The Dorset House is an exhibit building at Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont, United States; it houses the museum's collection of 900 wildfowl decoys. In 1953, Shelburne Museum purchased Dorset House, dismantled it, and reconstructed it on the museum grounds to house the collection of decoys, punt guns, and prints of sporting scenes. History Welcome Allen built Dorset House about 1832 in North Dorset, Vermont. Like many houses of its period, it reflects the popularity of Greek Revival architecture, which gained prominence in the United States during the second quarter of the 19th century. While classical design motifs had predominated in American architecture from the late 18th century, by the 19th century American architects began to draw inspiration specifically from Grecian temples. Often considered the first national style, Greek Revival architecture became so pervasive in the United States in part because regional architects could access the classical idiom through publications such as Stuart & Revett's Antiquities of Athens and Asher Benjamin's 1797 pattern book The Country Builder's Companion. Vernacular Greek Revival architecture developed across the United States as local builders combined classical elements with local traditions, creating distinct regional characteristics within the style. Allen built Dorset House for his children, Florenze and Lucia. Allen's interpretation of the Greek Revival resulted in Dorset House's substantial yet unpretentious silhouette. He designed the house with mirroring wings so that his children and their families would have separate living quarters that they could access through individual doors. In combining the two cross-gabled flanking wings with the massive corniced façade, Allen achieved the classical balance and symmetry characteristic of the Greek Revival style. Allen, and later his son Florenze, was proprietor of an iron foundry that produced stove plates, plow points, and kettles. Consequently, unlike most homes of the era, Allen designed Dorset House without open hearths and used closed iron stoves to heat the building instead. Decoys Wildfowl decoys, made to lure game birds to within shooting range, have been used by American hunters for centuries. Native Americans originated the idea over a thousand years ago in response to the abundance of the continent's wild game. The earliest decoys made by white settlers were probably carved in the late 18th century. The idea spread rapidly, and by 1840 the wooden decoy was firmly established in American hunting traditions. Following the American Civil War, improved transpiration systems, more advanced weapons, and abundant game combined to