Acton

Former West Acton Universalist Church // 1868

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This beautiful church in Acton, Massachusetts was built in 1868 by the Universalists of West Acton who sought a house of worship closer to their homes, rather than taking horses to the other part of town every week. The building exemplifies the influence of both Gothic Revival and Italianate styles on rural churches of the time. Gothic elements include the double pointed lancet windows with quatrefoil ornament, buttresses, and pointed lancet panels on the tower and belfry. Italianate elements include the rusticated base and the corbel table at the eaves. Religious services ceased in 1925. At that time, the church building was bought by leading men in the village who gave the building to the West Acton Women’s Club, which began in 1890 by Lucy Mead (the wife of Oliver Mead, who built the Mansard home nearby). In the 1950’s, the church was used as a community center. It is now home to a local performing arts center, Theatre III Box Office.

West Acton Citizens Library // c.1845

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Old houses adapted for other uses always deserves a highlight! The West Acton Citizens Library was originally constructed in 1840 as a small, one-story Greek Revival style cape house either for or purchased by Phineas Wetherbee, a farmer and early landowner in the village. The modest house features little detailing besides the recessed entrance composed of wide, flat pilasters and a lintel decorated with square corner blocks and a central keystone. In 1883, Phineas Wetherbee met with thirty-nine others to form the Citizens Library in West Acton. The organization accessioned the collection of the former Farmers Club Library. When Mr. Wetherbee died in 1895, he bequeathed his house to the library, who later moved into the house by 1900. Today, the house remains a library space for the West Acton village.

Samuel Jones House // 1806

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This home in Acton Center was built in 1806 by Samuel Jones, shortly after he and other esteemed residents laid out house lots just south of the Town Green. Samuel Jones worked as an attorney and he lived here with his family and widowed mother, who operated a dame school, where she taught local children out of the house. The Federal style farmhouse sits upon a brick and stone foundation and is five-bays at the facade. The entry features a panel front door with sidelights flanking it. The entry is surrounded by a traditional Federal style frame with pilasters and entablature. There is something so beautiful about the simplicity and proportions of old Federal style houses.

Hoar House // 1891

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Who knew a Hoar House could look so good! All jokes aside, this house in West Acton is the last in this batch of Queen Anne style Victorian houses I’ll feature in the village. The dwelling was built in 1891 for a 31-year-old John Sherman Hoar, Jr. (1860-1954) and his new wife Minnie R. Hart. John was a master carpenter and built many of the Queen Anne style homes on Windsor Street and later Colonial Revival and Craftsman homes in the 1890s and 1900s himself. This was his own property which once included a workshop where he cut and manufactured many homes on the street. Today, the Hoar House has a cheery pink color scheme (which while not historically appropriate) brought a smile to my face when strolling by!

Edgar Hall House // 1889

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Another of Acton’s amazing old Queen Anne homes is the Edgar Hall House, an 1889 gem on Windsor Avenue. The house was built for Edgar Henry Hall and his wife Angelina who raised their daughter, Alice, in the home. Edgar and his brother inherited the family business from their father, Enoch Hall, and they produced wooden pails, tubs, clothing racks, and other wooden goods. The company employed over 30 workers in the early 20th century until it closed during the Great Depression. Edgar retired and relaxed from this stunning Victorian home until his death in 1954.

Arthur Blanchard House // 1892

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I do not feature enough Queen Anne style buildings on my account, as penance, I present this beautiful example of the style with a painted lady color scheme! Located on Windsor Avenue in West Acton, Massachusetts, this house was built in 1892 and has all the hallmarks of the Queen Anne style. The use of varied siding materials and forms, asymmetrical form, applied ornament, and large five-sided tower capped by a conical slate roof with weathervane. The home was built for Arthur F. Blanchard, a local businessman who operated an apple farm and marketing business opened by his father. Mr. Blanchard was a philanthropist in town and used his wealth to enhance his hometown by funding the Blanchard Auditorium at the Acton High School (1925) and was a benefactor of the West Acton Women’s Club in 1925. He and his son, Webster, also founded the Blanchard Foundation in town in 1946, an organization which funded and sponsored educational projects for the community.

George and Effie Mead House // 1911

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Prominently sited upon a hill on a dead-end street in West Acton, Massachusetts, this Craftsman Bungalow is a very elaborate and well-preserved example of the style. The house was built in 1911 for George Varnum Mead (1861-1940) and his wife Effie Wright Mead (1860-1926) as their summer home when they weren’t living in Somerville. Mr. Mead was born in West Acton to Varnum Balfour Mead, who operated the A. O. W. Mead Company, a produce marketing business in Acton and Boston. Varnum’s brother built an elaborate Second Empire style mansion in town which was featured on here yesterday. George Mead followed his father’s footsteps and worked in the family business, which was in operation starting in the 1840s. The A. O. W. Mead Company gathered produce from farmers all over West Acton, kept the produce in cold storage facilities erected by the family, and sent it to Boston for sale at Quincy Market until George’s death in 1940. The Craftsman style house has a fieldstone base, low, overhanging flared gable roof, and is sheathed in shingle siding. Characteristic features include the multiple dormers, exposed rafter tails, grouped windows, and the large fieldstone chimney.

Oliver Mead Mansion // c.1870

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Acton, Massachusetts is one of the more underrated Massachusetts towns for great old buildings, many of which are well-preserved and taken care of by their owners. The Oliver Mead Mansion in West Acton Village is among the largest in this part of town and is a stellar example of the Second Empire style. The house and adjacent carriage house was built around 1870 for Oliver Mead (1823-1912), who co-owned the A. O. W. Mead Company with his two brothers, a successful produce marketing company where they sold poultry, eggs, cheese, fruit, and other goods from farms in Acton and Boxborough to their shop on Market Street in Downtown Boston. The company did well, and Oliver and his brother Adelbert built matching mansions in West Acton after the Civil War and business picked up. The house exhibits a central projecting tower bordered by quoins and topped by a mansard roof with iron cresting on top. The original carriage house remains in a great state of preservation as well. The Adelbert House and Carriage house nextdoor were demolished in the 1950s for the fire station on the site.

Stoneymeade Farm // c.1773

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This stunning Georgian farmhouse in Acton, Massachusetts, was built around 1773 for Seth Brooks (1740-1831) and his wife Molly Conant Brooks, on land that had belonged to her father, William Conant of Concord (part of which was later annexed to Acton). Seth Brooks fought under Captain Isaac Davis on April 19th, 1775 at the Battle of Concord, who was among the first killed and was the first American officer to die in the Revolution. It was Brooks who ordered Davis’ body carried from the field after he fell, so he could be buried with honor. After the war, the family suffered an unfathomable tragedy. Seth and his wife, all their nine children, and all but one of their grandchildren died of the same type of tuberculosis, “slow consumption.” The family “curse” appears to have been broken by grandson Nathan Brooks, Jr., (1799-1881,) who inherited the property. According to local legend, a room beside the center chimney sheltered runaway slaves, as Nathan Brooks was an avid abolitionist. At the turn of the 20th century, the farm was purchased by Brookline timber merchant Benjamin Pope, owner of the Pope and Cottle Company of Boston. For many years, the Pope family used the house as a summer residence, with managers working the property as a dairy farm. It was Pope who named the farm “Stoneymeade,” and added greenhouses, an icehouse, and had an elaborate water system installed. Stoneymeade Farm continues to this day as an equestrian farm with boarding space for horses.

Hosmer House // 1760

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This 2-1/2 story wood frame house in Acton, Massachusetts was built in 1760, and is one of the town’s best-preserved colonial-era houses. It is an unusual double house, consisting of one section with a square plan, and the other with a typical colonial “half house” plan, having three bays and an off-center chimney. The house was built by Jonathan Hosmer, Jr., a bricklayer whose workmanship is evident in the house’s many fireplaces. Hosmer was also prominent in civic and military affairs; he served (along with his son, who was killed at 17 years old) in the 1777 Battle of Bennington. The home was later owned by Jonathan’s son Simon, who may have added the attached dwelling, creating the double-house form we see today. In 1974 the property was acquired by the Acton Historical Society, which rents one of the units, and operates the rest of the property as a museum. The home is a great example of a Georgian double-house with a saltbox roof.