 1936, the property was given the name “Allen House” and “after extensive modernization” was used by UVM as a cooperative dormitory for women until 1967. [xix] An article published in the “Vermont Cynic” in 1957 explored the daily goings-on of the women residing at Allen House. Of the thirty-two women living in the house at that time, each had the responsibility to cook and waitress for one week, three weeks out of the year. “The working system, the eating together and living together, the giving and the sharing, the traditional parties and the impromptu get-togethers make possible a closely-knit group and the development of lasting friendships.” [xx] Mrs. W. “Chattie” Johnson spent nine years as the head resident of Allen House and was succeeded in 1948 by Mrs. Cora Kimball who remained for ten years. [xxi]

Allen House was used as a regular women’s dormitory from 1959 to 1967 then as a men’s dormitory until 1973. [xxii] According to the minutes of the UVM Trustee meeting on December 4, 1965, a motion to tear down the Allen House barn was approved. [xxiii] In 1973 Allen House held the Speech and Hearing Center at UVM, and the Eleanor M. Luse Center for Communication Disorders until 1998. [xxiv] Since January of 1999 Allen House has been the home of the Center for Cultural Pluralism at UVM.

Renovations and Architectural Changes

The Allen House was not included on the Sanborn fire insurance maps until 1906. The structure is L-shaped with porches on the eastern side of the northern façade and on the southern and western elevations. A large rectangular barn is pictured behind the house on the eastern side of the property, oriented north to south with the entrance on the corner of the northwestern façade. [xxv] The 1912 Sanborn map shows the southwest corner of the original rectangular block to have rounded edges. It looks as if the portion of the house behind the front porch was increased in size to extend past the porch and the edges rounded. [xxvi] The building and barn retain these shapes in the 1919 and 1926 maps. The 1942 Sanborn Map shows that the rear porch was decreased in size and a front porch was created.  In addition, a projecting window was added to the western elevation and several square features were added to the corners of the southern elevation. The dimensions of the barn increased and an L-shaped wing was added to the northwestern façade. [xxvii]

  Text by Katie Briscoe, 2011