Windmill Cottage

{{short description|Historic house in Rhode Island, United States}}

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Windmill Cottage

| nrhp_type =

| image = Windmill Cottage Longfellow East Greenwich RI.jpg

| caption = Windmill Cottage in 2008

| location = East Greenwich, Rhode Island

| coordinates = {{coord|41|39|49|N|71|27|23|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = Rhode Island#USA

| area =

| built = 1790

| architect =

| architecture =

| added = May 22, 1973

| refnum = 73000051{{NRISref|2007a}}

| nrhp_type2 = cp

| nocat = yes

| designated_nrhp_type2 = June 13, 1974

| partof = East Greenwich Historic District

| partof_refnum = 74000036

}}

Windmill Cottage is a historic house and former windmill at 144 Division Street in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. It was the home of George Washington Greene, a former American consul to Rome and historian. It was purchased for Greene by his friend, the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

History

The house was built around 1790. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow bought the cottage in 1866 for his friend, historian George Washington Greene, and had a circa–1818 windmill moved to the site in 1870 and attached to the cottage.[http://riroads.com/archive/windmillcottage.htm Paul Pence, "Longfellow's Windmill Cottage," Rhode Island Roads. ]"Narragansett Bay" By Edgar Mayhew Bacon (New York: Putnam, 1904) [https://books.google.com/books?id=DKwSX9gRR4EC] (accessed on Google Book Search November 15, 2008). The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. By the 1980s, the Windmill Cottage fallen into a state of disrepair. In 1989, Ann and James Millard purchased the Windmill Cottage from the Ladd family and undertook an extensive renovation of the property. The Millard family lived in the home until selling it in 2022.

File:Windmill Cottage Rhode Island.jpg

Longfellow first met Greene while traveling from Toulon to Pisa. Greene had moved to Italy for his health and the two bonded over a common interest in Italian language, antiquities, and contemporary art.Calhoun, Charles C. Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004: 55–56. {{ISBN|0-8070-7026-2}} It was Greene who first introduced Longfellow to the Italian poet Dante Alighieri.Lansing, Richard. The Dante Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis, 2000: 571. {{ISBN|0-8153-1659-3}} In the 1860s, Greene was one of the members of the "Dante Club", a group of scholars who assisted Longfellow in his translation of Divine Comedy.Calhoun, Charles C. Longfellow: A Rediscovered Life. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004: 237. {{ISBN|0-8070-7026-2}}

The windmill allegedly inspired Longfellow's poem, "The Windmill." About ten years after it was attached to the home, Longfellow sent Greene a copy of the poem and, in a letter dated April 18, 1880, speculated "I think this is the first ever poem on the subject." It was published in The Youth's Companion issue for May 27, 1880, edited by Hezekiah Butterworth.Gale, Robert L. A Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003: 29. {{ISBN|0-313-32350-X}}

References

Category:Houses completed in 1790

Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island

Category:Smock mills in the United States

Category:Houses in Kent County, Rhode Island

Category:Buildings and structures in East Greenwich, Rhode Island

Category:Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places

Category:Octagonal buildings in the United States

Category:Windmills completed in 1870

Category:Agricultural buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island

Windmill Cottage

History

See also

References