Lafayette B. Mendel House facts for kids
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Lafayette B. Mendel House
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 Location in Connecticut
Location in the United States
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| Location | 18 Trumbull St., New Haven, Connecticut |
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| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1858 |
| Architect | Henry Austin |
| Architectural style | Renaissance, Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 76002138 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | January 7, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | January 7, 1976 |
The Lafayette B. Mendel House is a special old house located at 18 Trumbull Street in New Haven, Connecticut. It was designed by a local architect named Henry Austin. From 1900 to 1924, this house was the home of Lafayette Benedict Mendel. He was a famous professor at Yale University who studied how our bodies work.
This house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976. It was honored because of its connection to Professor Mendel. He made amazing discoveries about nutrition and how food helps our bodies. For example, he helped discover vitamins A and B. Today, a law firm uses the building as its office.
What the House Looks Like
The Mendel House is a two-story building made of brick. It has a unique roof with a small, square tower called a cupola in the middle. The roof also has wide edges that stick out. The main door is covered by a porch with strong columns.
The house was built around 1858. It is located in a neighborhood that mostly grew in the 1880s. Inside, the house still has many of its original wooden details and old-fashioned style. Even though it's now used for offices, much of its history remains.
Who Was Lafayette Mendel?
Lafayette Mendel was born in New York City in 1873. His parents had moved there from Germany. He started studying at Yale University in 1887. He was the youngest student in his class!
After earning his Ph.D., Mendel became an assistant at Yale's Sheffield Scientific School. He worked in a lab that studied biochemistry, which is the chemistry of living things. His boss was Russell Henry Chittenden.
During his long career at Yale, Professor Mendel made huge steps forward in understanding nutrition and digestion. He figured out what some foods were made of. He also found and identified important substances in milk that our bodies need to live. We now call these substances vitamins!
Mendel also worked with another scientist named Thomas B. Osborne. Together, they learned a lot about amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. They also measured how different types of proteins provide different amounts of nutrition. His work helped us understand how important a balanced diet is for our health.
