Theodore W. Richards House facts for kids
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Theodore W. Richards House
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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 Location in Massachusetts
Location in the United States
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| Location | Cambridge, Massachusetts |
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| Built | 1900 |
| Architect | Warren, Smith, & Biscoe |
| Part of | Follen Street Historic District (ID86001681) |
| NRHP reference No. | 76001999 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | January 7, 1976 |
| Designated NHL | January 7, 1976 |
| Designated CP | May 19, 1986 |
The Theodore W. Richards House is a special building in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's known as a National Historic Landmark. This means it's a very important place in American history.
Built in 1900, this house was once home to Theodore William Richards. He was a famous scientist who lived there until he passed away in 1928. Richards was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He won it for his amazing work in chemistry.
Richards was a top experimental chemist of his time. He carefully measured the atomic weights of many elements. He also helped make Harvard University's chemistry program one of the best in the country. The house became a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
Contents
What Does the Richards House Look Like?
The Theodore W. Richards House was designed by a company called Warren, Smith & Biscoe. However, Theodore Richards himself had many ideas for how his house should be built. He wanted it to be special.
How Was the House Built?
The house is two stories tall. It uses strong steel beams to hold it up, which was one of Richards' specific requests. The bottom floor has walls made of five layers of brick. Between these brick layers, there's a unique material: seaweed! Richards added seaweed to help keep the house warm in winter and cool in summer.
The second floor of the house is covered in wooden shingles. The front of the house looks balanced and has three main sections. You walk up a path with brick walls to reach the front door.
Special Features of the House
The main entrance is set back into the brick wall. On either side of the door are tall, narrow windows called sidelights. The entrance area is framed by decorative columns and topped with a fancy arch.
Above the entrance, there's a beautiful Palladian window. This type of window has a large arched center part with smaller rectangular windows on each side. It goes up into a small, curved roof section. The first-floor windows on either side of the entrance stick out from the house. They have four windows each. Above them, on the second floor, are pairs of windows. Two decorative chimneys stick out from the roof. Inside, the house has a common layout with a main hallway in the center.
Who Was Theodore Richards?
Theodore Richards was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1868. He learned a lot at home before going to Haverford College and Harvard University. He earned his PhD in chemistry from Harvard in 1888.
Richards' Scientific Discoveries
From a young age, Richards was very interested in atomic weights. This was a topic he studied for most of his career. After graduating, he started teaching at Harvard. He became a full professor in 1901.
Richards successfully recalculated the atomic weights of many chemical elements. He also created new ways to do experiments and invented better equipment. For all this important work, he became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1914.
Richards' Impact on Education
Richards was also a great teacher. He taught new generations of chemists the methods and practices he used in his own research. Because of his contributions, Harvard created an honorary chemistry professorship in his name in 1925.
Richards lived in this house until he passed away in 1928. His wife continued to live there until her death in 1941. The house was recognized as a National Historic Landmark and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. It is also part of the Follen Street Historic District, which was listed in 1986.
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