Architectural Styles

First Congregational Church, Everett // 1852

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The oldest surviving church in Everett, Massachusetts is this one, the First Congregational Church, built in 1852 when the city was still a part of Malden. As in many other communities, this church was formed when the surrounding area of South Malden had grown and had the means to support its own religious society. Before this, residents had to travel to Malden Center for services. In 1848, it was voted to establish the church calling it the Winthrop Congregational Church, as at the time, it was thought that when South Malden would split away, the new town would be named “Winthrop”. When the town finally split in 1870, another town had already taken that name. Originally, the Italianate-style building was sheathed in wood clapboards and outlined by pilasters, both of which were covered or removed for the installation of aluminum siding, very common in the city after WWII. Remaining hallmarks of the Italianate style include the paired cornice brackets and the round-headed windows. The tower was originally capped by a taller steeple above an open octagonal arcaded belfry, but was replaced by the present spire in 1911. The church was possibly an early design by architect Thomas Silloway. Today, the church is occupied by Universal Church USA, a congregation that originated in Brazil, showing how the local community and demographics have shifted in Everett from 150 years ago.

Second Everett High School // 1922

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In 1892, the growing municipality of Everett, Massachusetts incorporated as a city. While Everett’s population had remained small compared to nearby towns throughout much of the nineteenth century, its close proximity to Boston resulted in dramatic population growth between 1885 and 1915. During this late industrial period Everett’s population was one of the fastest growing in the state, doubling between 1870 and 1880, nearly tripling from 1880 to 1890 and doubling again between 1890-1900. This massive population growth put a strain on public facilities, necessitating new housing construction, new public utilities, and schools. By 1889, planning for the first purpose-built high school had begun. The resulting first Everett High School, first known as the Home School, in 1893, the year after Everett’s incorporation as a city. That building was almost immediately outgrown and the city acquired a new site for a school that was large enough to educate the ever-growing town’s students. The City of Everett selected the architectural firm of Ritchie, Parsons, and Taylor for the construction of the new high school. The firm was led by Scottish-born James H. Ritchie, who designed the Classical Revival building. In the early 2000s, the building was again deemed inadequate and a third high school was built about a mile away. The building is now occupied by the Everett Community Health and Wellness Center and the Webster School Extension.

First Everett High School // 1893

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While Everett’s population had remained small compared to nearby towns throughout much of the nineteenth century, its close proximity to Boston resulted in dramatic population growth between 1885 and 1915. During this late industrial period Everett’s population was one of the fastest growing in the state, doubling between 1870 and 1880, nearly tripling from 1880 to 1890 and doubling again between 1890-1900. The City of Everett immediately went about erecting a new schoolhouse to educate its youth. Architects Loring & Phipps were retained to prepare plans for the new high school. Ground was broken in August 1892 and the building was dedicated just over a year later in September 1893. The school was opened to 175 students on Monday, October 2, 1892 with a capacity of 550 students (as it was realized that the city would continue to grow). The building is high-style Queen Anne with red brick and mortar and light sandstone trimming. In 1905, the capacity of the high school was nearly doubled by the construction of an addition on the west end of the original building. Even doubling the size of the school did not prove adequate as the building was outgrown less than a decade later. From this, the Second Everett High School was built a block away. The First Everett High School is now known as the Whitney Lorenti House, a low income, elderly housing complex.

Everett Masonic Hall // 1910

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Further up Broadway from Everett City Hall, you’ll find the town’s Masonic Hall, a now-vacant institutional building which contributes to the diverse streetscape and character of Everett’s built environment. The local Palestine Lodge of the Masons in Everett originally met in its original lodge, built in 1870. A corporation known as the Everett Associates, which included only Masons, subsequently constructed the original Masonic Building. The property burned in a fire in 1908, leading to a new building campaign by members. A site was acquired further up Broadway, and the groundbreaking was held on June 11, 1910, led by Everett Mayor Charles Bruce, a past master of the Palestine Lodge. Mayor Bruce also served as the chair of the Building Committee. In his remarks at the groundbreaking, Bruce noted the membership of the lodge as over 500 men! Inside the cornerstone, members placed: original papers from the former Masonic Building, a history of the Palestine Lodge, a list of lodge members, photographs, news articles, and other ephemera. The Boston architectural firm Loring and Phipps was responsible for the design of the building, which is constructed of water-struck brick and is of the Classical Revival style. After WWII, membership declined sharply, and the organization sold the building in the 1980s. From the mid-1990s to 2019 the building was owned by the Islamic Association of Massachusetts, and suffered from deferred maintenance. The red “X” on the building is for firefighters not to enter the building in case of fire or emergency. Luckily, the building was purchased and the new owner hopes to convert the building into housing, preserving the structure and using Historic Preservation Tax Credits. Fingers crossed!!

Everett City Hall // 1960

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Welcome to Everett, Massachusetts, a diverse, vibrant community of roughly 50,000 residents just north of Boston. Present-day Everett was originally part of Charlestown, which separated and became Malden. In 1870, the Town of Everett separated from Malden and was so-named after former Charlestown resident Edward Everett (1794-1865) who served as U.S. Representative, Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Secretary of State and as President of Harvard University. From 1894, the Town (later City) Hall was located in the Hapgood Building, but was outgrown after WWII. In 1960, ground was broken for a new, Modern City Hall for Everett, with Harold Michael Turiello (1910-2001) of Revere, as architect. Everett City Hall (love it or hate it) is a testament to Mid-Century Modern/International style design with curtain wall construction originally included bright blue panels which were recently replaced with a bland white panel color.

Aaron and Susan Parker Farmhouse // 1796

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The oldest portion of this beautiful brick farmhouse in Cavendish, Vermont, its rear ell which was built about 1796 by Aaron Parker Jr., the son of one of Cavendish’s early settlers. Aaron married Susan Sherman in 1796 and likely had a home built here where they could start their family. Sometime in the 1810s, Aaron built the brick main block to which it is now attached. The blind arches and simple transom window above the door were common in brick Federal homes in this region at the time. The Federal style really took off in popularity in New England after the 1797 architectural pattern book, “Country Builder’s Assistant” by Asher Benjamin, who was a resident of nearby Windsor, VT. This home remained in the Parker family until the Great Depression, when it was sold off. The home remains extremely well preserved and is a great example of a rural Federal-period farmhouse in Central Vermont.

Oliver Tarbell House // c.1830

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Oliver Tarbell and his wife Sandy erected this stunning brick Federal farmhouse in Cavendish around 1830 for their ever-growing family. The couple had thirteen children who survived infancy, so even this large home was likely stuffed to the gills and hectic! Oliver appears to have built the home, incorporating his ancestral home onto the rear of this brick house, as a rear ell. The house recently sold in 2022, so of course I had to gawk at the amazing interior photos…

Allen Fletcher Mansion // 1906

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As Cavendish and other rural towns of Vermont became summer destinations for the rich of the urban centers of the northeast, large estates began to sprout up, replacing old family homesteads. Allen Miller Fletcher was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the grandnephew of Josiah Fletcher, one of the original settlers of Cavendish in September 1853. He was the son of a successful banker and became a banker himself, building homes in Indianapolis and New York City. In 1881, he built a summer home in his ancestral home of Cavendish, taking the train up to relax and breathe in the clean air. While living most of the year in New York, Fletcher became involved in Vermont politics, winning the Republican nomination to serve in both the Vermont House of Representatives and the Vermont Senate in the early 1900s. During his time as a Vermont state senator, Fletcher commissioned architect Samuel Francis Page of the Boston-based firm, Fehmer and Page, to bring his vision to life. Page used English Cotswold-style architecture for his inspiration, and when completed in 1906, the home was the first in Vermont to be fully wired for electricity and equipped with an elevator! Fletcher also hired Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design the landscaping on the property. Fletcher would spend the rest of his life at his country mansion, going on to work as the Governor of Vermont from 1912 to 1915. Today, Fletcher’s beautiful mansion now lives as a magnificent holiday retreat known as the Castle Hill Resort & Spa.

Leonard Proctor House // c.1810

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In the early 1780s, Leonard Proctor and Salmon Dutton and their families, moved from Massachusetts and settled in present-day Cavendish, Vermont and gave their names to the two major settlements on the Black River, Proctorsville and Duttonsville. Leonard Proctor was born in Westford, Massachusetts and fought in the Revolutionary War at a young age. He settled in Cavendish in 1782 and built a modest house/tavern, and underwent developing the village in his name, Proctorsville. By the early 1800s, Leonard was a highly esteemed member of town and had the funds to erect the finest Federal style manse in the village, to showcase the stability and wealth of his community. The home exhibits scalloped cornice moldings and the carved wood flowering vines springing from urns on the upper pilasters that have a folk/Federal quality that stands out as a very unique design detail. Carved Adamesque bell flowers that flank the door suggest Asher Benjamin’s Windsor influence. Elliptical sunbursts above the pilasters, elaborate guilloche friezes, and the broad semielliptical attic light have a later Federal character. It is possible that Leonard had this house built, and it was “modernized” by one of his heirs.

Brook Farm // 1894

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By the late 1800s, Vermonters had left the state in high numbers as agriculture began to sharply decline as a career path in New England, with many leaving to urban centers and manufacturing towns. Vermont politicians responded to the de-population with initiatives to encourage the redevelopment of existing farms by seasonal residents with money who could summer there to escape the hustle and bustle (and dirty air) of urban centers. Towns threw events like “Old Home” days with activities to entice affluent family members to return home and bring their money with them. After 1850, railroads made it easier for urban families to trade the heat and congestion of the city for the beauty of Vermont. One of these wealthy expats was James Hale Bates (1826-1901), who was born in Cavendish, Vermont, and moved to New York and worked in advertising, operating a major firm there. He retired in 1895, after the completion of Brook Farm one year earlier, a gentleman’s farm that he had built in his ancestral hometown of Cavendish. This massive Colonial Revival mansion was the centerpiece among sweeping fields and orchards contained by rustic stone walls. It is believed that Vermont architect, Clinton Smith, designed the estate house and many of the out-buildings on the site from the carriage and cow barns to the caretaker’s house and creamery. In recent years, the estate was operated as a vineyard, but it appears to be closed now. This is one of the hidden gems of Vermont and one of the most stunning Colonial Revival homes I have seen!

Atherton Farmstead // c.1840

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This beautiful farmhouse in Cavendish, Vermont is located along a winding dirt road and has ties to one of the town’s original family’s. A home was built here in 1785 and changed hands numerously over the first few decades of its existence. The farmhouse that was built also served as a tavern for travellers along the newly laid out Wethersfield Turnpike. It is possible that the cheap land and rural character of the new town was appealing to some, but reality away from true commerce may have made many sell the farm after a few years, which could explain why the property was bought and sold so often early on. The property was purchased by Jonathan Atherton, a Revolutionary War veteran, farmer, surveyor and lawyer, who acquired large landholdings in Cavendish. In 1821, Jonathan Atherton was sued in court by his neighbor, Jedediah Tuttle for beating Tuttle’s wife Lydia. In order to finance the bonds, Atherton mortgaged all his real estate in Cavendish to his brother Joseph, and Elihu Ives, Jonathan Atherton Jr.’s father-in-law. Atherton St. lost the case and had to pay a fine. The property was eventually inherited by Stedman Atherton, the youngest son of Jonathan, who seems to have demolished the old homestead and constructed the present home on the site. The original dwelling was also the childhood home of Henry B. Atherton, a staunch abolitionist and soldier in the American Civil War, who later served as a lawyer and state legislator for New Hampshire, and his sister Eliza (Atherton) Aiken, a Civil War nurse who has been referred to as America’s own “Florence Nightingale”. The old Atherton farmstead was recently renovated.

Glimmerstone // 1845

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What a treat it was to stumble upon one of the most beautiful homes in Vermont, and all the best houses have names! Glimmerstone is located in the small town of Cavendish, and is possibly the finest Snecked Ashlar constructed home in the state. The house was built in 1845 for Henry Fullerton, manager of the Black River Manufacturing and Canal Company mill in Cavendish. The stone used to build the house was quarried less than a mile away, and hauled to the site. The construction style consists of stone facing on either side of rubble fill, with slabs and snecks sometimes laid across the fill to provide strength, a method brought to the region by Scottish immigrant masons. The house’s design is by a local carpenter, Lucius Paige, and is based on designs published by Andrew Jackson Downing, who depicted many Gothic style designs in pattern books which were built all over the country. The house has had a number of owners after Mr. Fullerton died. During the prohibition era, Art Hadley, who would later become extremely wealthy as the inventor of the expansion bracelet, used the home as part of a rum running operation. Glimmerstone was purchased in 2010 by the current owners, who underwent a massive restoration of the home, converting it into a bed and breakfast, allowing the public to experience the property as well.

Joshua Parker Farmhouse // 1850

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This house in Cavendish was constructed in 1850 by Joshua Parker and is an outstanding example of a gothicized snecked ashlar house. The house is in the Cape form and largely exhibits a more traditional cottage layout, but with the steep gable dormer, giving the home a distinctive Gothic feeling. The 1850 home replaced a late 18th century farmhouse, but in the iconic snecked ashlar construction. The farm grew over the subsequent decades, including a c.1900 snecked ashlar barn (not pictured), which is probably the last building of “Snecked Ashlar” construction erected in the State of Vermont.


James Spaulding House // c.1840

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This Greek Revival cape house in Cavendish, Vermont sits along a rural road and is one of the few dozen examples of Snecked Ashlar buildings in this part of the state. In the early 1830s, skilled masons from Scotland settled in central Vermont to work on building projects there. A number of these builders, mainly from the Aberdeen area, were experienced in snecked ashlar construction, in which plates of stone are affixed to a rubblestone wall. This home was built for James Spaulding, and remained in the Spaulding family for generations, lovingly maintained as an excellent example of a Snecked Ashlar home in Vermont.

Cavendish Universalist Church // 1844

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Oh Snecked Ashlar… the iconic vernacular building style that was seen in south-central Vermont in the middle of the 19th century. The Cavendish Universalist Church was built in 1844 by Scottish immigrant stonemasons who had moved to the area ten years earlier from Canada. These builders constructed houses, schools, and churches in Windsor County and nearby, using traditional building techniques they likely brought to North America from Scotland. This church in Cavendish was built under the leadership of Rev. Warren Skinner, an avid abolitionist and was part of the “above ground” railroad in Vermont. The church was decommissioned in the 1960’s from a shrinking congregation and was leased to the Cavendish Historical Society in the 1970’s. While work has been done to maintain the building, it is in need of repairs. In recent years, the Universalist Unitarian Convention of Vermont and Quebec has agreed to deed the building to the town of Cavendish on May 11, 2013. The structure has been restored, and apparently houses exhibition space inside.