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GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND ANECDOTES BARKMAN HOUSE:
Greek-Gothic Revival
Structure Houses The Barkman House, completed about 1860, was built for James E. M. Barkman, the son of Jacob Barkman who had settled in Arkadelphia around 1811. The house is architecturally significant because of its unusual combination of Greek and Gothic Revival styles. A transitional design between antebellum and Victorian architecture, the Barkman House is a frame house. It has a hip roof with chimneys at both ends, a two-story gallery across the main façade, and two one-story wings at the rear. The foundation and five interior chimneys are of stuccoed brick. The exterior of the house is covered with six-inch clapboard. Each corner of the main house as well as the two rear wings have unusually large pilasters of modified Doric style. The original windows are six light, double-hung sashes with adjustable louver outside shutters. The windows on either side of the lower floor front entrance and the second floor gallery door have semi-circular heads. The façade entrances have double doors with sidelights and transoms. The rear door, opening onto what was originally an open porch between the two rear wings, has sidelights only. All exterior doors and windows have molded architraves, with façade windows and doors having entablature style lintels perforated with pointed Gothic arch cutouts and small brackets. The roof has an unusually wide overhang with a nicely proportioned entablature encircling the main house and the rear wings. An unusual feature is a scroll-cut, dropped, decorative band under the soffit. The roof is now covered with asphalt singles. The front gallery is divided into three rather wide bays having a bracketed entablature at the second floor level, complete with overhanging cornice. Vertical support is achieved with a combination of coupled posts and pilasters on pedestals, with latticework between the posts’ pilasters and jigsaw-cut lattice and arrow-shaped designs set in semi-circular topped openings. Small, flat, jigsaw-cut arches connect the three bays. The design of this front gallery is a curious but pleasing combination of Greek and Gothic motifs that give the appearance of Victorian design. The house has a center hall upstairs and down with one room on both sides. The hall continues on the first floor to the one-story rear wings. The main stair opens to the rear of the house and is a single run from first to second floor. All interior doors and windows have wide architraves in a modified Greek style. Extra moldings give the woodwork a slightly Gothic appearance. Painted white with green shutters, the Barkman House is very unusual in its proportions and detailing. The combination of Greek and Gothic Revival design has been interpreted in such a fashion as to make the house highly unusual—if not unique—in the state of Arkansas. With the exception of the screening of the front gallery, the closed-in rear gallery, two or three changed doors and windows, and the asphalt shingle roof, the house is structurally the same as when it was built shortly before the Civil War. Gothic Revival architecture in Arkansas is very rare, particularly in anything resembling its pure form. Some early Victorian houses in Arkansas, built soon after the Civil War and into the 1870s, have certain features that are classified as Victorian-Gothic style. The Barkman House, however, has both Greek- and Gothic-inspired detailing. Today, the house remains in very good structural condition and has been well maintained both inside and out. The design as well as the craftsmanship, represented in the combination of Greek and Gothic motifs, make the imposing yet graceful Barkman House truly exceptional. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' The content of this page was taken from the web site of Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas at: http://www.hsu.edu/hsu/campusmp/BarkmanHouse/barkmanhistory.htm RETURN: Antecedents and Descendants of John Barkman (30 July 1786 - 8 October 1870) GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND ANECDOTES: TABLE OF CONTENTS GENEALOGICAL NOTES AND ANECDOTES: HOME This web site is always under construction. For entries preceded by an asterisk (*), further information is forthcoming. Persons wishing to contribute information to this web site, or who wish to make inquiries, may do so by addressing their email to:
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