This lightning splitter, at 27 Halsey St., Providence, is on the market for $765,000. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
For two decades, Madeline has greeted visitors from her perch in the front window of 27 Halsey St. on Providence’s East Side.
Every summer, the beloved children’s book character dons a bikini. In September, she goes back to school with a desk and stack of books, and on Halloween, she transforms into a witch, inviting neighborhood children inside to delight in fun-size candies and sign her guestbook.
But soon, Madeline will move, along with her steward, Sally Strachan, from the circa-1846 lightning splitter they’ve called home since 2002. Which may be bittersweet news to her fans — she’s not going far, don’t worry; more on that later — but wonderful news to anyone who’s a sucker for historic homes, Gothic architecture, magical nooks and crannies and a hefty infusion of New England lore.
Oh, and did we mention the home’s connected to a hidden park that has a stunning view of the State House?
It is. And it’s amazing. But then again, so are the backyard gardens that Strachan has nurtured throughout the years, turning out golden daffodils, black-eyed Susans, a raised herb garden, holly trees, a paperbark maple and countless shrubs and greenery from the sun-warmed sod.
The garden was the main reason she moved in the first place from her spacious warehouse apartment in New York City.
“I’d been in New York twenty years. I loved New York,” she says. “I didn’t want to leave but I wanted a garden. My heart needed that kind of expression and I realized that meant I was going to have to leave New York.”
Madeline Sign
A Madeline doll, from the beloved children's books, has greeted visitors to 27 Halsey St. for more than twenty years. Owner Sally Strachan, a redhead in her youth, felt a kinship with the character and loved the book series growing up. Photograph by Dana Laverty.
A Madeline doll, from the beloved children's books, has greeted visitors to 27 Halsey St. for more than twenty years. Owner Sally Strachan, a redhead in her youth, felt a kinship with the character and loved the book series growing up. Photograph by Dana Laverty.
The peaked gables are the main characteristics of a Providence style of building known as a lightning splitter. People believed the steep pitch would deflect or "split" lightning bolts. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The peaked gables are the main characteristics of a Providence style of building known as a lightning splitter. People believed the steep pitch would deflect or "split" lightning bolts. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The house was painted a barn red when owner Sally Strachan bought it. It didn't suit the quirky house, she says, so she chose a bright blue with yellow trim and clementine-colored doors. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The house was painted a barn red when owner Sally Strachan bought it. It didn't suit the quirky house, she says, so she chose a bright blue with yellow trim and clementine-colored doors. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The home's foyer leads to the backyard gardens. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
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The living room is a book-lovers dream. The first-floor rooms are all spacious with high ceilings and lots of windows. "There's so much space in here," Strachan says. "The outside looks like a little cottage and then you come in here and see this." Photo by Residential Properties.
The living room is a book-lovers dream. The first-floor rooms are all spacious with high ceilings and lots of windows. "There's so much space in here," Strachan says. "The outside looks like a little cottage and then you come in here and see this." Photo by Residential Properties.
The bookshelves, custom-made for Strachan in New York City, are staying with the house. She doesn't want to disassemble and put them back together again in her new home. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The bookshelves, custom-made for Strachan in New York City, are staying with the house. She doesn't want to disassemble and put them back together again in her new home. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
Madeline holds a "Home for Sale" sign. Photo by Dana Laverty.
Guestbook
On Halloween, trick-or-treaters can sign Madeline's guest book. Some children come back year after year, their names transforming from thick crayon letters into teenage script. This year, one visitor even wrote about Madeline for a college essay. Photo by Dana Laverty.
On Halloween, trick-or-treaters can sign Madeline's guest book. Some children come back year after year, their names transforming from thick crayon letters into teenage script. This year, one visitor even wrote about Madeline for a college essay. Photo by Dana Laverty.
The downstairs half-bath features a fun frog wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils that Strachan found at Adler's Hardware in the late 2000s. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The downstairs half-bath features a fun frog wallpaper by Brunschwig & Fils that Strachan found at Adler's Hardware in the late 2000s. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
A spacious sitting room in the back of the house features a gas fireplace. The floor was covered with shag carpeting when Strachan bought the house in 2002. Underneath was this gorgeous floor, which she had refinished. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
A spacious sitting room in the back of the house features a gas fireplace. The floor was covered with shag carpeting when Strachan bought the house in 2002. Underneath was this gorgeous floor, which she had refinished. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
A third-floor room still has the original wallpaper. Photo by Dana Laverty.
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Look at all this counter space in the full bath! Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
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The basement has an office, space for a washer and dryer and plenty of storage space. It also has its own entrances. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The basement has an office, space for a washer and dryer and plenty of storage space. It also has its own entrances. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The backyard gardens bloom during the warm-weather months and attract scores of birds. Strachan once saw a hawk in the yard. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The backyard gardens bloom during the warm-weather months and attract scores of birds. Strachan once saw a hawk in the yard. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The entrance to the private Benefit Square Park could easily be mistaken for the Shire or a hobbit's garden. Nearby homeowners pay a yearly fee to use the space, which is bordered by Halsey, Pratt, Jenckes and Benefit streets. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The entrance to the private Benefit Square Park could easily be mistaken for the Shire or a hobbit's garden. Nearby homeowners pay a yearly fee to use the space, which is bordered by Halsey, Pratt, Jenckes and Benefit streets. Photo courtesy of Residential Properties.
The private Benefit Square Park has a commanding view of the State House. Photo by Dana Laverty.
She adored the spacious rooms, curved walls and unique architecture of the Providence home built by David A. Cleaveland and settled in.
Her love for the three bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath home is palpable: She wears it proudly, as one might don a smartly tailored suit or a dress that fits just so. She circles the home’s grand spiral staircase, smoothing her hand alongside the curved wall for what surely must be the hundredth time, a look of wonder upon her face.
“It’s just totally magical to me,” she says.
With almost 3,000 square feet spread throughout four stories, the home boasts well-lit, spacious rooms, a surprising feat considering the steep pitch of the roof’s gables. Known as a lightning splitter, the style originated in Providence and Strachan’s home is one of just a few examples remaining. Her research found only two other lightning splitters in Rhode Island: The Bicknell-Armington House in East Providence and the Daniel Pearce House on Providence’s Transit Street.
Back when they were built, locals believed the steep gables would deflect or “split” bolts of lightning.
During her time in Providence, Strachan has served on various boards, including the State House Restoration Society and the Providence Public Library, and was registrar and administrator of the Department of Motor Vehicles from 2008 to 2011. But lately she’s felt a calling to return to her native South.
“In my heart I’m a Southerner, and I’ve always known I would go home,” she says. “I reached a point here where I’d been here long enough that I wanted to get back home while I was still healthy and could establish my new community and become part of it.”
She’ll miss the home’s magical spaces and tranquil backyard garden but isn’t melancholy about leaving. The home gave her just what she needed when she needed it.
“I did a lot of hosting. I would do political fundraisers and I would do fundraisers for other kinds of things. I love to have dinner parties and bring all kinds of different people together to meet each other,” she says. “And so the house gave me what it was I wanted the house to give me, and so I can feel very happy about leaving and because it’s been a good partnership.”
And fans of Madeline needn’t fear: When Strachan heads for her new chapter in Greenville, South Carolina, Madeline will take the short journey to her new home at the Providence Athenaeum, ready to greet another generation of children in the heart of the East Side.
