Dibrell House

Introduction

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The Dibrell House perches on a high lot at 14th and Spring Streets in the southwestern corner Little Rock's historic Quapaw Quarter. The Quapaw Quarter is a section of Little Rock which comprises its oldest and most historic business and residential neighborhoods. The name Quapaw comes from a corruption or mispronunciation of a word for a Native American Tribe which originally inhabited the area where the city of Little Rock is now situated. This name was informally applied to the lands west of the original city of Little Rock in the nineteenth century. Then, in 1961 the name of Quapaw Quarter was more formally assigned. Now, it is a well-loved and treasured historic district featuring constructions of the Victorian, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Italianate, and Craftsman Styles. The Dibrell House represents the Queen Anne Style.

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Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Dibrell House is a prominent and distinctive feature on the scene of the Quapaw Quarter. Built in 1992 by real estate agent H.A. Bowman and then sold to Dr. and Mrs. James A. Dibrell, this intriguing structure is designed in the Queen Anne Style. In the United States, the Queen Anne Style of architecture refers to a wide range of picturesque buildings which borrow freely from the architectural features of the Italian Renaissance and which avoid the features of English Gothic. The period of the Queen Anne Style runs from approximately 1880 to 1910 and refers to architecture, decorative arts, and furniture. In architecture, the Queen Anne Style incorporates distinctive gables and turrets, asymmetrical facades, dominant front-facing gables which are often cantilevered out beyond the supporting wall, pedimented porches, balconies, bay windows, overhanging eaves, leaded glass, dentils, balustrades, columns, and wooden or slate roofs. As the picture shows, Dibrell House demonstrates these characteristics in the form of turrets, bay windows, and gables.

Sources

https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/quapaw-550/

http://www.quapawtribe.com/401/Tribal-Name

http://www.historicarkansas.org/exhibits/we-walk-in-two-worlds

https://www.littlerock.gov/!userfiles/editor/docs/planning/hdc/QQA%20tour%202014.pdf

http://www.askthearchitect.org/architectural-styles/queen-anne-style-architecture

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Maureen Richmond, Photographer