The Big House

Elizabeth Payson was an accomplished and industrious young woman who began a writing career at the age of 16. George Lewis Prentiss was the son of a prosperous shipmaster who became known as a forceful messenger of God’s Word. The two married in 1845, moving from their native Maine to Manhattan, New York, where George’s skill as a powerful preacher and philosopher led them to become active members of a thriving society of wealthy merchants, religious believers and scholars. It was there that he wrote many of his 14 books.

Elizabeth made her own niche in their new community as a pastor’s wife, and, like her husband, she wrote prolifically, eventually producing 25 books of children’s fiction and musings on faith, including the popular Stepping Heavenward. She also wrote the hymn, More Love to Thee, O Christ, now one of the world’s favorites, having been translated into several languages.

George and Elizabeth and their family enjoyed a happy and comfortable existence, enhanced by the advantages of living in an urban environment that exposed them to culture and new ideas, and that enabled them to escape to the country during the summer months. They fell in love with Dorset while visiting in 1867, and built their summer home there a year later.

Now considered one of Dorset Village’s prettiest houses, it was a something of an architectural anomaly when it was built in 1868. Its design exemplified the latest in building technology, and its eclectic detailing and lofty stature were indeed avant-garde for rural Vermont. Even today, it clearly stands apart from its colonial neighbors.