The Ives-Gammell House

The Ives-Gammell House. . , In 1831, Providence merchant Robert Hale Ives, Sr. purchased the lot located just to the west of the John Brown House. By 1853, Ives had acquired the John Brown House, which he later gave it to his daughter, Elizabeth Ives Gammell, as a wedding gift., The construction of Robert Hale Ives's three-story brick mansion and outbuildings at 327 Benefit Street was completed in 1857. But the mansion stood empty until 1866 when Ives and his wife moved into the house. After his death in 1875, he left the home to his daughter, Elizabeth Gammell, who subsequently deeded it to her son, Robert Ives Gammell, in 1878., In 1890, Robert Ives Gammell commissioned the architectural firm Gould and Angell to removed Robert Hale Ives's outbuilding and construct a new stable alongside Charlesfield Street. The design of the new stable was based on the one at his mother's Newport mansion, where the family spent their summers. Contractors used the granite foundation and yard stones from the old outbuilding in the new stable and yard., The house and new stable remained on the property until the mid-1920s when Marsden J. Perry purchased the lot. Soon after, Perry demolished these structures to expand the size of his lawn and gardens, creating the property lines in place today., During the renovation of the Museum parking lot in early -2023, contractors excavated pieces of granite as they leveled the ground and installed walkways. This granite was likely from the second, if not the first, Ives-Gammell stables. Refurbishing and incorporating these stones into the Rhode Island Historical Society's redesigned landscape honors the story of this property and the RIHS's commitment to preserving that history., [Captions:] , Planting plan designed by the Olmsted Brothers for Robert Ives Gammell's property on the corner of Charlesfield and Benefit Streets, shows the new stable and altered house. Image courtesy of the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Olmsted Plans and Drawings Collection, Olmsted Job #02229, This photograph of the Robert Ives Gammell House, ca. 1923, is one of the only known images of the home. This photo was taken shortly before the demolition of the home. Providence Sunday Journal, September 23, 1923. RIHS Collections RHI X17 1293., Note the outbuilding on the far left side of the image. This is one of the only known surviving photographs of Gammell's new stable. Photograph circla 1905-1912. Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Thomas Warren Sears Photograph Collection. R1002007.