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Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum

Greek Revival architecture in MassachusettsHistoric district contributing properties in MassachusettsHistoric house museums in MassachusettsHouses completed in 1834Houses in New Bedford, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, MassachusettsIndustry museums in MassachusettsMuseums established in 1983Museums in Bristol County, MassachusettsNRHP infobox with nocatNational Historic Landmarks in MassachusettsNational Register of Historic Places in New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford Whaling National Historical ParkRichard Upjohn buildingsUse mdy dates from August 2023
William Rotch House, New Bedford, MA
William Rotch House, New Bedford, MA

The William Rotch Jr. House, now the Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum, is a National Historic Landmark at 396 County Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the United States. The three families whose names are attached to it were all closely tied to the city's nineteenth-century dominance of the whaling industry. Because of this, the house is part of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park. Richard Upjohn built the house in the Greek Revival architectural style for William Rotch Jr. in 1834, on a New Bedford plot Rotch had inherited from his father. It was Upjohn's first house, near the beginning of a long career. Rotch also commissioned a garden in the rear, which later owners would significantly expand. The property remained private until 1981, when it was bought by local preservationists and reopened as a historic house museum. It was declared a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Today the museum educates visitors not only about whaling but, through its gardens and associated programs for local schools, about the environment as well.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Rotch–Jones–Duff House and Garden Museum
Cherry Street, New Bedford

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N 41.630277777778 ° E -70.928333333333 °
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Rotch- Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum

Cherry Street
02740 New Bedford
Massachusetts, United States
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William Rotch House, New Bedford, MA
William Rotch House, New Bedford, MA
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William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage
William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage

The William J. Rotch Gothic Cottage is a historic cottage on 19 Irving Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The Gothic Revival cottage was built in 1845 to a design by noted New York City architect Alexander Jackson Davis. It was built for William J. Rotch, a member of one of New Bedford's leading whaling families. It is for these two associations that it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. It is one a very few surviving Gothic cottage designs by Davis, exhibiting features not found in the others that do. The house was included in The Architecture of Country Houses, published in 1850, bringing it early fame and making it an iconic example of the style.The Rotch family was a major force in the development of whaling in the United States and in the rise of New Bedford as a major whaling center. William Rotch, Jr., grandfather of William J. Rotch, established the family's fortunes in the industry beginning in the late 18th century. The land on which the cottage sits was on a rural part of the family's New Bedford estate, and the house and land were a gift to William J. Rotch from his grandfather. The younger Rotch retained Davis to design the house.The cottage is roughly L-shaped, with a main block that has a hip roof meeting a slightly taller section with a steeply-pitched gable end. The exterior is clad with flushboarding, and its roof is composed of wood shingles. The building no longer stands at its original location, having been moved a short distance on its original lot in 1908. The original parcel it sat on has long been subdivided and built up with housing, depriving the house of its rural character. The projecting taller section frames the main entrance, and has elaborate hand-carved vergeboard decoration. On either side of this projecting section are a pair of gabled dormers with Gothic windows; these are a later addition by the Rotches to improve the lighting of upstairs bedrooms. The interiors feature elegant yet fairly typical Gothic Revival styling.The house was declared a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.