The Carriage House to a Gilded Age Murder Mystery Is Listed at $2.5 Million
In 1875, a Providence clothier named Jerothmul Bowers Barnaby built an extravagant Victorian mansion on Broadway — complete with a four-story octagonal tower, 118 windows, seven fireplaces, and a 55-foot granite monument to himself in Swan Point Cemetery. Sixteen years later, his widow was poisoned by a bottle of whiskey sent anonymously through the mail, in what became the first murder committed via the US postal service in American history. The carriage house to that mansion is now listed at $2,500,000.
The Story Behind the Property
Jerothmul Barnaby — haberdashery magnate, failed gubernatorial candidate, keeper of prize racehorses and at least one mistress — died in 1889 leaving his widow Josephine a pittance of his $1.7 million estate. With the help of her physician and advisor Dr. Thatcher Graves, Josephine successfully sued her daughters and son-in-law John Conrad for a larger share, winning $105,000 and making a fierce enemy of Conrad in the process. In April 1891, while vacationing in Denver, Josephine opened a bottle of whiskey that had arrived by mail with a note reading "Wish you a happy New Year. Please accept this fine old whiskey from your friend in the woods." She died a week later of arsenic poisoning. Dr. Graves was convicted of her murder after a six-week trial — at the time the longest in US history. He died in his jail cell before a retrial could take place, the poison never identified. A later family investigation concluded that Conrad, who had bribed Pinkerton detectives and multiple witnesses, had arranged both the murder and Graves's death. Conrad died broke in Seattle in 1928, having never made it to the Montana governor's mansion he had sought. The Providence Preservation Society calls Barnaby's Castle "one of the grand homes in Providence." Its carriage house is now for sale.
The Carriage House Itself
The 1875 carriage house at 159 Sutton Street has been reimagined as a 6,480-square-foot residence and event space in the West Side neighborhood, steps from Federal Hill. The upper floors comprise a stunning second-floor residence with exposed brick walls, beamed ceilings, hardwood floors, a gourmet kitchen with two islands, a primary suite with soaking tub and walk-in closet, two additional bedrooms, and a rose medallion window framing the front living space. The original tack room on the ground floor has been preserved with its tile floor and detailed woodwork. A moveable-wall ground-floor space with a garage door entrance has hosted art galleries, small concerts, and book fairs. A newly designed movement studio with heated floors, bathroom, and changing room sits at the rear. Three bedrooms, five bathrooms, and a preserved piece of Providence's most dramatic Victorian-era history — all for $2,500,000, just steps from award-winning Federal Hill restaurants.
The Internet Has Thoughts
Naturally, this listing caught the attention of Reddit's r/zillowgonewild community. See what people are saying about it here.
A preserved tack room, a rose medallion window, a movement studio — and a backstory involving poisoned whiskey, bribed Pinkertons, and the longest murder trial in 19th-century American history. View the full listing here.
