Fleur De Lys Studio, 7 Thomas Street, Providence, Providence County, RI

1990 Charles E. Peterson Prize, Entry
Significance: The Fleur de Lys Studio, in Providence, Rhode Island was built in 1885. Designed by Sydney Burleigh, an artist and Edmund Wilson, a Beaux Arts trained architect, it is one of the most distinguished examples of a building designed specifically for use as artists studios. The design was inspired by the half timbered stucco houses, such as those of Chester, England and was encouraged by the Arts and Crafts movement. A significant feature of the building is the facade. It was conceived as a giant reredos on which artists Burleigh and John C. Aldrich displayed an exuberant freedom in creating symbols and signs. Growing in intensity from the bottom to the top, seagulls, flowers and proto-Art-Nouveau swirls appear at street level. Shields, letters, and heads fill the middle section and large gowned pre-Raphaelite figures representing painting, sculpture and architecture occupy the gable. The interior contains individual studios and boasts relief sculptures on the stucco plaster walls. Two of the studios are two story spaces with the larger enhanced by a balcony as well as richly detailed fireplace wall. Owned by the Providence Art Club, the Fleur de Lys Studio is still in use by working artists.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-59
Survey number: HABS RI-393
Building/structure dates: 1885 Initial Construction
National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 92001886