The house is a 2+1⁄2-story, wood-framed structure, built in about 1801 by John Allen. The house Allen built is a replacement for an older house which was burned by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. It is five bays wide, with a large central chimney, and a centered entrance with modest Federal trim. A four-bay ell, also a 19th-century construction, extends to the rear (north), and there is also a screened sitting porch. The farm was owned by members of the Madison family from about 1825 to 1909, and was acquired by the Navy in 1941. The Battalion Center was closed in 1974.[2]
John Allen
During the Revolutionary War, when Newport was occupied by British forces and the shores of the Bay were held by American forces, John Allen carried supplies to the Colonial Army on the Tiverton shore and served for a time as an enlisting officer in East Greenwich. Coastal settlements were vulnerable to attack, and in early June 1779, a British landing force captured Allen and held him captive in Newport for 18 weeks, burning his house and another nearby residence. Allen moved to East Greenwich, while still running his Quidnessett farm, built this current house in 1801, and returned with his family. Allen served on the Rhode Island Supreme Court, and died in 1813.[2]
