Louis Sheldon Newton

• American

Louis S Newton was born in 1871 on a farm in Hartford, Vermont. He attended St Johnsbury Academy and went on to study architecture in Boston. He launched his architectural practice in New Lebanon, New Hampshire, but soon moved his office to his hometown. He lived and worked in Hartford from the late 1890's until 1921 when, at the age of 50, he moved to Burlington. For the next thirty two years, he had an office and resided at the Huntington Hotel on Saint Paul Street. Although he remained single, he was close friends for years with Nellie Field of Burlington. He attended the First Congregational Church in Burlington.

Newton's career lasted from the 1890's to 1952, the year before he died. Throughout this time, he designed and altered residences, summer cottages, and commercial and public buildings. From the beginning to the end, the Colonial Revival style was the greatest influence in his work. The Classic influence is evident in the Marinette (College Street) and the Ridgewood (Main Street) apartment buildings, which he designed. In a flurry of activity in the 1930's, he designed a number of Colonial Revival residences. These residences can be found on Locust Street, Colonial Square, DeForest Road, Ferguson Avenue, and in other areas which were new and expanding at the time. Although Newton designed many new buildings, alterations were his specialty and comprised the main body of his work. The alteration he is best known for, the Streamline Moderne facade of Abraham's, is a departure from his usual, more traditional, approach. - NRHP, 29 December 1994