Lockwood–Mathews Mansion
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Lockwood–Mathews Mansion
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South side of the mansion
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| Location | 295 West Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut |
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| Coordinates | 41°6′31.68″N 73°25′1.56″W / 41.1088000°N 73.4171000°WCoordinates: 41°6′31.68″N 73°25′1.56″W / 41.1088000°N 73.4171000°W |
| Built | 1864 |
| Architect | Detlef Lienau |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Other |
| NRHP Reference # | 70000836 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 30, 1970 |
| Designated NHL | December 30, 1970 |
The Lockwood–Mathews Mansion is a Second Empire style country house, now a museum, at 295 West Avenue in Norwalk, Connecticut. It was featured in the movies The Stepford Wives and House of Dark Shadows.
The 62-room 44,000 square feet (4,100 m2) (26,402 square feet (2,452.8 m2) of living space)mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1978.
It has been described as "one of the earliest and finest surviving Second Empire style country houses ever built in the United States." "The Museum's mission is to conserve the building while creating educational programs on the material, artistic and social culture of the Victorian era," according to the museum organization's Web site. Built in 1864-68, it is an early example of the style used by wealthy New York City elites such as the Vanderbilts in building their Gilded Age mansions later in the 19th century, and set a new standard for opulence.
A master plan for renovating the mansion was expected to be completed in 2007. Plans for renovation work at the museum include adding an elevator, and systems for heating, air conditioning, and sprinklers. Renovation costs are likely to total about $6 million, museum officials said in May 2007, before the master plan was complete.
In a decades-long Christmastime tradition, interior decorators deck out about a dozen rooms in the mansion with holiday decorations. An annual "community celebration" is held in December with Christmas music, refreshments and a Santa Claus. In 2007, 10 interior decorators volunteered their services and materials for the event.
The mansion, at 295 West Ave., sits in Mathews Park, where the Stepping Stones Museum for Children is also located.
The estate, then called "Elm Park," was built by LeGrand Lockwood, who made his fortune in banking and the railroad industry. Construction began in 1864 just west of the Norwalk River in Norwalk and was completed four years later. Designed by European-trained, New York-based architect Detlef Lienau, the mansion "is considered his most significant surviving work," according to the association. Both American and immigrant artisans worked to construct and decorate the house. Prominent New York decorating firms, including Herter Brothers and Leon Marcotte were contracted to furnish the mansion's interiors. Financial reversals in 1869 and Lockwood's death in 1872 resulted in loss of the estate by Lockwood's heirs. In 1874 the family lost the mansion and grounds through foreclosure. Charles D. Mathews, described in his New York Times obituary as "a very wealthy retired New-York provision dealer", and his wife, Rebecca Thompson Mathews, bought the property in 1876. The mansion was a residence and suburban retreat for the Mathews family, with their Thompson and Martin relatives, until the death of Charles's daughter Florence in 1938.
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