Queen Anne

McCormick Garage // 1907

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In the late 19th and early 20th century, Marion, Massachusetts, became an exclusive summer colony where wealthy families from cities would flock to soak up the sun and breathe fresh coastal air away from the heat and pollution of industrial centers at the time. One of these families was headed by Stanley Robert McCormick (1874-1947) of Chicago, the son of Cyrus McCormick, inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company which would later become the International Harvester Corporation. Stanley McCormick was married in 1904 to Katharine Dexter McCormick (1875-1967), also a member of a wealthy family, who would devote her life to advancing women’s causes, serving as the vice-president of the National American Women Suffrage Association and in 1920, co-founded the League of Women Voters. Katharine remained active in later life, funding new birth-control research and the building of an all-women’s dormitory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, named McCormick Hall. Soon after Stanley and Katharine married, they purchased waterfront property in Marion, where Stanley spent summers as a child, to build a summer residence for his own family. In 1906, Stanley purchased land on Lewis Street and hired the Boston architectural firm of Page & Frothingham, to design and oversee construction of a large brick “cottage” and this brick garage structure down the street with a residence for the driver. While their summer residence was being built, Stanley McCormick, like his sister Mary, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1909 he was declared incompetent by the California Supreme Court and would live for the rest of his life at the McCormick estate, “Riven Rock,” in Santa Barbara, California. In 1929, his wife Katharine and Stanley’s brother Harold were named conservators of his estate, which exceeded $30 million. The McCormick estate in Marion was occupied by Katharine’s mother for a number of years with Katharine visiting many summers. The cottage property was eventually sold and demolished in 1953, and the old garage was converted to a home with additions to make the property a year-round residence.

Rice-Petersen House // 1896

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Built in 1896 by Dr. A.W. Rice, this quintessential example of a Queen Anne style Victorian residence has stood on Marion’s Cottage Street, preserved and contributing to the town’s rich history. Alger W. Rice (1855-1914) was born in Vermont and moved to Marion after graduating medical school and operated his medical office from his home here and lived with his family until his death. Dr. Rice also raised and bred award-winning Russian Wolfhounds and pigeons. Between 1921 and 1979 the property was owned by two generations of the Petersen family, beginning with Viggo Valdemar Petersen (1869-1941), a native of Bornholm, Denmark, who worked as a chef before entering the ice cream manufacturing business in the early 20th century. Peterson operated a popular ice cream parlor out of the rear carriage house during the 1930s until his death in 1941. When Viggo died in 1941, his son, Viggo C., attempted to carry on, until wartime cream rationing forced him to close for the duration of the conflict. Thereafter, Petersen’s ice cream resumed production and remained a Marion fixture until its final closing in the 1970s. The former residence remains commercial today, but maintains its charm.

Marion Music Hall // 1891

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Tucked into the heart of Wharf Village in the ever-charming coastal community of Marion, Massachusetts, the Marion Music Hall has been a cornerstone of small-town cultural life since 1891. The Music Hall was largely the vision and will of the town’s great benefactor, Ms. Elizabeth Taber who sought to use her late husband’s vast fortune to benefit her community in her later years. In her will, Ms. Taber left funds for a proper “lecture and music hall” and the $23,000 commission went to her friend, architect, William Gibbons Preston. The building is one of a few examples of brick construction in the village and stands out for its detail with the round arched windows and solid massing in the Romanesque Revival style with terracotta trim to add visual interest in the design. The result is a structure both stately and welcoming, with its handsome façade anchoring a lawn that would later be adorned by the cast-iron Soldiers Monument in 1894. More than 130 years on, the Hall still hosts the town’s committee meetings, concerts, weddings, and community gatherings, standing as a living piece of Marion’s Gilded Age generosity and a quiet architectural gem of the South Coast of Massachusetts.

White-Cushing Cottage // 1906

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The White-Cushing Cottage on Pleasant Street in Marion, Massachusetts, showcases the eclectic Victorian architectural styles of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that are adored by so many. The residence was built for George F. And Clara A. White, who acquired the property in 1906. The couple moved to Marion from Brooklyn, New York, and had this home built while George was employed in the linen supply business. It is likely this was their summer residence as the couple also had a home in Newton, Massachusetts, just outside Boston. After Clara’s death in 1916, George sold their Marion home to Mathew Cushing (1859-1925) and his wife, Edith, who lived in Middleborough and too likely used this home in the summers. Mr. Cushing worked as a theatre manager until his death in 1925, and his wife continued to live in the house with her son, Bartlett. The White-Cushing House has elements of the Shingle style, which is commonly seen in the summer cottages of Marion and many coastal communities. The cottage has a flared gambrel roof and a distinctive wall dormer at the facade with an integrated wrap-around porch. 

Varney House – Pollard’s Store // c.1860

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This charming building on the picturesque Main Street of Tamworth, New Hampshire, was originally built as a residence around the time of the marriage of owners, Nicholas and Abbie Varney. Nicholas Varney (1833-1900) was listed in the Census as a carpenter and likely constructed his own home here in Tamworth. The once Italianate style residence was modified later in the 19th century with the addition of the two-story tower in the Queen Anne style. After Nicholas’ death in 1900, the home was converted to a store and was known as the Pollard’s Store. Today, the building is occupied by a local bakery.

Cook Memorial Library // 1895

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The Cook Memorial Library of Tamworth, New Hampshire, is one of the state’s finest 19th century and charming libraries. The library in Tamworth got its start in 1796, when Samuel Hidden, the new pastor of the Tamworth Congregational Church brought residents to support a library in the community. In 1891, the New Hampshire legislature approved the Free Library Act, appointing a State Library commission and authorizing benefits to New Hampshire towns for the purpose of establishing free, public libraries. In 1894, a local committee was formed to act upon a gift of $2,000 from Susan (Staples) Cook for the purpose of purchasing land and erecting a building in the memory of her husband, Charles P. Cook, who had been a prominent local storekeeper, selectman, and state legislator in town. The gift also stipulated “…that Mrs. Lucy A. Cook (daughter-in-law of Susan) shall continue as librarian, if she desires, so long as she performs her duties acceptably”, they accepted. The library appears to have been designed by Boston architect, Joseph Randolph Coolidge of the firm, Coolidge & Carlson, who spent summers in nearby Sandwich, NH. The historic, wood-frame library is notable for its shingled siding, clock tower, and stained glass windows, all of which were preserved in a later renovation and expansion of the 1895 building.

Whittier Lodge // c.1905

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Whittier Lodge is a historic lodging house built in the early 20th century at the time Tamworth, New Hampshire shifted from an industrial and agricultural economy more to a summer colony. Part of the structure is said to have been built from a village schoolhouse and moved to the present site where the remainder of what became Whittier Lodge was built. The Remick Family owned the building and the rooms inside were rented largely to mill workers who worked in nearby towns over the winter, and rented in summers to visitors to the Lakes Region of New Hampshire. The lodge was purchased in the 1920s to Everett and Ethel Berry, who converted the boarding house into their home, but the building remained known for its hospitality. Ethel is said to have cooked nightly dinners in summers for the actors at the Barnstormers Theatre. Conrad Bain, later well-known for his role as Phillip Drummond, in the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, spent the summers of 1949 and ‘50 at The Barnstormers and he wrote glowingly of his time in Tamworth and at Whittier Lodge, writing, “…the generosity and culinary talent of Mrs. Berry, who served a delicious and nourishing dinner to all of us every evening on her spacious screened-in porch, for the extraordinary sum of $1.25 each”. The connection to the Barnstormers Theatre continues today as in 2007, the Theatre organization purchased the lodge for use as housing for its technical/stage crew from June through August; and it is rented from September to May as apartments.

Dr. Jonathan M. Cheney House // c.1895

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The Dr. Jonathan M. Cheney House in the town of Ashland, New Hampshire, is significant as a well-preserved example of Queen Anne architecture with all the flourish and asymmetry expected in the iconic style. The residence was built around 1895 for Jonathan Morrison Cheney (1863-1918), a prominent physician in Ashland and also served as a member of the General Assembly in 1909 and a member of the State Senate in 1911. Dr. Cheney was the son of Col. Thomas P. Cheney, a well-known New Hampshire politician, and enjoyed his connections and success from family, eventually being able to afford such an ornate mansion in his hometown. While the architect is unknown, the Cheney House stands out for its use of varied materials including a brick ground floor and clapboards above, decorative porch frieze, and the four-story square tower with mansard roof and paneling at the third floor. The residence today serves as a bed & breakfast, appropriately named the Cheney House.

Union Hall, North Billerica // 1892-1966

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The Union Hall in North Billerica, Massachusetts, was originally built around 1871 as a social meeting place and informal “town hall” for area residents. The building served many uses from a district schoolhouse to hosting elections and governmental events for the industrial village until a fire destroyed the building in 1891. The iconic centerpiece for the community was quickly rebuilt a year later from plans by Frederick W. Stickney, and also included space for the local fire department. The use as a school ceased but the first floor remained occupied as the village fire station until 1965, when a contemporary station was built nearby. Soon after, the 1892 structure was demolished and the site is used as surface parking for the North Billerica train station.

Mapleton Hall // 1883

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Located on Mapleton Avenue in the historic farming community of Suffield, Connecticut, Mapleton Hall stands as a remarkable testament to the town’s agricultural heritage and success. Originally constructed in 1883 as Central Hall, the building served as a gathering place for farmers’ meetings, civic events, and later the local Grange, reflecting the importance of agriculture in Suffield’s development. As its popularity grew, rear wings were built in 1896, expanding the hall to accommodate larger crowds drawn by community events and meetings. Architecturally, Mapleton Hall is a distinctive example of late Victorian-era rural meeting hall, featuring elements of the Queen Anne Stick/Eastlake styles, along with decorative woodwork, a prominent bell tower, and trussed gable that have been carefully preserved through decades of restoration. The building was sold in 1999 to the Suffield Players, a local theater group, who have preserved the building, using it for their theatrical productions.

Alley-Eblana Brewery // 1886

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This iconic Boston building is threatened with demolition!

The clock is ticking for the Alley/Eblana Brewery, a historically and architecturally significant building in Boston’s Mission Hill neighborhood. Located on Heath Street, the historic Alley Brewery, also known as the Eblana Brewery, stands as a striking reminder of the city’s once-thriving brewing industry. Founded by Irish immigrant John R. Alley (1822-1888) in the mid-1880s, the brewery produced the popular Eblana Irish Ale, a name derived from the ancient term for Dublin, reflecting Alley’s heritage and the strong Irish influence in the area. John Alley previously co-owned the Highland Spring Brewery nearby, but founded a brewery in his own name in 1885. For his brewery, Alley hired Philadelphia architect Otto C. Wolf, who was the nation’s premier brewery architect and engineer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The four-story complex was built in 1886 and showcased some of the most advanced brewing technology of its era while displaying an impressive blend of brick and granite craftsmanship. Its distinctive façade features a dramatic central bay, granite-trimmed arches, rough-faced stone braces, wrought-iron gates, and carved stone plaques bearing Alley’s initials and the date of construction. After John’s death in 1888, the business continued under the ownership of his two sons, Frederick and George. The brothers in 1899, added the adjacent bottling and refrigeration building, which employs similar architectural features and materials to the main brewery. Brewing here ceased with Prohibition and the structure later served a variety of manufacturing uses, when during the 1960s, many windows were filled with brick. The Alley-Eblana Brewery remains one of Boston’s most architecturally significant surviving brewery buildings, embodying Boston’s rich industrial and ethnic heritage, but it is threatened. Developers have owned the building since 2013 and have done nothing to preserve or even maintain the structure, making it a case of demolition by neglect. They are requesting to demolish both structures, but the demolition has been delayed 90-days through the Boston Landmarks Commission Demolition Delay review process. If you want to see the building repurposed and saved, reach out to the Boston Landmarks Commission and advocate for its adaptive reuse, which would provide housing and maintain a significant architectural landmark for the community.

Gillon Block // 1888

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Located on Main Street in Milford, Massachusetts, the stately Gillon Block is one of the town’s finest buildings and an excellent example of eclectic, late Victorian commercial architecture. The block was erected in 1888-9 for owner Patrick Gillon (1843-1899), who inherited his late-father’s distillery and bottling business in Milford, and designed by local architect Rinaldo V. Carey. The panel brick facade is divided into seven sections with a central projecting section topped by a tower capped by a copper onion dome. The four-story block included retail space at the ground floor with offices and meeting halls on the upper stories, rented to tenants and organizations.

Fleur-De-Lys Studios // 1885

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The Fleur-de-Lys Studios is of the most architecturally significant and unique buildings in New England and can be found on Thomas Street in the College Hill section of Providence. Built in 1885 and a vivid expression of the Queen Anne style and showing the emergence of the Arts and Crafts movement movement in America, the handsome building blending is the result of a partnership between artist, Sydney Richmond Burleigh and architect, Edmund R. Willson as a dedicated creative hub for working artists, a purpose it still serves today under the stewardship of the Providence Art Club, who received the deed of the property in 1939 by Burleigh’s widow. Its design draws heavily on medieval English and Tudor Revival influences, with a striking half-timbered façade, stucco panels, carved heads as hanging pendants, and projecting casement windows that break dramatically from the surrounding colonial streetscape. What truly sets the structure apart, however, is its richly symbolic ornamentation—allegorical figures representing painting, sculpture, and architecture adorn the exterior. More than a century later, the Fleur-de-Lys Studios remains both a National Historic Landmark and a living workspace, preserving its original spirit as a place where art and architecture are inseparably intertwined.

Dr. George W. Carr Mansion // 1885

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Perched on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, the Dr. George W. Carr Mansion at the corner of Benefit and Waterman streets, stands as one of the most attractive and interesting interpretations of the Queen Anne style in New England. The stately home was built in 1885 for George Wheaton Carr (1834-1907) a medical doctor who served as a surgeon during the Civil War and later as head surgeon for multiple Providence-area hospitals. For his Providence home, Dr. Carr hired architect, Edward I. Nickerson, to furnish plans, which resulted in this mansion with irregular plan, four-story corner corner capped with a conical roof, varied materials in stone, wood shingles, half-timbering, and copper bays. The Carr Mansion was purchased by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1916, and has served a variety of roles for the school including as student housing and a cafe/lounge.

Swansea Town Hall // 1891

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The Swansea Town Hall in Swansea, Massachusetts, is one of the most unusual and architecturally eclectic town hall buildings in New England, and was a gift to the community from a wealthy resident. Built in 1891 from plans by Boston architect, James Merrill Brown, the building is constructed of randomly laid rubblestone with brownstone trim with a massive pyrammidal slate roof and offset turret and tower containing a historic clock. The building was the gift of benefactors, Frank Shaw Stevens and Elizabeth Case Stevens, who lived down the street in the town’s largest mansion. The Stevens’ donated the building with the stipulation that the building was to be available to every and any religious society desiring to hold funeral services there and to also provide space for a public library. The town obliged. The space was outgrown and the Stevens’ would later donate the town’s public library next door and a church, that also held funeral services for the community. The building has been home to the Town Hall since 1891.