| Iranistan | |
|---|---|
 Iranistan, Residence of P.T. Barnum, 1848 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Byzantine, Moorish, Indo-Saracenic architecture, and Turkish |
| Town or city | Fairfield and Iranistan Avenues Bridgeport, Connecticut |
| Country | United States |
| Completed | 1848 |
| Demolished | 1857 (fire) |
| Cost | $150,000 |
| Client | P. T. Barnum |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Leopold Eidlitz |
41°10′26″N 73°12′07″W / 41.174°N 73.202°W Iranistan was a Moorish Revival mansion in Bridgeport, Connecticut commissioned by P. T. Barnum in 1848. It was designed by Bohemian-American architect Leopold Eidlitz. At this "beautiful country seat"[1] Barnum played host to such famous contemporaries as the Hutchinson Family Singers,[2] Matthew Arnold, George Armstrong Custer, Horace Greeley, and Mark Twain.[3] The grandiose structure survived only a decade before being destroyed by fire in 1857.[4] It was one of five such fires in the showman's life that "burned to the ground all his accomplishments".[5]
- ^ [1] "Last Hours of the Life of Phineas T. Barnum"
- ^ John Wallace Hutchinson. Story of the Hutchinsons (Tribe of Jesse). Compiled and Edited by Charles E. Mann. With an introduction by Frederick Douglass. Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1896. 2 vols., p. 264.
- ^ [2] The Life of Phineas Taylor (P. T.) Barnum (barnum.org)
- ^ [3] Archived 2007-06-30 at the Wayback Machine The Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT
- ^ [4] "The Indendiary Barnum." (CuriousChapbooks.com)