Fleur-de-lys Studios, Art studio building in College Hill, Providence, United States
Fleur-de-lys Studios is a Tudor Revival building on Thomas Street in Providence, Rhode Island, with half-timbered sections and stuccoed walls. The facade is divided into bays fitted with casement windows, giving the whole front a structured, handcrafted look.
Sydney Burleigh and Edmund Willson designed the building in 1885, and it is considered the first Arts and Crafts movement building of its kind in the United States. It came at a time when American architects were beginning to look toward handcraft as a serious design principle.
The upper facade carries carved stone figures representing Sculpture, Painting, and Architecture, placed where anyone walking by can see them. The building is still used as a working studio space, so art remains part of its daily life.
The building is an active studio facility and is not open to the general public on a walk-in basis. Anyone hoping to see inside should contact the Providence Art Club in advance, as access depends on what is happening at the time.
H.P. Lovecraft used this building as the home of a character named Henry Anthony Wilcox in his short story 'The Call of Cthulhu'. For readers familiar with his fiction, a visit to Thomas Street carries a layer of recognition that has nothing to do with architecture.
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