Widow's Walk

Here is where you can discuss anything Victorian!

Moderator: Adminlizzieborden

Post Reply
augusta
Posts: 2235
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 11:27 am
Gender: Female
Real Name: Augusta
Location: USA

Widow's Walk

Post by augusta »

What is the difference between a "widow's walk" and a "captain's walk" that are found on the tops of some old houses?


Architecture can be pretty -- confusing! - Sherry Chapman :peanut12:
User avatar
Wordweaver
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 2:28 am
Real Name:
Location: Silicon Valley
Contact:

Post by Wordweaver »

A widow's walk is roofed. A captain's walk isn't.

Edit: But I'm not sure anybody cares anymore -- they seem to be used interchangeably. I got the information from a book on New England architecture, which I don't think I have any longer.
There is science, logic, reason; there is thought verified by experience. And then there is California. --Edward Abbey

http://unnaturalhistory.blogspot.com
User avatar
SteveS.
Posts: 653
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:01 pm
Real Name: Steve
Location: born and raised in Fall River, Ma.
Contact:

Post by SteveS. »

I was going to reply with the same answer...a Captains walk is open aired and a widows walk is enclosed. Most of the houses in New Bedford have a widows walk. If you remember the tv show "Ghost and Mrs. Muir" they had a good example of a captains walk...where a captain can look out to see with his spyglas. A widows walk was enclosed because she spent alot of time up there looking out to sea to see if her husbands ship is comming in.
In memory of....Laddie Miller, Royal Nelson and Donald Stewart, Lizzie Borden's dogs. "Sleeping Awhile."
augusta
Posts: 2235
Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2004 11:27 am
Gender: Female
Real Name: Augusta
Location: USA

Post by augusta »

Thanks for the great posts, Wordweaver and SteveS! I'd never heard of a "Captain's Walk". I read that there are a lot of examples of those in New Bedford, the whaling town.

Can anyone post a picture of what a "widow's walk" really is? I would like to get an idea of a real one.
User avatar
stargazer
Posts: 228
Joined: Sun Aug 02, 2009 3:23 pm
Gender: Female
Real Name: Jandolin Marks
Location: Mohave Desert Arizona
Contact:

Post by stargazer »

Widow's walks, and window seats have always fascinated me. It seems like women hang out there when men let them down in some way. Do men have such places when women give them a hard time, or let them down in some way ? Good to ponder.
Neglect is a one way street to nowhere
User avatar
Debbie
Posts: 72
Joined: Mon Jun 07, 2004 5:32 pm
Real Name:
Location: North Carolina (When home, travel all the time)

Post by Debbie »

I am so glad I found this topic. I have told my husband a widows walk has a roof, but he was insistent that a widow walk was on the roof of the house, without a roof and only railing.
Thanks for helping him to believe me.
mbhenty
Posts: 4427
Joined: Wed Feb 15, 2006 1:20 am
Real Name:

Post by mbhenty »

:smile:

Yes, many people get these all mixed up: cupolas, widow's walk, captian's walk, etc.

The captian's walk and widow's walk is really the same thing. First ones to appear along the American coast were just a platform with a railing. Though they were referred to as Widow's Walks, they were used for other reasons, such as, for just viewing the sea, and/or to gain access to the chimney for maintenance reasons, such as cleaning or putting out a chimney fire.

In the middle of the 19th century the widow's walk became very popular. They are all over Fall River, New Bedford and New England at large. Many of them inland and nowhere near the sea. Most were built for decorative reasons, having little practical use aside from a pleasant place to sit and look over the top of trees and other buildings. Most of these were large cupolas and the large Victorian ones are better referred to as Belvederes.

But, the first captain's walks or widow's walks were just a railing and platform. Below are a couple of Nantucket homes with widow's walks. One of them is the Maria Mitchell house, built in 1790. Maria was known as the first women astronomer. In the 1840s Maria would sit at night on her widow's walk inspecting the stars with her telescope. Could this be why this widow's walk was built?

The photo of the big stately home is the Alanson Remington Paine house built in the early 1900s and smack dab in the middle of Massachusetts, no where near the ocean.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
SummerCodSuz
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 12:39 pm
Real Name:
Location: Florida

Post by SummerCodSuz »

Lovely pics! I've always wanted a widow's walk. I'm going to show my husband these pics, he built our house and I know could easily build a widow's walk if he put his mind to it, so we could look at the stars.
Post Reply