Location Cranston, Rhode Island Opened 1677 Added to NRHP 2 March 1990 | NRHP Reference # 90000143 Area 1 ha | |
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Architectural styles Georgian architecture, American Colonial Similar Edward Searle House, Clemence–Irons House, Governor William Sprague, Eleazer Arnold House, Edgewood Yacht Club | ||
The Thomas Fenner House or the "Sam Joy Place" is an historic stone-ender house on 43 Stony Acre Drive in Cranston, Rhode Island. It is one of the oldest surviving houses in Rhode Island. The house was built as a farmhouse around 1677 after King Philip's War by Captain Arthur Fenner for his son Major Thomas Fenner. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. It is privately owned and is not open to the public.
Captain Arthur Fenner's first home was burnt to the ground in King Philip's War where he was appointed Captain of the militia and was "one who staid and went not away" in the defense of Providence. Arthur's original homestead was built in 1662. After the war, he rebuilt his home in 1677 and he also built, for his son, the Major Thomas Fenner house. The "Fenner Castle" stood until 1895 when the chimney was demolished Arthur's grandson was Governor Arthur Fenner who donated a piece of wood from Captain Arthur's "Fenner Castle" for what is now the RI Mace. He did so to honor his grandfather, Captain Arthur Fenner who so bravely defended Providence from the Indians.