Metropolitan Museum of ArtOne room preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. That's it.
Jedediah Wilcox's mansion was created by business. The grounds were lovingly landscaped and tended. Grand old copper beech trees were a focal point, framing the architectural beauty with graceful branches.
Wilcox lived in Meriden, Conn., and was head of J. Wilcox and Company, manufacturer of carpetbags and skirt hoops, later women's belts and clothing items. (The company grew after he bought out his partner.) Part of his original woolen mill building still stands. (Story, linked here.)
Wilcox also launched the Wilcox Britannia Company, which produced silverplated wares. (Meriden became the "Silver City of the World" as home to a clustering of artisans, silver companies, designers, and related trades.)
Connecticut architect Augustus Truesdell designed the house for Wilcox between 1868 and 1870. At the time it was built and furnished, it was valued at $200,000 and was described as "the most expensive and luxurious house in the city."
Business must always adapt to change, though, and Wilcox's did not. He declared bankruptcy in 1874, and sold his amazing house for a mere $20,000 . . . 5 years after it was built. It was demolished in 1968 and a utilitarian brick-faced complex of bland office buildings now stand on the Wilcox estate. The oldest beech tree gave up the ghost after much of the earth was scraped away for paved parking lots. Two of the youngest trees still provide shade from their home at 816 Broad Street. (See them online by using Google's "street view" icon to look around.)
About that one room of the mansion that still exists? The Renaissance Revival Parlor was a gift of Mrs. Josephine Fiala - and visitors may tour it and see the glory.
Note: Original photograph owned by Metropolitan Museum of Art.
