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This fine country Federal house, two and onehalf stories with a large center chimney, is mostly screened from the road by a high hedge. It is intensely boxy, tautly and sparingly linear. A wooden fan over a side-lighted door mitigates the plainness a little, but is itself tensely linear. Inside (not open to the public), original painted stenciling from 1821 remains in the front hall, augmented by the former owner who is principally responsible for its restoration. An artist who specializes in the medium, she has restored and recreated stenciling in a number of old Rhode Island houses. Horace Battey, proprietor of the local general store, was also a justice of the peace. Sold to Joe W. Barden in 1867, the house remained in the Barden family until 1962.