Milton: A Treasure Trove of Victorian Architecture

Noah Wiltbank Megee House

Milton’s story is similar to those of many other towns along the Delaware Bayshore Byway. It was built along a river as a port and eventually a shipbuilding center. What makes Milton different is that its shipbuilding industry persisted into the early 1900s, when steel finally replaced wood as preferred ship construction material. Businesses building wooden ships would of course employ many skilled carpenters, and there’s a legend that the carpenters spent their off time building elaborate Victorian buildings.

Whether this legend is true or not, today Milton has an extraordinary collection of Victorian buildings that make Milton a delight for fans of Victorian architecture. There is so much to see that I’m covering earlier and later buildings in separate blog posts.

What is Victorian architecture anyway? Technically it would be any architectural styles popular during the reign of Queen Victoria, from 1837 to 1901. But I think most Americans think of Victorian architecture as the styles built after the Civil War, when the Industrial Revolution made possible craftsmanship, elaborate details, and even paint colors that couldn’t be created earlier. Milton has great examples of three of these styles: Gothic Revival, Second Empire, and Queen Anne.

Gothic Revival houses are characterized by steep roofs and gables, pointed windows in gables, and tall, narrow windows topped with interesting lintels. A wonderful example is Noah Wiltbank Megee House at 102 Union Street, built in the mid 1800s and pictured above.

Another great Gothic Revival example is at 305 Federal Street, built in the early 1870s. 

305 Federal Street

Yet another delightful Gothic Revival example is at 308 Federal Street, built around 1875. 

308 Federal Street

(I forgot to get a photo of this house during our visit, so this image is from Google Maps.) 

Double gables are generally pretty rare in Gothic Revival houses, but as you can see Milton has several of them.

Second Empire houses are easy to identify because of their distinctive mansard roofs. Mansard roofs are very steep, on all sides of the house, with dormer windows. Each roof section is surrounded on the top, bottom, and sides by trim, often elaborate. Mansard roofs are usually shingled and often flare out at the bottom.  

A beautiful example of a Second Empire house is Dr. James A. Hopkins House at 205 Federal Street, built in the 1860s. Notice the two different shingle patterns in the mansard roof, along with many other wonderful details.

If Second Empire houses remind you of Paris, you’re right! Emperor Napoleon III, whose reign is called France’s Second Empire, tore down Paris’s slums in the mid-1800s and ordered broad boulevards with new buildings. I’ve heard that buildings in Paris were taxed by height below the roofline. If this is true, Second Empire houses were a clever way to add an extra tax-free story.

An even more impressive Second Empire house is Governor James Ponder House at 416 Federal Street, built around 1875. James Ponder was one of five governors from Milton.

 

Governor James Ponder House

I think of Queen Anne style as simply avoiding anything boring. Queen Anne houses have no flat, plain, smooth walls and nothing is symmetrical. A fine example is Jones House or Holly House at 111 Federal Street, built around 1900. 

111 Federal Street

Look closely at the shingles. There are two different shingle patterns on the tower, and they're both different from the shingles on the gable. In Queen Anne houses, variety is the spice of life! 

Another nice example of a Queen Anne house is Dr. John Hopkins House (not to be confused with Dr. James Hopkins House!) at 201 Federal Street, also built around 1900.

Dr. John Hopkins House

And then things get interesting! Some Victorian buildings in Milton don’t fit any popular style. Books of “patterns” for Victorian designs were published in the United States, so many builders and customers knew what each style should look like and wanted their home to conform to one of those styles. But some Milton buildings are a hodgepodge of styles—what architectural historians call eclectic.

Some of the eclectic houses in Milton were built before the Victorian era but were altered in the late 1800s to look more Victorian. This seems fairly common along the Delaware Bayshore Byway. Mrs. R. Metts House in Odessa, for example, was built in the early 1800s and altered with Gothic trim in the late 1800s.

Robert Hood Carey House at 301 Union Street is another example of eclectic Victorian-era alterations. 

Robert Hood Carey House

The house looks Victorian, but it goes back to the early 1800s. Several online sources say Robert Hood Carey, who lived from 1811-1891, was born and died in the same house, so this house is at least that old.

The Gothic gable and porches were added in the late 1800s. So was the tower, but I don't think it's Gothic. If it were, the top windows would be pointed like the gable window. I also think it's too simple to be Queen Anne--there's nothing fancy except those two places where the shingle flare out. I think it's a style called Shingle, which was also popular in the late 1800s. The walls of Shingle structures are completely covered with (duh) shingles, all the way out to the edges—notice there are no upright boards on the tower’s vertical edges. But I'm not an expert, so I could be wrong.

Robert Hood Carey’s son John, by the way, became a lawyer and eventually Senator and Governor of Wyoming—another of five governors from Milton.

Another eclectic building is the carriage house of Robert Hood Carey House. I’ve read that it’s the most beautiful outbuilding in Sussex County, and I believe it! The details don’t reflect any one style, but they come together beautifully. 

Robert Hood Carey Carriage House

Across the street at 302 Union Street is King’s Ice Cream. 

What's now King's Ice Cream was built by Robert Hood Carey’s father, Joseph Carey, in the 1820s as a warehouse. In 1885, Robert Hood Carey added the windows and doorway to make it a store. I'm sure the gingerbread trim along the roofline was added then too. It’s the oldest continuously used commercial building in Sussex County.

Another house that may be a mix of styles is Lank House at 105 Atlantic Street . A plaque says it was built in 1876, but I’m not so sure. The gable windows and gingerbread trim are Gothic Revival, but the windows on the first and second floors—and the lintels on top of them—are in the style of the early 1800s. So I think this is another house built in the early 1800s and updated with fashionable Gothic gables and trim in 1876.

Lank House

Henry Ellingsworth House at 326 Union Street may have a similar story. 

Henry Ellingsworth House

A booklet published by the University of Delaware's Center for Historic Architecture and Design says it’s a Gothic Revival house built around 1870. Yes, the gables, trim under the eaves, and porch are all Gothic Revival. But the windows are a size and shape more popular in the early 1800s.

Then there are the shingles covering the entire front wall. Shingles weren’t used like this in Gothic Revival or Queen Anne houses. Buildings in Shingle style would not have had the upright wood trim on each side of the house. Again, my guess is that this house was originally built in the early 1800s and updated with an eclectic combination of Gothic Revival and Shingle trim, with the Shingle update not quite matching the style of the day. But, again, I'm not an expert on this and I could be wrong!

Maybe the most interesting house in Milton is D. R. Burton House at 117 Federal Street, built around 1880.

D. R. Burton House

At first glance, Burton House is not especially eye-catching, but take a closer look. It has Shingle walls on the top half and a Queen Anne gingerbread front porch--notice the beautiful spindles along the top. (I suspect the bottom railing is a replacement of the original). 

But the really interesting parts of this house are the roof, the tiny dormer window on top, and those two windows that stick out in a wedge. Burton House is not just eclectic—it’s got features that don’t reflect any of the popular styles of the day. I’d love to know more about D. R. Burton—he or she must have been quite a personality to build such a house!