Fleur-de-Lys Studios, Providence

Fleur-de-Lys Studios is a purpose-built artists’ workspace dating from 1885–86. Artist Sydney Richmond Burleigh created the design with architect Edmund R. Willson, drawing on medieval English buildings and the developing American Arts and Crafts movement. The structure was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992 for its architectural importance and its connection to the country’s artistic culture.

Its yellow-and-black façade differs sharply from the surrounding Colonial houses. Dark half-timbering frames richly decorated stucco panels containing flowers, faces, figures and heraldic motifs. Projecting casement windows, a steep shingled roof and a recessed entrance add depth to the compact exterior. Burleigh worked on the ornament with artists John G. Aldrich and Charles Walter Stetson, making the building itself an example of collaborative craftsmanship.

The studios were designed for working artists and were never intended as a private residence. Burleigh’s widow transferred the property to the Providence Art Club in 1939, requiring that it continue to provide studio space, a function it still serves. The building also has a literary connection: H. P. Lovecraft used it as the home of the fictional sculptor Henry Anthony Wilcox in his story The Call of Cthulhu.