BARNUM'S FOUR COTTAGES IN BRIDGEPORT, Long Island Sound, Connecticut, New England: IRANISTAN (1848), LINDENCROFT, WALDEMERE, and MARINA.

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Iranistan
Iranistan, Residence of P.T. Barnum, 1848
General information
Architectural style	Byzantine, Moorish, andTurkish
Town or city	Fairfield and Iranistan Avenues Bridgeport, Connecticut
Country	United States
Completed	1848
Demolished	1857 (fire)
Cost	$150,000
Client	P. T. Barnum
Design and construction
Architect	Leopold Eidlitz

Iranistan was a Moorish Revival mansion in Bridgeport, Long Island Sound, Connecticut, New England, that was commissioned by P. T. Barnum in 1848.

Iranistan was designed by the Austrian-American architect Leopold Eidlitz.

At this beautiful country seat Barnum played host to such famous contemporaries as the Hutchinson Family Singers,^[ Matthew Arnold, George Custer, Horace Greeley, and Mark Twain.

The grandiose structure survived only a decade before being destroyed by fire in 1857.

 It was one of five such fires in the showman's life that "burned to the ground all his accomplishments".^[

Barnum’s most unique mansion was designed by the New York architect Leopold Eidlitz, later a founder of the American Institute of Architects. 

It was a mix of Byzantine, Moorish, and Turkish decorative elements, inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England, which Barnum visited shortly after its construction and admired.^[7]

As such an architectural style had not yet become established in the United States, Barnum describes his efforts to have it built.

I concluded to adopt it, and engaged a London architect to furnish me a set of drawings after the general plan of the pavilion, differing sufficiently to be adapted to the spot of ground selected for my homestead. 

On my second return visit to the United States, I brought these drawings with me and engaged a competent architect and builder, giving him instructions to proceed with the work, not 'by the job' but 'by the day,' and to spare neither time nor expense in erecting a comfortable, convenient, and tasteful residence. 

The work was thus begun and continued while I was still abroad, and during the time when I was making my tour with General Tom Thumb through the United States and Cuba. 

Elegant and appropriate furniture was made expressly for every room in the house. 

I erected expensive water-works to supply the premises. 

The stables, conservatories and out-buildings were perfect in their kind. 

There was a profusion of trees set out on the grounds. 

The whole was built and established literally 'regardless of expense,' for I had no desire even to ascertain the entire cost.

By the time the house was completed in 1848 it had cost Barnum about $150,000.

The architectural extravaganza on 69,000 m² of land was the first of four famous Bridgeport "cottages" built by Barnum -- the other three being LINDECROFT, WALDEMERE and MARINA. 

The fanciful three-story oriental-style structure had numerous porches and arches, the whole thing topped by multiple onion domes. 

A circular driveway curved around a fountain in the front of the house and urns stood at corners of thelawn.

Iranistan had a greenhouse from which Barnum used to gather flowers for Sunday services at the local Universalist church.

Barnum imported and kept a variety of choice livestock at this property and was soon appointed the President of the local Fairfield County agricultural society.

The Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind told Barnum that she would not have come to the United States if Barnum had not built Iranistan.

Lind explained that she did not relish the idea of crossing 4,800 km of water and declined all offers until she received a letter from Barnum that was engraved with an image of Iranistan in its heading.

Deciding that any gentleman successful enough to build such a palace cannot be a mere adventurer, she agreed to an interview which she would have declined if she had not seen the picture of Iranistan.

When Barnum experienced financial difficulties, he had Iranistan closed and it was unoccupied for more than two years.

Carpenters and painters entered to do some work and had been ordered not to smoke in the building.

They smoked after-dinner pipes there in the evening.

A pipe left to smolder may have ignited a blaze after the workmen were gone.

The fire alarm was sounded at 11 PM on December 17, 1857 and the house burned until 1 AM. P.T.

Barnum was staying at the Astor House in New York.

In the morning of December 18, he received a telegram from his brother, Philo F. Barnum, informing him that Iranistan had burned to the ground:

"Iranistan burned to the ground. Love. Your brother Philo."

Barnum had retained some insurance on the unoccupied mansion, but he collected only $28,000.

Many pictures and pieces of furniture were saved from the fire, although much of the salvaged pieces were damaged.

After the fire, bank assignees sold the property, including the surviving out-buildings, to Elias Howe, the inventor of a sewing machine.

The Iranistan seen in the A and E Network movie P. T. Barnum  was a specially constructed model that now marks the entrance to the main gallery of the Barnum Museum. 

The museum also has a recreation of Iranistan's library  that holds furniture designed by cabinetmaker Julius Dessoir and "showcases Barnum's distinctive taste."

Illustration[edit]

• Connecticut History Online, "Iranistan, the Residence of Mr. Barnum."

See also[edit]

Connecticut portal

• History of Bridgeport, Connecticut

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:^a b [1] "Last Hours of the Life of Phineas T. Barnum"
2. Jump up^ John Wallace Hutchinson. Story of the Hutchinsons (Tribe of Jesse). Compiled and Edited by Charles E. Mann. With an introduction by Frederick Douglass. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1896. 2 vols., p. 264.
3. ^ Jump up to:^a b [2] The Life of Phineas Taylor (P. T.) Barnum (barnum.org)
4. ^ Jump up to:^a b c d [3] The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT
5. Jump up^ [4] "The Indendiary Barnum." (CuriousChapbooks.com)
6. Jump up^ [5] The Barnum Museum (volunteersolutions.org)
7. ^ Jump up to:^a b c Joel Benton, A Unique Story of a Marvellous Career. Life of Hon. Phineas T. Barnum
8. ^ Jump up to:^a b c [6] "The Burning of Iranistan", The P.T. Barnum of the Barnum and Bailey Circus by Joel Benton""
9. Jump up^ Philip B. Kunhardt, et al., P. T. Barnum: America's Greatest Showman, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995, ISBN 0-679-43574-3, p. vi.
10. ^ Jump up to:^a b [7] This is a quick life-story (ciadvertising.org)
11. Jump up^ John C. Poppeliers and S. Allen Chambers Jr., What Style Is It: A Guide to American Architecture. ISBN 0-471-25036-8, p. 63.
12. Jump up^ [8] Connecticut History Online, "Iranistan, the Residence of Mr. Barnum."
13. Jump up^ [9] Unitarian Universalist Historical Society (UUHS)
14. Jump up^ [10] Movie Music UK
15. Jump up^ [11] Connecticut -- The Barnum Museum (newenglandtimes.com)

[hide] v t e P. T. Barnum Acts and exhibits Anna Haining Bates Eli Bowen Chang and Eng Bunker Cardiff Giant Circassian beauties Henry Alexander Cooper Captain George Costentenus Nala Damajanti John Diamond (dancer) Admiral Dot Colonel Routh Goshen Fiji mermaid Joice Heth Fedor Jeftichew Annie Jones (bearded woman) Jumbo William S. Hutchings Nellie Keeler Jenny Lind Count Primo Magri Master Juba Maximo and Bartola Millie and Christine McKoy Edmund Newell Commodore Nutt Isaac W. Sprague General Tom Thumb Charles B. Tripp Lavinia Warren Minnie Warren Wild Men of Borneo Zip the Pinhead Associated articles James "Grizzly" Adams Barnum (musical) Barnum's American Museum Barnum's Aquarial Gardens Barnum Museum Bridgeport half dollar William C. Coup Iranistan The Mighty Barnum Moses Kimball Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus "There's a sucker born every minute" The Greatest Show on Earth

Categories:

• Houses completed in 1848
• 1848 in the United States
• Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
• Buildings and structures in Bridgeport, Connecticut
• Moorish Revival architecture in Connecticut
• Former buildings and structures in the United States
• Houses in Fairfield County, Connecticut
• Leopold Eidlitz buildings
• Burned buildings and structures in the United States