Gate of the Hills
National Register of Historic Places

Gate of the Hills

Bethel, Windsor County, Vermont
Listed
November 18, 1991
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
91001648

About this property

The Gate of the Hills is a historic house at North and Royalton Hill Roads in Bethel, Vermont. Built about 1896, it was until 1918 home to Mary E. Waller, a prolific novelist and essayist of the early 20th century. The house is a distinctive early example of Dutch Colonial Revival architecture, probably based on designs originating in the Netherlands. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. The Gate of the Hills stands at the southern fringe of a residential area south of Bethel village. It is set on a small level area north of the junction of North and Royalton Hill Roads, in a small clearing in the woods with a semicircular drive in front. The house is 2+1⁄2 stories in height, with a massive stone foundation (apparently intended to support masonry walls) and a wooden frame clad in shingles. The roof has gables at the side, and its front slope extends down to the first floor, where it shelters a recessed porch, and has three large gabled dormers above. On the rear, the roof extends only to the top of the second floor, and is slightly flared (a Dutch Colonial feature) at the base. The house was built about 1896 for Mary E. Waller and her mother; its designer and builder are not known. Waller made this her primary residence until 1918, and it was here that she wrote some of her best-known works, including the 1904 The Wood-carver o£ 'Lympus, which is set in Bethel. Although she did not write directly about the house, she occasionally wrote about its surrounding environment. The house itself is an unusual combination of American Shingle style architecture, with a number of distinctive features presaging the later Dutch Colonial Revival. National Register of Historic Places listings in Windsor County, Vermont

Location

Bethel, Windsor County, Vermont
43.82093, -72.63018

Categories

LITERATUREARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Harrington House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Bethel Village Historic District (Boundary Increase)
Listed
0.5 mi
Bethel Village Historic District
Listed
0.8 mi
Locust Creek House Complex
Industrial
1.3 mi
Fox Stand
Early Republic
3.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Royalton Raid (1780)
1780Revolutionary War
5.2 mi

Questions about this property

When was Gate of the Hills listed on the National Register?

Gate of the Hills was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 18, 1991.

What type of historic resource is Gate of the Hills?

Gate of the Hills is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Gate of the Hills?

The period of significance for Gate of the Hills is recorded as the industrial era, specifically around 1896.

Can I research the history near Gate of the Hills?

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