William H. Taft Mansion

The William H. Taft Mansion is a two story French Second Empire style mansion across the street from the New Haven Museum on the busy Whitney Avenue that connects New Haven and Hamden. Despite being originally constructed in 1870, the building has been maintained beautifully, such that its condition could be likened to that of a building recently renovated. It was only owned by former president William H. Taft from around the time of the first World War to 1921, and Taft, a Yale graduate, never actually lived in the mansion that is encircled today by the ubiquitous Yale campus. The facade is pleasingly almost symmetrical, except for a difference in window spacing. It is constructed with load-bearing masonry and the exterior is done in stucco. The basement, which is visible from the driveway to the 23 space parking lot behind the building, is faced in stone. The building was historically a residence and then a business school, but is now home to the offices of Ivy Labs, a private education consulting firm that helps students apply to colleges.

William H. Taft (Circa World War I to 1921)

Whitney Secretarial School (1940 to ?)

Robert J. Murray (? to [After February 1981 but before February 12, 2004])

William F. Buckley Jr. Program (August 2013 to August 2016)

Ivy Labs (September 2016 to Present)

In 1851, the William H. Taft Mansion did not exist yet, since 111 Whitney Avenue was an empty lot. Construction finished in 1870, and the building has stood ever since. The parking lot behind the mansion has existed at least since 1980.

In a 1936 photo, the building had a slate roof, arched dormers and windows, an ornamental bay window on the south side, and a cast iron fence. Today there is no fence, there is no bay window on the south side, the dormers and windows are square, and the roof is asphalt and shingles.

The building’s namesake, William H. Taft, imparted an esteem to the mansion simply by owning it (Secondary sources, 7).

When it was first constructed it was on the outskirts of town, just on the edge of the settlement (Maps, 1). Like how Fifth Avenue mansions were constructed on what used to be considered “out of town” in New York, the client might have wanted an escape from the burgeoning city of New Haven. This could have started a trend that carried on for many years in which large mansions designed by architects were constructed further along Whitney Avenue and led to the development of what is now know was the Whitney Avenue Historic District (Secondary sources, 5). It is important to note that the William H. Taft Mansion is not actually included in the district.

The mansion was also home to the William F. Buckley Jr. Program for three years. The program was a conservative group founded in the face of a heavy political atmosphere on campus that gave the impression to the founding students that they could not voice their opinions freely (Secondary sources, 3, 4, 6). The program received an an anonymous donation to move into the building with the option to buy the building after two years, at a cost of 2 million dollars (Secondary sources, 3, 4). The students wanted to make this mansion a place that was welcoming enough such that student fellows of Yale would hold meetings there and study breaks. In some ways, the housing of this organization breathed some of the building’s faded political important back.

The building currently houses Ivy Labs, which calls itself a private education consulting group and its goal is to help their clients through the college application process and help them gain admission into top institutions (Secondary sources, 2).

The mansion faces an important artery connecting Downtown New Haven with the town center of Hamden, across the street from the colonial revival New Haven Museum and flanked by a 20th century office building and a series of shops. Further up Whitney Avenue are many eateries and offices.

The building is approximately 40’ by 60’, with a daylight basement, square dormers with square windows protruding from the attic, which seems like a full third floor when viewed from the facade. The roof line is trapezoidal as is the Mansard style of French Second Empire. The building is painted a shade of goldenrod with the shutters and trims done in a forest green. The cornice at the roofline is white, and the dentil work is broken by pairs of modillions. It is a symmetrical, rectangular building, with the only flaw being irregular window spacing on one side of the facade. The porch is projected outwards and there is a pair of glass double doors. There are hedges in the front yard that line the walkway and the roof of the porch is held up with cast iron supports. The back of the building has the emergency fire escape and an entryway to the basement. The interior is elegantly furnished, and there is an abundance of archways and mouldings and paneled walls. The central staircase is not designed to be the center of attention. There is a small foyer, past which is a hall with a large office to the left and a grand hall to the right, which might have once been used for entertaining. The fixtures are all in keeping with the refined taste and style of the Second Empire. The dormers and windows used to be arched in the 1930s and there was also a cast iron fence, which was removed at some point. The structure is secured with load-bearing masonry and a trap rock foundation. The building was extensively remodeled in 2008.

Documents:

1. Hudnall, Amy L. Historic Resources Inventory: Building and Structures. Technical paper. Whitney Avenue. Hartford: Connecticut Historical Commission, 1981.

Maps:

1. Bailey, O. H., and J. C. Hazen. "Map of 1879." Map. Boston, Mass.: O. H. Bailey and J. C. Hazen, 1879.
2. Hartley, and Whiteford. "Map of the City of New Haven and Vicinity from Actual Surveys by Hartley and Whiteford, Surveyors." Map. Philadelphia: Collins & Clark, 1851.
3. "Map of the City of New Haven from Surveys." Map. In City Directory of 1870-71.
4. Sanborn-Ferris Map Co., Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut Volume 1, 1901, 28.

Secondary Sources:

1. "111 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06510." Property Shark. Accessed February 27, 2018. https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property-Report/?propkey=109263311.
2. "About." US Education Consulting Firm. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://www.ivylabs.org/about.html.
3. Kaminer, Ariel. "Moving to the Taft Mansion, a Yale Conservative Group Seeks a National Presence." The New York Times. August 11, 2013. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/nyregion/moving-to-the-taft-mansion-a-yale-conservative-group-seeks-a-national-presence.html.
4. Menton, Jane Darby, and Jane Darby Menton & Amy Wang Aug 28, 2013. "Buckley Program Acquires Historic Mansion." Yale Daily News Buckley Program Acquires Historic Mansion Comments. Accessed February 27, 2018. https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/08/28/web-yheadline-here-22/.
5. "Whitney Avenue Historic District." New Haven Preservation Trust. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/district/whitney_avenue_historic_district/.
6. "William F. Buckley Jr. Program at Yale Settles into Taft Mansion." New Haven Register. March 25, 2014. Accessed February 27, 2018. https://www.nhregister.com/colleges/article/William-F-Buckley-Jr-Program-at-Yale-settles-11364850.php.
7. "William H. Taft Mansion." Historic Buildings of Connecticut. Accessed February 27, 2018. http://historicbuildingsct.com/?p=18160.