a Bennington Historical Society presentation

It’s 1924. A new neighborhood is emerging on Elm Street, from Dewey Street to Monument Ave. It has up-to-date houses in the latest designs: bringing modern living to Bennington. The dramatic mansions on the eastern end of Elm Street were aging, pre-WWI. The new houses being erected were in the new Colonial Revival style. Their layouts, services, and features assumed technologies barely known in 1900. Today, 100 years later, Elm Street is still one of our vital neighborhoods even as our lifestyles and expectations have evolved.

This presentation will include historic pictures of the houses on Elm Street, as well as the books, articles, and advertisements of the era. Jane Radocchia will share some of what we dreamed and the homes we built between WWI and WWII.

Jane Griswold Radocchia is an architect and an historian. She is an ‘old house’ architect and has worked with over 1200 owners of old houses during the past 40 years. Jane has received numerous historic preservation awards.  She is especially interested in how technology changes what we can and want to build. She sees that  Elm Street from South Street to Monument Avenue is a wonderful illustration of our hopes and expectations. 

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