Church Building

The Burlington First United Methodist Church is located within the central business district of downtown Burlington. It is one block east of Church Street, the primary commercial center, of the city. The church is situated on a level lot measuring 150 feet by 250 feet at the northwest comer of South Winooski Avenue and Buell Street and is traditionally oriented, with the altar at the east end of the nave.  Also included on the property are the church office adjoining the east wall of the church and the parsonage at 25 Buell. Street at the northeast of the property.

The beautifully appointed Romanesque Revival church consists of a large rectangular block with a steeply pitched gable roof and a square tower at the northwest corner. The building is six bays long with a raised basement level. The gable roof is slated with purple colored slates which match the wall coloring. The dimensions of the church are 64 feet by 106 feet and the tower is 147 feet high. The church is constructed of Willard’s Ledge redstone (a locally quarried purplish limestone) with trimmings of Isle La Motte grey sandstone from quarries north of Burlington. The polychrome effect of the purple and grey stone is striking. The tower is a buttressed square and bears a bell deck with clock faces above. It is surmounted by a spire which is relieved by windows with projecting gables and panelings. The entire spire is clad with welded tin plates and is tipped with a gilded cross. 0riginally the spire was painted brown, rather than its present silver color.

The main body of the church is supported by exterior buttresses at each corner and between each bay on the side elevations. The facings and caps of the buttresses are of the Isle La Motte stone. The facings are of finely cut stone and the caps are carved in an ornamental pattern. Mid way up the buttresses flanking the entrances are intermediate caps which are carved to duplicate the tracery of the luthern windows along the roof slopes. The window surrounds, string courses, and belt courses are all of the same grey Isle La Motte stone.

The majority of the fenestration contains its original stained glass" There are six windows on each side facade with leaded stained glass of neutral tints with patterned designs etched in. A bright colored band forms a border on each window and at the top of each is a different icon-rossette. On the roof slope of each side are six luthern windows, directly above the corresponding side windows. These steep-pitched triangular gable-dormers have a simple tracery formed by a circular muntin which fits within the triangular frame and is similar to the lower buttress cap design. They admit light to the nave of the church through secondary windows in the nave, and give the effect of a clerestory. The main (west) facade is dominated by a large rose window, also called a wheel window because of the strongly emphasized radial segments. Beneath the wheel are four tall, narrow windows divided by three columnar mullions. The entire window measures 12 by 28 feet. The rose window is divided into eight leaded, stained glass petals, separated by a heavy wooden tracery. The heads of the four Apostles, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are represented in every other petal segment and in the center of the wheel is an open Bible and cross. The four windows below the rose window represent scenes from the life of Christ, viz: Christ blessing the children, Christ in the garden, the Transfiguration, and the, Ascension. All of the windows have arabesque borders and are in rich, brilliant colors producing a striking effect.

There are two main entrances in the tower, one on the west side and the other on the north. Another entrance is located on the southwest corner of the façade. All entrances have Isle La Motte stone surrounds, with segmentally arched heads. There is a wooden casing within each stone surround with short engaged columns which act as jambs. The capitals of these columns are the same as those on the columns in the interior. The entrance consists of double doors with diagonally set beaded boards which form a chevron pattern when closed.

The nave is 33 feet wide with two high arches, one over the chancel and a corresponding one et the west end. The nave and aisle are separated by a six-arch' colonnade supported by iron columns encased by eight-sided wooden columns with capitals of the same design as those at the entrances. There are six small, double windows on each side of the upper part of the nave which receive light from the exterior luthern windows and are finished so as to give the effect of a clerestory. The ceiling of the nave does not rise to the gable ridge but is truncated. This ceiling is supported by brackets and rafters of natural wood. The walls are painted a light tan with a darker tan delineating the borders in much the same manner as the grey stone trims the exterior red stone

Attached to the east end of the church is a 2 by 3 tray, one-and-one*ha1f level, gable roofed structure which utilizes most of the same details as the main body of the church, but in smaller scale, This section is finished in redstone on the north elevation and brick on the south. It was built in the 1930s. A one*story, flat*roofed, addition was built (1957J at the juncture of the church and this back section. The one-story addition ls also made of redstone, and joins directly with the parsonage.

At the northeast corner of the property was the parsonage (sold in 2020), at 25 Buell Street. This transitional Queen Anne – Colonial Revival residence is two and one half stories and clad with a brick veneer.  It is distinguishable by its polygonal tower and irregular plan.  There are five polygonal bays with project from the hip roof, rectangular central core.  Each bay is capped by a pedimented gable, except for the tower which has a polygonal cap and finial.  A pedimented porch with doric columns spans the front entrance and continues around the tower to the west elevation.  The fenestration consists of one over one sash windows within slightly segmental arches.  The window sills and water table are rock-faced redstone.  The entrance consists of a pair of oak doors with beveled glass panels.