Colonial Revival House

Philander P. Cook House // 1847

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Built in 1847 as a residence for local Postmaster and storeowner, Philander P. Cook, this historic house off West Street in West Wrentham, Massachusetts, showcases the evolution so many New England farmhouses have experienced, from working farm, to country retreat, to suburban residence. Philander Perry Cook (1816-1880) purchased this land in 1845 from prominent Massachusetts State Senator and local government official, Alan Tillinghast, and shortly after purchase, he began construction of this Greek Revival style, two-story residence with attached stable. At the turn of the century, wealthy Wellesley College graduate, teacher and published author named Lucy Freeman, purchased the property from Cook’s heirs (as well as a residence nearby where she took up residence) and she rented the Philander P. Cook House to friends during the course of her ownership. In 1910, she modernized the house, likely adding the fanlight transom in the Colonial Revival mode, and had the grounds landscaped as a country retreat. Throughout the 20th century, a number of owners have preserved and modernized the home, while retaining its unique charm and character, and it now is a large, single-family home. 

Nora M. Swift House // c.1902

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One of the few high-style, early 20th century homes in Warren, Rhode Island’s Downtown/Waterfront neighborhood, can be found on Washington Streetjust steps from the community’s vibrant Main Street. The handsome residence was built around 1902 for Dora Martin Swift, a widow of Edward A. Swift (1812-1895) a sea captain and whaler in the mid-19th century. Dora’s home exhibits a blending of Victorian-era and Colonial Revival styles with the varied shingle and clapboard siding, asymmetrical porch, and flared shingles between floors showcasing Queen Anne style influence and the portico, swag and wreath motifs, and symmetrical center-hall plan showcasing the emerging Colonial Revival style influence. The property has been well preserved and appears to have been the work of a successful builder or architect. 

Charles River Square // 1910

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Charles River Square, a delightful development of red brick and cast-stone Colonial Revival townhomes in the Beacon Hill Flat, was developed in 1910 from plans by Boston architect, Frank A. Bourne. The development consists of a total of 21 residences, 19 of which front on the courtyard that is known as Charles River Square. The development is accessed off Charles River Road (which was made a busy thoroughfare in the 1950s and renamed Storrow Drive) and through a Palladianesque passageway off Revere Street. Along with its neighbor to the north, West Hill Place (1916), another group of attached townhouses organized around a courtyard built years later, its layout is a departure from the previous approach to urban planning, resembling the atmosphere of an old London street or mews. Charles River Square remains one of the most desirable developments in the exclusive Beacon Hill neighborhood.

George P. Davis House // 1893

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This Colonial Revival style single-family house on Emerson Street in Brookline Village, was built in 1893 on the former Emerson Estate, that was subdivided by the heirs of Elijah Emerson as Brookline Village filled in during the late 19th century. This house was seemingly built for Elijah’s daughter, Sarah C. Emerson Davis, and her husband, George Peabody Davis from plans by Boston architect, Olin Wesley Cutter. Of particular note, the Davis House features a symmetrical facade with round entry portico, Palladian stairhall window with leaded glass, and pedimented dormers, with the center dormer in a swan’s neck pediment. The oddly proportioned pilasters with tiny Ionic capital on the corners of the house were great to see as well!

Isaac Gleason House // 1805

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Built in 1805 by Isaac Gleason (Glezen), this Federal style mansion was later expanded in the early 20th century in the Colonial Revival style as Wayland became more of a wealthy Boston suburb. Located on the appropriately named Glezen Lane, this house was constructed for Isaac Glezen (1769-1843), who farmed the land here. Other family members built homes nearby. As Wayland shifted from rural community to a wealthy Boston suburb in the early 20th century, the property was purchased by Charles Ashley Hardy and his wife, Alice. The couple would sell the property in 1918, which comprised of 89-acres of land and a chauffeur’s residence, was purchased by Albert H. Beck, a New York banker. The property was later subdivided and consists of many other large, single-family homes.

Warren Gould Roby House // 1888

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The Warren Gould Roby House at 11 Concord Road in Wayland is located just north of the town’s public library building and is one of the community’s finest examples of the Colonial Revival style. The Roby family occupied this land going back to 1725, when Ebenezer Roby (1701-1772) came to Wayland and built a house on this site. His son, Dr. Ebenezer Roby, Jr. (1732-1786), inherited the large Georgian house which also had an office for his medical practice. The old homestead passed to Dr. Roby’s son, William Roby, and eventually to his grandson Warren Gould Roby who lived in Cambridge and worked as a metal merchant and would spend summers at the family homestead. The old colonial Roby House burned in 1886 which is when Warren Gould Roby (1834-1897) rebuilt a Queen Anne residence on the site. Before his death in 1897, Warren Roby donated a half-acre of his land to the south and $25,000 to the town for the purpose of constructing a library that would be as fireproof as possible, the result is the Wayland Public Library. After his death, the Roby heirs, who lived in Cambridge, sold the family estate to Daniel Brackett, a lawyer who also served as the Wayland Town Clerk and Assessor. It was likely Mr. Brackett who expanded the home in the early 20th century in the Colonial Revival style and form we see today.

Wilder Mansion // c.1738

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The Wilder Mansion at 101 Wilder Road in Bolton, Massachusetts, was built in about 1738 as an early Georgian farmhouse by Josiah Richardson, a Revolutionary War veteran who died in the home in 1799. By 1814, Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder purchased the property and “modernized” the old farmhouse which due to its location along the Bay Path, a major east-west route from Lancaster to Boston, operated it as an inn and tavern. Mr. Wilder expanded the property, purchasing additional nearby farmland to create a country seat worthy of a wealthy agent for some of the most influential merchants in the shipping trade in Boston. During his tour of the United States in 1824, Marquis de Lafayette spent the night here on September 2nd between visits to Boston and Lancaster. Sampson V. S. Wilder lost the property following economic crises, and the property changed hands many times until the early 20th century. Stockbroker John L . Saltonstall (1878-1929), first cousin to Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall, hired Boston architects Bigelow & Wadsworth in 1910, to return the house to a more Colonial appearance. He and his family were apparently only summer residents here, and he was probably absent for a long period during the First World War, when he worked with the Navy and the War Trade Board in Washington, D.C. In about 1915, he sold the property, and in the early 1920’s he relocated to Topsfield, Mass. After WWI, the house had a series of short-term owners, one of which was Henry Forbes Bigelow, who designed the renovation of the house just years prior. Bigelow would later relocate to a new summer house nearby in Lancaster.

Nathaniel Thayer Mansion // 1902

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The Thayer Family is one of the most prominent and well-connected families of New England, and that stature comes with handsome estates. Nathaniel Thayer (1801-1883) was born in Lancaster as the son of Reverend Nathaniel Thayer (1769–1840), a Unitarian congregational minister. Nathaniel Thayer Jr. made his fortune in businesses and held deep ties to his hometown, despite spending most of his time in Boston. He took down the original Thayer home on this site and developed the estate in the 1850s. After his death, the property was inherited by his son, Nathaniel Thayer III (1851-1911), and the house was enlarged and remodeled in the Georgian Revival style in 1902 by the architect and interior designer Ogden Codman Jr. The mansion served as a summer home to Nathaniel, who too spent much of his time in Boston. After his death, the 46-room mansion was sold out of the Thayer family with many of its furnishings sold at auction. The Nathaniel Thayer Mansion house was sold to Atlantic Union College in 1943 at a cost of $12,500. It was used as the school’s administration building between 1945 and 1951, and then as a dormitory until about 1970. From 1973 to present-day, the estate has been home to Thayer Conservatory, Center for Music and the Arts, who do a great job at preserving this significant landmark.

Bessie & Murray Potter House // 1909

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Murray A. Potter (1871-1915) and his wife, Bessie Lincoln Potter lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where Murray worked as a Professor of Romance Languages at Harvard College. The couple spent summers in Lancaster, Massachusetts, where they would purchase a house in 1909 that was built just a decade or so earlier. The couple were said to be big fans of history and decided to make their house resemble the 1782 Pierce-Nichols House in Salem, having the brown shingle Victorian house “modernized” in the current three-story near-symmetrical form.

William & Sara Warren House // 1911

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Built in 1911, this Colonial Revival style house rendered in stucco, is located at 28 Hawthorn Road in the Pill Hill neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. The residence was built for William Marshall Warren (1865-1953) and his wife, Sara Shields Warren (1874-1964) from plans by the firm of Gay & Proctor. William M. Warren served on the faculty at Boston University as Professor of Philosophy and later as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, promoted by his father, William Fairfield Warren, who was President of the University. The Warren House features a symmetrical five-bay facade with central entrance within a projecting pedimented vestibule framed by four pilasters. The pilasters are replicated in the three dormers at the roof, set below the central chimney.