Shingle Style

Mary E. Paul Triple Decker // 1898

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The Triple Decker is a popular housing form that between 1880 and 1930, saw an estimated 15,000 examples built in Boston and surrounding cities. The unique construction of three flats stacked on top of eachother provided density and lowered housing costs for three families and supplying the housing needs of huge numbers of new immigrants and working class families, providing an important path to homeownership. Often, a family could purchase a property, building a triple decker and could live in one unit while renting the others to pay for the mortgage and taxes, providing upward mobility for those who so long were priced out of owning their own home. By the late 19th century however, strong and organized pushback against the housing type occurred, led by groups like the Immigration Restriction League, who were “convinced that Anglo-Saxon traditions, peoples, and culture were being drowned in a flood of racially inferior foreigners from Southern and Eastern Europe,” sound familiar? Led by Prescott Farnsworth Hall, a Brookline resident, the group advocated to limit immigration from areas they deemed “lesser” and locally, fought to ban the construction of triple deckers in Massachusetts, ultimately succeeding in part when in 1912, Massachusetts passed a law allowing cities and towns to ban triple deckers by preventing construction of any ‘wooden tenement’ in which ‘cooking shall be done above the second floor. While major catastrophic fires like the Great Chelsea Fire of 1908 were fresh in people’s minds, a leading cause for the legislation was likely to limit upward mobility of groups of people from owning real estate. The Mary E. Paul Triple Decker, pictured here, was built in 1898 in the Shingle style, contributing to the rich architectural and social character of the surrounding neighborhood.

Charles P. Flagg House // 1899

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Located on Sewall Avenue in Brookline, Massachusetts, the Charles P. Flagg House exemplifies upper-class single-family housing built in the late 19th century that has been added onto and converted into multi-family housing to serve a growing city. Charles Partridge Flagg (1851-1911) was a real estate developer and head of the D. F. Flagg & Co., a wholesale liquor company his father started in Boston. He purchased the former Dexter property, subdivided the estate, and hired architect Julius A. Schweinfurth to design a home for his family. “Jule” Schweinfurth was long-associated with the firm of Peabody & Stearns of Boston, which in the late 19th century, was one of the premier architectural offices in the United States, but when he was not offered a partnership offer by his bosses, he established a new firm under his name. For the Flagg House, Schweinfurth blended the Shingle, Queen Anne, and Arts and Crafts architectural styles with a unique asymmetrical roofline, wide overhanging eaves with cross brackets and exposed rafter tails, consistent shingle siding, and a two-story polygonal oriel with domed roof at the corner. The Flagg House was moved forward on the lot to facilitate a rear addition and completely renovated in 2011, transforming it into a seven-unit condominium building with garage and elevator. This example of “gentle density” is exactly what communities should allow for, to preserve the character at the streetscape but provide additional housing.

George B. Dexter House // 1885

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An expression of the Shingle style in all her beauty, the George B. Dexter House on Sewall Avenue in Brookline was built in 1885 both as a residence and a billboard advertising the owner’s business, really. The residence was built for George B. Dexter (1854-1935) a partner in the Dexter Brothers Company a paint and stain manufacturer that was a favorite of architects in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. For his Brookline residence, George Dexter hired architect S. Edwin Tobey to design this Shingled masterpiece with continuous shingle siding with rounded bays and a shingled piazza to showcase the stain products of his company. According to articles, Dexter also stained and painted the interior a variety of colors to showcase the wide range of options his company had. George Dexter would move to Pill Hill neighborhood in a new home just a decade after having this residence built, likely caused by the development of apartments and commercialization in the Coolidge Corner area by the turn of the century. The Dexter House was converted to a two-family in the 1920s and today has three condominium units, with owners clearly taking great pride in this significant residence.

Francis L. Willard Summer House // 1886

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Built in 1886 as a summer house, this handsome Shingle style residence on Pleasant Street in Sharon, Massachusetts, is one of the finest examples of the Shingle style in the area. The house was built as a summer residence for Francis Lyman Willard (1845-1913), who was President and Treasurer of the Riverside Boiler Works in Cambridge, and maintained a primary residence in Jamaica Plain. He and his wife, Mary Smith Willard, had this home built as their country retreat, spending summers here to escape the hustle-and-bustle of city life. The architect could not be discovered at this time, but it appears to have been a Boston-area architect that specialized in the Shingle style due to its unique and high-quality detailing. The feature that stands out is the four-story wood shingled tower on the facade capped by a bell roof that includes a large 20-over-20 double-hung curved wood sash stair window. 

George P. Lawrence Summer House // 1897

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On the eastern shore of Lake Massapoag in Sharon, Massachusetts, the George P. Lawrence Summer House is an excellent and rare preserved example of a late 19th century Victorian summer house in the suburban town. The residence was built in 1897 for George Pelton Lawrence (1859-1917) and his wife, Belle, as a summer retreat from their primary residence in North Adams in Western Massachusetts. George P. Lawrence was an attorney who was appointed as a district court judge before entering the political arena where he became a state senator. The couple spent summers at this beautiful Shingle/Colonial Revival style residence until Congressman Lawrence’s death in 1917. On November 21, 1917, Lawrence jumped out of his eighth-floor New York City window at the Hotel Belmont , committing suicide. In his room, he left a note saying that he “could not stand the pressure anymore”. The Sharon property remained in the family until the 1940s and has been modernized, while maintaining its character. 

John G. Phillips House // 1901

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The John G. Phillips House on Pleasant Street in Sharon, Massachusetts, is a playful and eclectic example of early 20th century residential architecture showcasing the blending of many styles into a single composition. The house was built in 1901 for John Goddard Phillips, who moved to Sharon from Boston to retire in this large home, and serve as President of the Sharon Historical Society. The house blends typical Queen Anne and Shingle style forms but with interesting brackets common in styles popular a half-century earlier.

Richmond Congregational Church // 1903

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The Richmond Congregational Church is a stellar example of an early 20th century, wood-frame church building in the small town of Richmond, Vermont. Designed by prominent Burlington architect, Walter R. B. Wilcox in 1903, the building blends many styles that were popular at the time, namely the Shingle, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival styles, into a single composition. The parish hall addition was built in 1984, and is in a sympathetic Colonial Revival style, designed by Burlington architect Donald Albertson. The congregation remains active and maintains the church building, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Goodwin House // 1902

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This handsome house in the small town of Richmond, Vermont, was built in 1902 for F. H. Goodwin, a partner of the Richmond Underwear Company, which started in 1900. Goodwin’s brother and his partner were brought from Peekskill, New York to the small town of Richmond to create and manage a new industry to revitalize the town, a program funded by the citizens. F. H. Goodwin was hired as a manager of the company, and built this home in a blending of Shingle and Arts and Crafts styles, common in the early 20th century. The house was unique in that it was the first in town to be electrified as it was directly connected on the grid with the factory next door.

Charles F. Roper House // c.1890

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Charles Frederick Roper (1847-1916) was a machinist and inventor who moved to Hopedale, Massachusetts, where he found employment from the Draper Corporation. His inventions were important for the company, and included loom machinery, air supply for motors to prevent overheating, and grinding machines. Before his death, Charles Roper had over 100 patents and from his success, he afforded one of the finest Victorian homes in Hopedale. In around 1890, Charles Roper had this Shingle style residence built on Freedom Street from plans by Robert Allen Cook, a Milford-based architect who was a favorite of the Drapers. The residence sits on a rubblestone first floor with cedar shingles above.

Frank J. Dutcher House // 1904

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Located on Adin Street in Hopedale, this excellent turn-of-the-century mansion was built for Frank Jerome Dutcher, a manufacturer who worked for his father’s company before selling it to the Draper Corporation, later becoming a wealthy salesman. Blending Shingle, Queen Anne, and Arts and Crafts styles, the Frank J. Dutcher home sits atop a rock ledge and was designed by architect, Robert Allen Cook, who designed other buildings in town for the Draper Corporation and community, behind his original home that burned in 1903. The home features two massive fieldstone chimneys, shingled siding, and a series of dormers and bays that provide a rich dialogue along the long street-facing facade. In the mid-20th century, the property became a nursing home, known as Oakledge Manor. The building was recently bank-owned and it is unclear if the building was converted back to a single-family home, or remains a housing facility.