Statement of Significance (as of designation - August 7, 2001):
Nationally significant as the home of the founder of Russell & Company, the legendary nineteenth-century leader in the American China trade, the exceptionally well-preserved Samuel Wadsworth Russell House (1827-1829) is also considered to be the premier domestic example of the Corinthian Greek Revival style in the Northeast. Conceived and executed during the early flowering of a classically derived national aesthetic, Ithiel Town’s design for this beautifully proportioned "urban villa" was widely disseminated, fostering the rise of the Greek Revival as the classic American style in the antebellum period. Additional significance is derived from a wealth of associated primary source material that provides insight into Town’s career as one of the country’s first professional architects.