Governor Henry Roberts House, Prospect Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut
Designer Kellie Burke would be the first to admit that the style of her home isn't for everyone. Her historic Hartford mansion happily marries "Old World elegance with a punk sensibility." Now that the house is on the market though, that Old World elegance might need to marry Sense and Sensibility instead in order to attract a buyer.
She definitely has brought a breath of fresh air into what might otherwise feel dated or stodgy. Let's take a look.
The house started off stodgily enough. It's "a Tudor Revival residence with Colonial Revival influences, designed in 1919 by architects Smith and Bassette (the listing says 1921), altered in 1929 Philip L. Goodwin, New York."
The mansions in what is now the Prospect Avenue Historic District were built between 1895-1945 primarily by wealthy businessmen. They liked being able to keep an eye on their downtown businesses from their hillside perches.
It was built for Connecticut Governor Henry Roberts (1853-1929, governor from 1905-1907).
When Burke bought the place in 2000, it had been updated with shag carpeting and lots of floral prints. She promptly hung a disco ball in the Governor's ballroom (now family room), and that reminder to have fun with decorating served her well throughout the rest of the house.
This is the 924 square feet former ballroom turned into a cozy and clubby family room.
The brass rail on the bar has elephant head supports in tribute to Republican Governor Roberts.
Meanwhile, the "lounge" room has a lighter but equally cozy vibe:
Fans of the Miss Mustard Seed blog will appreciate seeing Manet's portrait of Berthe Morisot above the mantel. Designer Burke is also a portrait painter who has studied the masters.
Also, notice the fabric on the fireplace screen. It's the same fabric on the curtains in this living room:
I'm not sure where this room is, but the wallcovering suggests it's connected to the breakfast room...
...and kitchen:
The kitchen ceiling is papered in a Kelly Wearstler print so that the newly raised ceiling wouldn't look too stark and new.
If it were mine, those sticks and beams on the ceiling would be replaced with traditional coffers, and the touches of gold would be a little more streamlined like this:
{source unknown}
I think it ties in well with the quieter dining room and loggia:
Upstairs are seven bedrooms. The house also has eleven bathrooms in 8,374 square feet (although another source claims the square footage is closer to 11,000).
This fun and eclectic bathroom was the first image I noticed in the listing photos.
I'm pairing it with the (AI-generated and grainy) inspiration photo below to bring in more of the downstairs Old World gold and less of the punk sensibility:
{source}
The result would be something like this:
Again, the new design connects well to the adjacent pretty and romantic dressing room:
I like this bedroom below. The artwork would inspire higher-quality dreams with bigger budgets and better visuals than you're currently having:
I also had a little fun quieting the visuals in the red and blue bedrooms below. From this:
To this:
And from this:
To this:
Note the brass elephant in tribute to Governor Roberts again. Interestingly, while he was governor he still served as president of his father's business, the Hartford Woven Wire Mattress Company.
{source}
He also was known for passing legislation that prohibited bakeries from operating below ground level.
Then he retired to his beautiful estate, where he could still keep his eye on downtown.
Two more things worth noting: an official governor's residence was created further down Prospect Street in 1945. History has it that the first occupants didn't want to move in because of the furnishings. It had been decorated by allowing a number of merchants to contribute anything they chose, resulting in a wide variety of styles.
{source}
One of the ways they fixed the issue was by bringing in noted furniture maker Nathan Margolis, who quite possibly also designed this desk owned by Governor Roberts:
{source}
My last fun fact is that the house across the street from Governor Roberts' was built for Elizabeth H.J. Robinson... who just happens to be a cousin of Elizabeth Colt Jarvis Beach of Hartland's Castle that I wrote about last week. Small world!
{source}
