Built in 1882 as a Catholic mission church, the St. Mark’s Orthodox Church on Main Street in Kingston, Massachusetts, stands as a lovely example of a Victorian Gothic ecclesiastical building in a great state of preservation. In the waning decades of the 19th century, the Irish and Catholic population of Kingston grew, which led members to petition the Diocese to erect a mission church closer to their homes, rather than attend St. Peter’s in Plymouth. Originally called St. Joseph’s Church, the building served the local Catholic population until after the new, brick St. Joseph’s. Church was built further down Main Street in the 1930s. The local St. Mark Of Ephesus Orthodox Church congregation purchased the chapel in 1995 and restored the building, removing faux-brick shingling and reshingled the exterior.
The original Congregational Church of Kingston was part of the established, tax-supported church of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and was built in 1718, after present-day Kingston established itself as Plymouth’s North Parish. The church was replaced in 1798 with a more substantial building with two steeples. In 1833, when the separation of church and state was finalized in the Commonwealth, two new religious societies formed in Kingston and established churches. The 1798 church, which had been built as the only church in town, was now too large for its diminished population and suffering from structural difficulties. In the spring of 1851, the 1798 church was taken down, and the present church, the third on the site, was constructed. The church blends Greek Revival and Italianate styles, both popular for ecclesiastical buildings of its time, and the structure looks much like it did when built 175 years ago. The congregation here is Universal Unitarian.
The Cobb-Bartlett House at 240 Main Street in Kingston, Massachusetts, was built around 1754 for Gershom Cobb (1717-1799) where he raised his family. The gambrel-roofed Georgian house was built before the revolution, and may have originally been a half-cape and expanded to a full-cape in the late 18th or early 19th century. The property was sold by Cobb in 1768 to Captain Joseph Bartlett, and the property remained in the family for generations after his death in 1788. The house is a well-preserved example of a Cape style house with large, central chimney and clad with cedar shingle siding and roof.
Built the same year as the Old Kingston Town House in Kingston, Massachusetts, this handsome Greek Revival style house sits on the town’s Main Street and has ties to two of the communities oldest and most significant families. The house was constructed in 1841 with matching side porches for Horace Holmes (1809-1855), a merchant and son of Joseph Holmes, a wealthy ship owner and builder. Horace operated a store near his home until his death in 1855. The property was later purchased by Captain Charles Stetson, a master mariner. The couple’s weath soon allowed them to sell this older residence and they built a “modern” Italianate style house at the rear garden (now 20 Green Street) to reside in. After successive ownership, the Greek Revival style house was converted to a store, but has since been reverted back to a residence, retaining much of its original fabric.
Overlooking the town green in Kingston, Massachusetts, this stately Greek Revival home was once the original town house for the community, containing meeting hall, town offices and even a jail cell! Before we go into that further, it is helpful to learn about history first. Present-day Kingston was within the tribal homeland of the Wampanoag people, who in the decades prior to the arrival of the Mayflower, saw their populations decimated from a rapidly spreading pandemics due to earlier contacts with Europeans. Originally part of Plymouth, Kingston was first settled by Europeans shortly after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. In 1717, residents in the northern part of Plymouth petitioned the General Court to be set off from Plymouth as a separate township or a precinct. They were allowed to become the north precinct of Plymouth on the condition that they maintain a suitable minister. The northern precinct was wealthier and led to present-day Kingston incorporating as its own town in 1726, following a tax dispute. Early town meetings were held in the parish church until the separation of church and state necessitated a new town hall. The town hall here was built in 1841. As the town grew the building was re-oriented southward and enlarged in 1871 from plans by architectLuther Briggs. Further alterations were made to the building in 1935 under the guidance of the architectural firm of J. Williams Beal & Sons. In the early 2000s, space, parking, and accessibility concerns led the Town of Kingston to sell the 1841 Town House, which was purchased by private owners and converted to a residence. Inside, remnants of the old town house include old signs, office doors for city departments, former vaults converted to closets, and even a jail cell in the basement. Talk about a unique adaptive reuse!
One of the more unique and enchanting historic summer “cottages” I have seen in my travels is this early 20th century rustic example in the Onteora Park colony. Built in 1902 for John S. Stanton Sr. (1837-1933), this residence was later the summer home of Dr. Edward Ahrens and his wife, Gertrude, who founded the Mountaintop Arboretum nearby. The house stands 3 1/2-stories tall and features horizontal log siding on the ground floor and cedar shingle siding above. The facade is dominated by the broad gable end roof that extends downwards to the first floor at flared eaves on the sides and over the windows.
This handsome cottage on Thurber Road in the Onteora Park colony in the Catskills of New York, was built by 1902 for Col. James P. Kimball (1840-1902), and his wife, Maria (Brace) Kimball, as their summer home. James Peleg Kimball was one of the most renowned U.S. Army surgeons of the late nineteenth century. The home was meant to be the couple’s place of respite, but Col. Kimball died here in 1902, not long after the family moved into the home to enjoy the fresh air of the Catskills. Maria Kimball retained the cottage for years until it was sold in 1919, and owned later by Clayton McMichael of Pennsylvania, and a director of the Onteora Summer Theatre. The rustic Shingle/Arts and Crafts style cottage was originally named Beauford Lodge, and was later named Stone Acres by McMichael.
Built in 1906, the Library at the Onteora Park summer colony in Hunter, New York, is one of the many architectural treasures in the development. Designed by George A. Reid, the Canadian artist, architect, and summer resident of Onteora Park, the Tudor-style Arts and Crafts building was constructed in 1906 and opened to a collection of over 1,500 books and a full-time librarian during the summer season. Built of wood-frame construction with stucco exterior finish and adorned by half-timbering, the building has been lovingly maintained and preserved by members of the community for over 120 years.
Once the heart of the Onteora Park colony in the Catskills Mountains, this large building was known as the Bear and Fox Inn. The inn was built in 1888 from plans by young architect Dunham Wheeler (1861–1938), the son of the founder of the colony, Ms. Candace Wheeler, along with three cottages, while Ms. Wheeler’s Associated Artists interior design company provided the upholstered furnishings. Candace’s daughter, Dora (Wheeler) Keith, painted an inn sign depicting a bear and fox dancing by the light of the moon. In the early development of Onteora Park, there was no sewer or water system, and the original cottages had no kitchens built within the homes. As a result, the Bear and Fox Inn provided a space where cottagers would meet daily for meals. By the 20th century, cottagers would add kitchens inside their homes, and some dinners and events were moved to the Field House. The Bear and Fox Inn was altered with the removal of the large dining room, and converted to a private residence, which remains to this day. The structure is an excellent example of the Arts and Crafts style in a rustic finishes, typical for Upstate New York summer cottages.
Onteora Park is one of many notable summer colonies in the Catskill Mountains that were developed in the late 19th and early 20th century. Onteora Park is located in Hunter, New York, and is comprised of a development of over 100 residential properties along with club buildings and the All Souls Church. The development of Onteora Park is largely credited to Ms. Candace (Thurber) Wheeler, one of America’s first woman interior and textile designers and co-founder of the Society of Decorative Art in New York City. In 1883, she and her wealthy brother, Francis Beattie Thurber, purchased land here with sweeping views of the Catskill Mountains, and built two summer houses for their respective families. By 1887, Candace Wheeler and her sister-in-law, Jeannette (Mrs. Francis B.) Thurber, decided to expand and develop their property as a vacation community of like-minded people dedicated to the arts. Years after the first cottages were built, Candace asked her son, Dunham Walker, an architect, to furnish designs for a community summer chapel. After the site had been secured, Canadian architect (and summer resident of Onteora) George Agnew Reid, was asked to put Mr. Wheeler’s plan into acceptable form and to supervise construction. The original wooden church was changed over to stone, all in a Victorian Gothic style. By 1910, the building was enlarged with the addition of the chancel and addition of transepts and possibly the square bell tower. At this time, the church was also electrified. Today, the church is lovingly maintained and open for the summer season and special ceremonies.
Buildings of New England 
