Redding/Stormfield: Difference between revisions
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Created page with "“Stormfield” was Samuel Clemens’ last permanent home and located just outside the town of Redding in Connecticut. The house was designed by John Mead Howells; Clara Langdon Clemens and Isabel Lyon, Clemens secretary at that point in time, oversaw the interior furnishing and decorating (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]). Clemens himself did not want to see the house until it was complete and ready for..." |
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Clemens referred to the house as “Autobiography House” for a while, acknowledging that the funds to build it came from his successful publication of “Chapters from my Autobiography” in the ''[[North American Review]]'' (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]). Later he called the place “Innocence at Home” - a reference to the “Angelfish” girls - and eventually renamed it Stormfield - in reference to “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven” the sales of which had contributed to finishing the house. Overall, building and furnishing Stormfield cost about $60,000 (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]). | Clemens referred to the house as “Autobiography House” for a while, acknowledging that the funds to build it came from his successful publication of “Chapters from my Autobiography” in the ''[[North American Review]]'' (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]). Later he called the place “Innocence at Home” - a reference to the “Angelfish” girls - and eventually renamed it Stormfield - in reference to “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven” the sales of which had contributed to finishing the house. Overall, building and furnishing Stormfield cost about $60,000 (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]). | ||
[[File:Stormfield_paine_biography.jpg| | [[File:Stormfield_paine_biography.jpg|thumb|600px|left|{{File:Stormfield_paine_biography.jpg}}]] | ||
Time at Stormfield passed leisurely with Clemens taking walks through his gardens, playing billiards or cards with visitors, and reading (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/DMJ27M5U Paine ''Biography'' 3:1460]), and the quiet of everyday life was especially apparent compared to the perpetual travel and prolific literary activity of the preceeding years. Yet Stormfield also saw considerable family upheaval in the following months. In 1909, the marriage of Clara Clemens and [[Ossip Gabrilowitsch]] was celebrated at Stormfield and only a few months later [[Jane Lampton Clemens|Jean Clemens]] tragically died there. Clemens himself died on the property in April 1910 and Clemens’ only grandchild, Nina, was born in the house about four months later. Afterwards, Stormfield was closed down by Clemens’ only surviving daughter Clara (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]) as she and her family decided to move back to Europe. | Time at Stormfield passed leisurely with Clemens taking walks through his gardens, playing billiards or cards with visitors, and reading (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/DMJ27M5U Paine ''Biography'' 3:1460]), and the quiet of everyday life was especially apparent compared to the perpetual travel and prolific literary activity of the preceeding years. Yet Stormfield also saw considerable family upheaval in the following months. In 1909, the marriage of Clara Clemens and [[Ossip Gabrilowitsch]] was celebrated at Stormfield and only a few months later [[Jane Lampton Clemens|Jean Clemens]] tragically died there. Clemens himself died on the property in April 1910 and Clemens’ only grandchild, Nina, was born in the house about four months later. Afterwards, Stormfield was closed down by Clemens’ only surviving daughter Clara (see [https://www.zotero.org/groups/4437667/mtxdigital/items/FIZ6WARP/ Rasmussen et al. 2:903]) as she and her family decided to move back to Europe. | ||
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Revision as of 09:28, 26 August 2025
“Stormfield” was Samuel Clemens’ last permanent home and located just outside the town of Redding in Connecticut. The house was designed by John Mead Howells; Clara Langdon Clemens and Isabel Lyon, Clemens secretary at that point in time, oversaw the interior furnishing and decorating (see Rasmussen et al. 2:903). Clemens himself did not want to see the house until it was complete and ready for him to move in. According to A. B. Paine, Clemens said: “I don’t want to see it […] until the cat is purring on the hearth” (Biography 3:1446).
The design Howells settled on was an Italian style villa overlooking the surrounding area. The two-story house had eighteen rooms, water supplied by a natural spring on the property, electric lights, and a steam generator for heat (see Rasmussen et al. 2:902-903).
Initially, Stormfield was intended only as a summer home and Clemens kept his apartment in New York City, but shortly after his first arrival in Redding in 1908 he decided that he would settle there permanently; the tranquillity and calm of the countryside suited him so well.
Clemens referred to the house as “Autobiography House” for a while, acknowledging that the funds to build it came from his successful publication of “Chapters from my Autobiography” in the North American Review (see Rasmussen et al. 2:903). Later he called the place “Innocence at Home” - a reference to the “Angelfish” girls - and eventually renamed it Stormfield - in reference to “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven” the sales of which had contributed to finishing the house. Overall, building and furnishing Stormfield cost about $60,000 (see Rasmussen et al. 2:903).
Time at Stormfield passed leisurely with Clemens taking walks through his gardens, playing billiards or cards with visitors, and reading (see Paine Biography 3:1460), and the quiet of everyday life was especially apparent compared to the perpetual travel and prolific literary activity of the preceeding years. Yet Stormfield also saw considerable family upheaval in the following months. In 1909, the marriage of Clara Clemens and Ossip Gabrilowitsch was celebrated at Stormfield and only a few months later Jean Clemens tragically died there. Clemens himself died on the property in April 1910 and Clemens’ only grandchild, Nina, was born in the house about four months later. Afterwards, Stormfield was closed down by Clemens’ only surviving daughter Clara (see Rasmussen et al. 2:903) as she and her family decided to move back to Europe.