The Mark Twain House (1874 / 1881)

The Hartford, Connecticut home of American author Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Before he became famous for his novels, Samuel Clemens ("Mark Twain") married into a wealthy family. Samuel Clemens and his wife Olivia Langdon asked the noted architect Edward Tuckerman Potter to design a lavish "poet's house" on Nook Farm, a pastoral neighborhood in Hartford, Connecticut.

The Mark Twain House is elaborately decorated with patterned brick and ornamental stickwork.

Edward Tuckerman Potter was known for designing grand Romanesque churches, but his design for the Clemens home was bright and whimsical. With brilliantly colored bricks, geometric patterns, and elaborate trusses, the 19-room mansion became a hallmark of what came to be known as the Stick Style of architecture. After living in the house for several years, the Clemens hired Louis Comfort Tiffany and Associated Artists to decorate the first floor with stencils and wallpapers.

Taking the pen name Mark Twain, Samuel Clemens wrote his most famous novels in this house, including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The house was sold in 1903. Samuel Clemens died in 1910.

The Mark Twain Home in Hartford, Connecticut is often described as an example of Gothic Revival architecture. However, the patterned surfaces, ornamental trusses, and large decorative brackets are characteristics of another Victorian style known as Stick. But, unlike most Stick Style buildings, the Mark Twain house is constructed of brick instead of wood. Some of the bricks are painted orange and black to create intricate patterns on the facade.