Massachusetts Architecture

Rev. Samuel Dana House // c.1809

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The Reverend Samuel Dana (1778-1864) was appointed the minister of the Old North Congregational Church in Marblehead in 1801, and remained in his position for 36 years. During his rectorship, he started a Sunday School, the congregation built chapel on Pearl Street in 1819 and the Old North Church stone church in 1825. Before all of these accomplishments, he had this stately Federal style mansion built on Washington Street, a short walk to his place of worship. The house appears to have been built shortly after his marriage to Henrietta Bridge in 1808. The house and its design rivals many of the Salem Federal period houses, and stands three stories with five bays and a center entry. A Doric portico shelters the door which is surmounted by a fanlight transom and sidelights. 

Pedrick Mansion // c.1756

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One of the great Colonial-era houses of Marblehead is this stately residence, the John Pedrick Mansion on Washington Street. The house dates to about 1756 and was built for John Pedrick (1733-1780), a wealthy shipping merchant. According to ‘The History and Traditions of Marblehead’, Pedrick’s “ships sailed to nearly every port in England, Spain, and the West Indies, and his transactions were with some of the largest mercantile houses of Europe. At one time, it is said, he owned twenty-five vessels engaged in the foreign trade.” The Revolutionary War, which proved so disastrous to the merchants of Marblehead, bore with especial severity upon Major Pedrick, as several of his vessels were destroyed by British cruisers in Massachusetts Bay, and many others rotted in port from blocades and engagements. The property was likely modernized after John Pedrick’s death in 1780 with a more Federal form, possibly adding the third floor and shallow hipped roof. The building’s facade is scored to resemble ashlar masonry, giving it a more stately appearance, but the bright blue really diminishes the feature, which should typically be colored a natural stone.

Elbridge Gerry House // c.1734

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The Elbridge Gerry House is a historic house on Washington Street in Marblehead, Massachusetts that was built by local merchant, Thomas Gerry around the time of his marriage to Elizabeth Greenleaf. Architectural evidence suggests that the house was a two-story L-shaped Georgian frame structure, that in about 1820, was raised to its present three-story form in the Federal style. It was in this house that Founding Father, Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) was born, and spent many formative years in. Gerry was a wealthy merchant, politician, and diplomat who served as the fifth vice president of the United States  under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814, and is arguably best-known for Gerrymandering. The term, originally written as “Gerry-mander,” first was used on March 26, 1812, in the Boston Gazette — a reaction to the redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under then-Gov. Elbridge Gerry. One of the remapped, contorted districts in Essex County (where Marblehead is located) was said to resemble the shape of a mythological salamander, hence the name “Gerry-mander”. The newly drawn state senate district in Essex County was lampooned in cartoons as a strange winged dragon, clutching at the region. Elbridge Gerry would live mostly in Cambridge and the family home was sold by around 1820 and modernized about that time.

Old Town House, Marblehead // 1727

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By the early 18th century, Marblehead had grown from a small fishing village to one of the most affluent and influential seaports in the colonies. This new wealth and the increasing secularization of government led town officials in 1727 to fund and build a Town House, to replace the Old Meeting House from 1696. The upper level of the building served as a town hall, while the lower level was originally used as a market. The Town House was later the gathering place to protest the Stamp Act and the Boston Port Act, and was a primary location for Sons of Liberty to meet and discuss Revolution. After Independence, the Town House was host to such dignitaries as presidents George Washington, Adams, Jackson and Munroe, Samuel Adams, John Hancock and the Marquis de Lafayette. The building would eventually be replaced as the town hall when the new Abbot Hall was built in 1876. The top floor became the GAR Museum, established after the Civil War as The Grand Army of the Republic veterans organization. The main floor houses meeting and exhibition space. The iconic Revolutionary-era Georgian building has been lovingly maintained and restored for nearly 300 years, a testament to the historic and architectural significance of this handsome structure.

M. A. Pickett Building // 1902

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The M. A. Pickett Building on Washington Street in Marblehead is a spectacular example of a commercial building of the early 20th century designed in the Colonial Revival style. The building was designed in 1902 by the firm of Peare & Quiner, who worked mostly in the North Shore of Massachusetts and funded by members of the M.A. Pickett Association, a fraternal organization founded in the late 19th century and named after Moses A. Pickett (1780-1853), who left his entire will to: “comfort the widow and the fatherless, the aged, the sick, and the unhappy”, also donating his home to the use and funding for its preservation. In 1866, a hand-drawn fire engine named after M. A. Pickett, was used by a group of volunteer firefighters, who later would create the club named after Mr. Pickett. The building originally held a barber shop and a creamery on the ground floor with a meeting hall and billiards room above for members of the Pickett Association. Today, the building is lovingly maintained, including the three stunning Palladian windows at the third floor.

Knight-Tutt House // c.1750

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The Knight-Tutt House on Franklin Street in downtown Marblehead, Massachusetts, is a great example of a pre-Revolutionary Georgian home built for the working class. The house, like its neighbor, has a three-bay, side-hall facade with a large, central chimney. The residence was built around 1750 for William Knight (1722-1799), who worked as a shoreman, loading and unloading the many ships that docked in Marblehead harbor. By 1850, the house was jointly owned by an F. Bateman and William Russell Tutt, a shoemaker. The residence remains one of a large number of well-preserved Colonial homes in the town of Marblehead, a testament to preservation planning and its effect on streetscapes and vibrant communities.

Warren Homestead // 1727

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The old Jonah Warren Homestead of Westborough, Massachusetts, was built in 1727 on the Old Connecticut Path, a former Native American trail, and is among the earliest and best-preserved examples of 18th-century domestic architecture in Westborough. The Colonial-era house was built for Jonah Warren (1700-1780) and his wife Elizabeth Seaverns (1700-1775), who moved from Watertown to Westborough in 1720, the couple would have 13 children. The home remained in the family for generations. Jonah was a tanner by trade, but also sold wooden shingles, cut from nearby cedar swamps. In 1778, the couple’s son, Aaron, owned the house, as he returned home to take care of his aging father. The property was later owned by Aaron’s son, David Warren, and later passed to his only child, a daughter, Mary Waterman Warren (1799-1858), who married Josiah Fay (1797-1869) in 1838. The home was inherited by Hercules Warren Fay, a Harvard-educated reverend and author. The homestead remained in the family until the last of Hercules’ children died in 1957. The Warren Homestead remains as one of the finest and best-preserved Colonial-era residences in Central Massachusetts.

Fay House // c.1840

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One of the most spectacular residences in Westborough, Massachusetts, can be found on Church Street, which is a unique blending of two distinct architectural styles. The house here was originally built around 1840 as a Greek Revival style residence, which would have had a gabled roof, and it retains the original corner pilasters and Ionic columned porch. Records state the the house was built for Cyrus Fay (1812-1884), possibly around the time of his marriage in 1837 to Caroline Pope. Caroline passed away in 1852 at the age of 36, and Cyrus remarried in 1855 to Nancy Avery White. It was likely after his second marriage, and after he became the first president of the Westborough Savings Bank in 1869, that the house was modernized with a Mansard roof with belvedere.

Parker-Maynard Homestead // 1777

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Hidden away on a quiet country road in Westborough, Massachusetts, the Parker-Maynard Homestead sits as one of the best-preserved and significant properties in town. Revolutionary War veteran Isaac Parker (1750-1798), after the war, acquired land in town and built a farmhouse here around 1777. Upon the time of his death in 1798, his property listed in his will included: a homestead farm, grist mill, saw mill, a small dwelling house, a horse stable, and a pew at the town meetinghouse. The property was acquired by brothers Ebenezer and Ephraim Maynard, who lived in the house together with their respective families. The Maynard brothers worked as wheelwrights and had their shop on the property for years. Ephraim Maynard’s eldest son, Horace Maynard (1814-1882) was born here and after graduating from Amherst College, moved to Tennessee to teach law at East Tennessee University before getting into politics. Horace served in Congress between 1858-1873 as a representative from Knoxville. He spent much of his first two terms in Congress fighting to preserve the Union, and during the Civil War, he consistently urged President Abraham Lincoln to send Union forces to free East Tennessee from its Confederate occupiers. After the war, he was appointed minister to Constantinople by President Grant in 1875. In 1880 he returned to the United States and was appointed Postmaster General by President Rutherford B. Hayes. Horace owned the family homestead following the death of his father and uncle, and often returned to Westborough to see family and get away from politics.

Gilman Morse House // c.1850

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As the town of Westborough emerged from rural agricultural community to commercial center, connections to Worcester and Boston via rail service opened the town to prosperity. As businessmen accumulated wealth, these merchants built stately homes to showcase their position in the community. Before the Civil War, the Greek Revival style was ever-popular in Westborough, even though the style was already waning in popularity in larger cities. This is the Gilman Morse House, built around 1850 for Mr. Gilman Wood Morse (1810-1899) on East Main Street. Morse was a merchant in town and clearly did well for himself, building this stately house for his family. The residence is Greek Revival in style with its facade bays broken up by pilasters capped with Corinthian capitals adorned by acanthus leaves. The house also features ornate window and door hoods, showcasing the emerging Italianate style influence.