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After the Sale

After the Bissells bought the Clemens house, Mrs. Bissell completely redecorated. Electric lights replaced gas lights, wall-to-wall carpets were succeeded by polished hardwood floors, and the rich, dark colors of Victoriana were exchanged for the grass cloth and warm pale colors indicative of the new century.

 Bissell
1912 photo courtesy of Mrs. Bissell and her children in the conservatory courtesy of The Mark Twain House

From 1917 to 1922, the Bissells rented the house to the Kingswood School for Boys. The house was sold in 1922 and became an unheated storage warehouse. In 1927, it was sold again and subdivided into 11 apartments with efficiency kitchens and modern bathrooms. In 1929, under the leadership of Miss Katharine S. Day, the Friends of Hartford raised enough money to purchase the house as a memorial to Mark Twain.

The apartments on the ground floor were cleared. To help pay off the mortgage, the Hartford Public Library established a branch library in the former drawing room and library. The downstairs room, the Mahogany Room, became the office, headquarters, and storage area for the organization. Upstairs, the apartments remained, although Miss Day made an effort to rent only to ladies who would appreciate the building and savor the literary connection. No men or dogs were allowed.


Go to

bullet The Mark Twain House
bullet The Clemens Family
bullet At Home
bullet Mr. Garvie's Recollections
bullet View from the Mark Twain House

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