The Richard Alsop IV House, (now part of the Davidson Art Center of Wesleyan University), an Italianate design with classical elements, is a prime example of the stylistic mixing that occurred during the mid-to-late nineteenth century, a period when American architects had access to knowledge of the many historic modes that prompted such freedom of style.
   The two-story, pink-stuccoed Alsop House is one of the several historic residences along High Street that are now part of Wesleyan University’s campus. The architectural form is a central cubical mass that displays Italianate styling in its wide, flat eaves and in the full-width cast-iron porch on its primary façade. The recessed three-bay wings on each side, with their one-and-a-half story porches of Tuscan piers of classical design, are modest and restrained in comparison to Ithiel Town’s nearby Greek Revival Russell House, which dates to 1828. The elegance and lightness of the Italianate style is enhanced by the porch’s curved tent roof, which is supported by the delicate iron columns cast as a bundle of arrows. The original primary entrance in the north wing, is off-center, hinting at the asymmetric and idiosyncratic design of the interior. A rear colonnaded wing originally contained the servants and service quarters.

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