Wheeler House

133 South Prospect Street

            In 1840, Reverend John B. Wheeler, the President of the University of Vermont at the time, commissioned Boston-based architect Ammi B. Young to draw up plans for a new residence for him and his family. [1] Located at the corner South Prospect and Main Streets, the house, built in the Greek Revival style, was in a prominent location on the University Green, with picturesque views of Lake Champlain to the west. The 1840 “Designs for a dwelling house for Rev. John Wheeler, President of the University of Vermont at Burlington” showed a more ornate exterior for the house than was actually constructed. The main entrance was to be on Main Street and the most northern portion of the ell was to serve as a shed. [2] Both porches on the western face of the house were thin and framed with lattice. The lattice porch on the ell remained but the porch on the main block was replaced with a gothic style veranda most likely in the early 1870’s. The 1877 Birds Eye View of Burlington [3] showed a singular porch on the western face of the Wheeler House, the porch on the main block. If both porches were still the lattice, slender porches it seems strange that porch on the main block would be shown and the porch on the ell would be left off. It is likely that the more substantial Gothic Veranda had been added to the main block in place of the lattice porch and is the porch depicted on the drawing. The drawing also shows two exterior structures, most likely a stable and shed. It is unclear whether or not the two structures are original to the house, though they appear on a 1853 map of Burlington [4] and again on the1890 map. [5]

            J. L. Hills described the house as, “a fine old mansion on the corner of Main and South Prospect Streets facing the front campus with spacious grounds surrounding it…built by President Wheeler some years after he took office.” [6] It was rumored that Phi Beta Kappa was founded in President Wheeler’s study in 1848, but no evidence was found to support such a claim. It is also rumored that the Wheeler House housed run away slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. [7] Though it cannot be confirmed, in 1859 Rev. John Wheeler was the president of the Vermont Colonization Society [8] and Raymond Paul Zirblis, author of Friends of Freedom: The Vermont Underground Railroad Survey Report, claims John Wheeler may have aided refuges. [9] If it true that the Wheeler House was part of the Underground Railroad, it would add another chapter the Wheeler House’s already rich history.

            Rev. John Wheeler passed away in 1862 and his wife at the time, Mary Constance Wheeler, continued to live at 133 South Prospect Street. She was listed in the first Burlington city directory in 1865 [10] and remained listed on South Prospect Street until 1884 [11] . From 1885 [12] to 1890, [13] Mrs. William Russell boarded at 133 South Prospect Street and then in 1892, [14] Mary and her son James were re-listed at 133 South Prospect. It is unclear by the Wheeler rented out their residence during those five or six years. Mary Constance Wheeler remained listed at her address until her death in March of 1904. The house was then listed under, James R. Wheeler, who was a Professor of Greek at Columbia College in New York. [15] On the 1906 Sanborn Map, the smaller shed that was on the northwestern edge of the property on the earlier maps has been removed and a small wooden structure was been constructed directly north of the ell. [16] The thin shed reappeared on the 1912 Sanborn map. [17] The house and exterior buildings remained in J. R. Wheeler’s name after his death until 1920. [18] Figure 8, courtesy of the University of Vermont’s Special Collections, shows the Wheeler House during the years when Professor J.R. Wheeler owned it. In 1920, the house was listed as a woman’s dormitory for the University of Vermont. The UVM Catalogue for those years supports this citation, “The spacious residence of the late Prof. J.R Wheeler, situated at the northwest corner of Main and South Prospect Street, and adjoining the campus, has been rented the past two years as a dormitory for women.” [19] In 1921, the President of the University of Vermont, Guy W. Bailey was listed at 133 South Prospect Street until 1924. [20] In 1925, Jane Wheeler, James’ widow, was listed at the Wheeler House until 1942 when the house was transferred to Constance Wheeler, under whom it was listed in 1943. [21] On the 1926 Sanborn Map, [22] the small wooden structure to the north of the house is not depicted, however, it does show up again on the 1942 map. [23] Also, the stable that was shown on 1906 map was most likely converted into the automobile garage shown on 1926 map, a sign of the progressing modes of transportation. [24]

            When the Wheeler House went onto the real estate market in 1943, the University of Vermont did not have the funds to purchase the house that had been so closely tied with the University since its construction. [25] Instead, L.J. Schildhause, an individual interested in real estate development, purchased the house. [26] Worried about potentially losing the historic house, a group of faculty, friends and alumni of the University banded together to create a group to prevent the loss of the building. The house was purchased a short-term option to buy it. Their plan was to present it to the University. [27] The proper funds had to be raised by April 1, 1944 in order to purchase the building and use it as an infirmary for the University. Some funds had been raised fifteen years prior in honor of Mrs. Pearl Randall Wasson, but an additional forty thousand dollars still needed to be raised to save the house and in turn preserve one of Burlington’s, “finest old homesteads.” [28] Funds were raised in time and the house was purchased for the University. The Wheeler House was renovated and the 1944 blueprints of the house show a treatment room, doctor’s office, nurse’s quarters and waiting room on the first floor, as well as the kitchen, dining room and toilets. The second floor had four men’s bedrooms, six women’s bedroom, nurse’s quarters, a serving room and multiple closets and bathrooms. [29]

In the 1970s the Wheeler House became home to different University program. The Wasson Infirmary relocated and the History Department and Historic Preservation Program moved into the Wheeler House. [30] The small shed depicted on the 1942 Sanborn Map was missing from the 1978 map, [31] perhaps it was a causality of the 1970’s renovations. The garage, seen here in this photo taken by Jenna Lapachinski, has been on the map since 1906, was still on the grounds in the 1970s, and remains there today. Also, during the $85,000 renovation process of the 1970s, [32] the veranda on the western face of the main block was converted into a wheelchair ramp to provide access to the house. The ramp remained in use until the summer of 2011 when the west veranda was restored with the aid of historical photographs. The photo below, taken by Jenna Lapachinski, shows Wheeler House in the fall of 2011.

In 2002 Klaus Herbrich created a sculpture for the grounds of the Wheeler House. “Lifeline/Libenslinie” was a sculpture made of Vermont Serpentine. [33] Two rectangular blocks of stone have a white vein running through them. If the stones are lined up, then the vein is broken, but if flexibility is allowed with the placement of the two stones, the vein can align. It can be seen as metaphor for the Wheeler House and the University. Due to flexibility being allowed, the Wheeler House and the University were able to stay on the same lifeline. The Wheeler House remains the home of the History Department and the Historic Preservation Program and is a contributing structure to the University Green Historic District.

  Text and photos by Jenna Lapachinski