Grace Episcopal Church - Madison, WI
N 43° 04.433 W 089° 23.134
16T E 305785 N 4771781
Grace Episcopal Church was built in 1858 and added to the NRHP in 1976 located in Madison, Wisconsin across from the Capitol.
Waymark Code: WM1ATYE
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 10/08/2024
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This Gothic Revival church dates back to 1855-58 and was designed by James Douglas. It is one of the oldest churches in Madison. The sandstone construction of the church was supervised by James Livesay who had many stonemasonry contracts in the middle years of the nineteenth century Guild hall was built in 1894-1895.
Designed by an architect from Milwaukee, this graceful yellow limestone building was inspired by early English Gothic models, appropriate for the American branch of the Church of England. The buttressed Gothic bell tower soars skyward, culminating in a polygonal spire pierced by gabled dormers. Lancet-arched windows and doors, along with finials (originally taller and more elaborate) at the base of the spire, enhance the sense of upward movement. Douglas articulated each successive level of the three-stage steeple by grouping together the corresponding number of windows.
In 1885, local architect David R. Jones, collaborating with a Chicago firm, redesigned the interior. Douglas’s original design had featured a high, vaulted ceiling and Gothic arches outlined in wood, but it proved difficult to heat. The new lowered ceiling stayed true to the original Gothic Revival theme by placing a traditional hammer-beam ceiling below the old vaulting and embellishing it with quatrefoils and a large pointed arch. In the 1920s, the congregation added a second bay to the church and built a chapel along Carroll Street in a harmonious design.
Stained-glass windows were first added in 1887, including an English-made Resurrection Window. The Baptistery Window of 1899 was made by Louis Comfort Tiffany's celebrated New York firm.-
Wisconsin Historical Society