The Renovation of The Mark Twain House Mahogany Suite

The original Reform Gothic half-tester bed that Mark Twain commissioned specifically for the Mahogany Suite was still in the museum’s collection; the bed’s colorful inset Minton tiles inspired the carpet. Ornate mahogany doors lead to the suite’s bath and sitting room.

A mahogany dressing chest matches the bed, and the door to the right leads to Twain’s personal library.

A plush velvet recamier lounge stands in front of the replicated, complementary wallpaper patterns; the metallic dado paper features hives and clover, while the paper above depicts honeycomb and shimmering bees.

An etched glass gasolier hangs beneath the bedroom’s original plaster rosette, which echoes the colors in the replicated Candace Wheeler ceiling paper.

At a time when most homes utilized outhouses, Twain’s manse boasted four bathrooms. The dedicated guest bathroom includes a water closet, restored vanity, and zinc-coated copper tub recessed into a mahogany surround. Through meticulous analysis of paint traces, restoration architect David Scott Parker matched the room’s original wall color and gold-leaf striping.

Mark Twain was famously ahead of his time. Not only did his 1874 Hartford mansion boast all the bells and whistles (including indoor plumbing) that technology had recently made possible, it was also at the forefront of design. Nearly 150 years later, we’re finally understanding and witnessing the brilliance behind the Mark Twain House & Museum’s Mahogany Suite, thanks to the research of restoration architect David Scott Parker.

With Twain’s input, Edward Tuckerman Potter designed the mansion in 1873 with an 1881 update that included the ground-floor Mahogany Suite, which features a dressed-to-impress bedroom, sitting room, and state-of-the-art bathroom reserved for guests. Spearheading the aesthetic movement that was gathering momentum at the time, Twain collaborated with trendsetters Louis Comfort Tiffany and interior designer Candace Wheeler to bring the majesty of nature indoors through the suite’s decorative arts. From the carpet underfoot to the ceiling paper above, every thread was meant to be cohesive. Unfortunately, only memoirs and letters had preserved the suite’s original decor—period photos didn’t exist—when the Mark Twain House engaged Parker to restore the rooms in 2017. “These rooms were an enigma,” recalls Parker.

Before becoming a museum in the 1960s, the home served various purposes, including as a library and boarding house. The suite’s bespoke wallpaper had been stripped, and the overall scene lacked many of its original elements, so Parker went into sleuth mode, piecing together the suite’s precise DNA through painstaking research about Twain, the home’s original design team, and what was considered fashionable in the late 1800s. Every aspect held challenges and discoveries as Parker worked with conservators from Connecticut-based John Canning & Co. and artisans from the finest design houses to reestablish the details, finishes, and fixtures from the suite’s glory days. For his stellar achievement, Parker received 2021 Bulfinch and Palladio awards. (He was also inducted into the New England Design Hall of Fame last year.)

But for Parker, the real thrill came when the Reformed Gothic furniture Twain and Tiffany envisioned was reinstalled and silver bee wings once again shimmered as if in motion on the Wheeler-designed wallpaper recreated by Bradbury & Bradbury Art Wallpapers. Mark Twain would be tickled, especially with the wallpaper. The humorist was invariably serious about his home—and the great outdoors—quipping, “Architects cannot teach nature anything.” But as Parker has proven with this project, they can certainly celebrate it.THe

Restoration architecture:  David Scott Parker, David Scott Parker Architects