Merino Hill Main Residence

Periodca. 1890

MediumWatercolor on paper

Dimensions6.5 × 11.25 in. (16.5 × 28.6 cm)

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineMuseum Purchase with Funds from Edward N. King, Jr., 2012

Object number2012.14.5

DescriptionDepiction of a large, three story house with a five bay facade, two chimneys, and a railed observation deck at the peak of the hipped roof. The structure is painted mustard yellow with dark red trim, and a porch with a red roof occupies the center of the first floor. The house is surrounded by mature trees and plantings. It is separated from a field in the foreground by a post and rail fence which has an elaborate red-painted entrance gate at the extreme right.
NotesThis view of the main residence at Merino Hill in Upper Freehold, Monmouth County, was executed about 1890 by a cousin of the Wright family. It is one of three works by the same artist, the other two depicting the old kitchen interior (accession number 2012.14.3) and the barn complex from the rear (accession number 2012.14.4). The principal residence at Merino Hill was built between 1809 and 1811 by Samuel G. Wright (1781 - 1845), a successful Philadelphia merchant who made this large estate his summer home. The large, three story Federal style house with a center hallway and hip roof sits on a rise in the middle of farm fields and pastures. It incorporated a frame 18th century structure on the right that housed the kitchen and other service facilities such as a cold room. The house is shown as it appeared in the Victorian period, painted a mustard yellow color over the brickwork, with dark red trim. The front porch had also been modified by then with new turned posts and elaborate trim. Post and rail fencing separated the yard around the residence from the field between it and the road. The long entrance lane can be seen on the right edge of the picture, entering the yard through an elaborate red-painted gate. The parts to the railing around the observation deck on the roof survived in the attic until 2012.

Collections

Landmarks, Landscapes & Seascapes

ProvenanceWalter L. Wright (1835 - 1910); to his son Henry H. Wright; to his daughter Elizabeth G. Wright Meirs (1917 - 2007); to the family of her nephew Richard S. Wright (1941 - 2010); sold at Freeman's in Philadelphia on 13 November 2012.