Another look at the Alexander T. Brown House. The Brown House is an example of domestic "Romanesque Revival" architecture. Designed by Gordon A. Wright and built in 1895. Displaying irregular massing, the use of masonry and good craftsmanship, the house was designed in a style made popular by well-known American architect, Henry Hobson Richardson. Large Richardsonian arches and red Potsdam sandstone with carved details distinguish the exterior. The roof is covered with red clay tiles. Leaded glass and woodwork of mahogany, cherry, birch and oak embellish the interior. An unusual feature was a hydraulic-powered elevator that ran from the basement to the attic. A combination of gas and electricity lighting fixtures indicates that electricity was not completely trusted in those early years. The third floor is illuminated by a skylight of glass tile of the same configuration as the clay roofing tiles. Brown, a prominent industrialist and inventor, was one of the founders of the Brown-Lipe-Chapin Co, later to become part of General Motors. After the death of Brown’s wife Mary in 1932, the house had several owners and the interior was extensively altered in 1947 when a group of physicians occupied the hous
