Address: 256 South Road
Contemporary Building Name: 256 South Road
Historic Building Name: John Bell – P.B. Skinner House
Present Use: Residential
Historic Use: Residential
Architectural style: Greek Revival
Date constructed: 1830 (Baber). 1740 (Assessor)
Description: The three-bay gable end of the house faces the street in the temple mode of the Greek Revival style. The eight-panel door in the north (right) bay has a six-light transom and is flanked by twin narrow pilasters which support an entablature. The two 12-over-12 windows to the south are closer to one another than to the door. Three windows in the second floor repeat the 2-1 rhythm. The raking eaves of the roof's gable end have pronounced returns, forming a triangular area in lieu of a pediment. A triangular attic window is in the center of the gable end. A substantial brick chimney rises from the center of the ridge. The corners of the building are defined by fluted pilasters with corner blocks near the top, supporting architrave and frieze which run along the side elevations of the house. A shed-roofed porch runs in front of (south of) the 1 3/4 story ell. Small horizontal six-pane windows are located about the porch roof, below the eaves of the ell.
Significance: The John Bell-P.B. Skinner House is a good example of the Greek Revival style. Among its several features of the style are its form and mass; the transom, flanking pilasters, and entablature of the doorway; the pattern of fenestration in the front elevation and the ell's eaves windows; corner pilasters; and architrave and frieze of the side elevations. The triangular attic window probably is unique in Marlborough, but does appear in examples of the Greek Revival style elsewhere. A 1967 inventory references John Bell and Julia Bell in connection with the house, but without explanation. The 1855 map and 1869 atlas identify a house at about this location with P.B. Skinner.
Sources: Baber, David. Capitol Region Council of Governments Historic Resource Survey of Marlborough, 1978.
Ransom, David. Historical and Architectural Resources Survey, Town of Marlborough, Connecticut. April 1998.
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