Home Again
By Sandy Coleman
Since the day it was built and presented as a wedding gift to Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton in 1829, the lovely white house at 28 E. Main St. has been a focal point.
Not only has it served as a residence to the woman most responsible for the founding of Wheaton College and to several presidents, it also has been a home base for the college community to gather, connect, celebrate and chart Wheaton College's future.
Eliza Wheaton's diaries are full of entries about teas, gatherings and meetings with the parade of teachers, students, board of trustees members and townsfolk who often showed up. Several thousand students were entertained here over more than a century. Six presidents have lived in the house.
Having served so many for so long, the house needed some attention of its own. That has come about through a major renovation project that was completed this summer after years of planning.
Once again Eliza Wheaton's house is ready to take center stage. Its historic character has been preserved, with some modern amenities added to make it even more inviting.
Situated across Main Street from Park Hall with a dramatic view of the campus from the Dimple to the library, the house sits at the head of the campus but also serves as its heart, as described by one member of the Renovation Committee.
The description fits, considering that Laban Morey Wheaton had the house built for his bride, who inspired the founding of the college when she suggested that her father-in-law, Judge Laban Wheaton, create a seminary as a fitting memorial to his deceased and much-loved daughter.
Before President Dale Rogers Marshall retired, the Board of Trustees voted to renovate the house to preserve it for the future and to improve its first floor layout.
The first floor, once a series of small rooms, has been opened up and now can comfortably accommodate gatherings hosted by the president. The change will enable the house to serve more easily as a site for student dinners, conferences, trustee receptions and other community events.
The renovation restored the exterior of the house to a more faithful representation of its original design. An addition that was placing structural stress on the house was removed. The work also updated the electrical and heating systems, added a sprinkler system throughout, and repaired many structural problems.
While modern touches, such as air-conditioning and an elevator, were added, measures were taken to preserve original features of the home. All of the original windows on the first floor were preserved, as well as the five original hearths on the first and second floors. The hearths were carefully taken apart to protect them and then reassembled brick by brick.
"We have preserved the Presidents' House as a very visible icon of Wheaton's history while the architecture reminds us of its significance as a cornerstone of the college campus,'' said James Karman, chair of the Ad Hoc Presidents' House Committee.
The Federal-style house, which is located within the Norton historic district, is one of only three or four of its type in the neighboring communities.
According to Wheaton archivist Zephorene Stickney, what makes the house so significant-besides the fact that it belonged to Wheaton's true founder-is that it is the finest example of early 19th-century architecture around, a centerpiece for the town and the oldest building on Wheaton's campus. "And," added Stickney, "Eliza Wheaton loved that house."
Ruth Goold '53, president of the Norton Historical Society, describes it as one of the most beautiful buildings in the area.
President Ronald Crutcher and Betty Neal Crutcher, who have been living in an off-campus house owned by the college, will move into the Presidents' House this fall. Both are excited that they will be so close to campus life.
"We are honored to have the opportunity to live in such a historically significant house that is at the root of this institution," said President Crutcher. "It is so wonderful that it has been preserved and can be a home again as well as a gathering place."
