The Great House (1829-1834)
- Oct 2, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
The Great House wing—intended for formal entertaining—asserts itself as the architectural and social heart of the complex. Stylistically, the house adheres to high neoclassical principles rather than decorative excess. The exterior is defined by strong horizontals, planar wall surfaces, and carefully proportioned openings. The use of local limestone gives the building a gravity and permanence that aligns with its classical vocabulary, while also anchoring it materially to the region.
Entrance Hall. Guests at social occasions would have entered through the imposing door on the portico and waited to be greeted in this room. The original plaster frieze crowns the top of the marbleized walls. The back-loading stove, however, is the room's most remarkable feature—not even the Smithsonian Institute knows of another one like it.
Stair Hall. The Grand Staircase was completed in 1831. It is entirely of mahogany except for the newel post and every sixth spindle, which are iron, for reinforcement. There are two curved doors beneath the staircase. The smaller opens into a storage space for firewood and the larger to a “water closet.” Installed in 1831, the water closet was the earliest of its kind used in America.
The Drawing Room. The Drawing Room and matching Dining Room are two of the glories of Hyde Hall and are said to be the largest rooms in an American private house at the time. This room was always used for entertaining and was finished just in time for Anna Clarke's wedding to Duncan Campbell Pell, the future lieutenant governor of Rhode Island, in 1834. The plaster walls were finished to look like marble. The flooring was originally covered with a Brussels carpet. The original flooring, moldings, and faux-finish doors survive in these rooms, and the original vapor light chandelier still hangs here.
This room was restored at the turn of the 20th century. However, during the 1930s and 1940s, it was once again in a state of decline: rows of family portraits decking the walls surveyed bales of hay stacked there.
Dining Room. The family was still dining in the Stone Cottage until the Dining Room was finished in 1833.
The boldly decorated ceiling, over 17 feet high, is suspended on a series of metal rods and wooden lath. Although the walls were originally unpainted, the Clarkes painted them in 1883—first terra cotta, then dark red.
George Hyde "The Builder" and Ann Low Cary Cooper installed their impressive mahogany dining room set after work in the room was completed. The furniture suite includes a sideboard with a niche for a wine cooler, a set of Regency chairs, a three-part dining table, and a sideboard.
Serving Pantry and China Pantry. Platters, tureens, and plates were organized in the Serving Pantry before being carried into the Dining Room. It contains a silver closet built into a solid masonry wall and opens to the China Pantry.
Back Entrance. This space connects the Great House and the West Wing. An exterior doorway on the north provided access to the stable yard and an exterior doorway to the south remains the only access to the Courtyard. Family tradition maintains that the room was also the butler's office during the first generation.
Billiards Room. George Clarke “The Builder” was committed to the game of billiards and included a billiard room on the second floor. The room was moved to the third floor during construction. It was converted to a bedroom in the 1880s and remained so until a billiard table was installed in 1909. It reverted to a bedroom in 1925.