Massachusetts House

Stone Estate and Gate Lodges // 1910

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Jutting into Buzzards Bay in Marion, Massachusetts, Great Hill is significant not only as the highest point in town but it is also home to one of the grandest estates in New England. Before the present mansion and various outbuildings were constructed here in the early 20th century, the property was home to Marion House, a sprawling 1860s resort hotel that drew hundreds of summer guests every year. In the early 1900s, Boston financier and Hayden, Stone & Co. co-founder, Galen L. Stone (1862-1926) bought the entire 312-acre peninsula and had the old hotel torn down. In its place, Stone commissioned this massive Tudor-style stone mansion with a central Great Hall built from stone quarried in Pennsylvania and shaped on-site by dozens of stonecutters. The estate was designed by architect, Horace Frazer of the firm, Chapman & Frazer, and it takes strong design elements from the country estates in the English countryside. Inside, the spaces are finished largely in oak with the grounds dotted with formal gardens, greenhouses, by landscape architects, Shurcliff & Shurcliff. The castle-like Main House, was greatly reduced from its original size in the 1950s to make the residence more manageable for later descendants, but even over one hundred years later, it remains one of the most impressive English Revival country houses in the United States, and the property’s grounds are open on weekdays for walking and cycling on paved roads.

“Fair Oaks” // 1903

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One of the many grand Summer estates on the coast of Sippican Harbor in Marion, Massachusetts, is this mansion known as “Fair Oaks”. The residence was built in 1903 in the Tudor Revival style for Otis A. Shepard a wealthy lumber dealer in Boston. Given Shepard’s line of work he not surprisingly called his summer estate “Fair Oaks”, and his house’s building materials were undoubtedly supplied by his company. For his summer estate, Shepard hired Boston architect, Charles Allerton Coolidge, who spent summers at his own cottage nearby and designed many historic homes in Marion for other summer residents. A number of years later, the property was purchased by Elizabeth F. Clark and her husband Edward A. Clark (1868-1922), a stock broker in Boston. Exterior and interior images of the house during Clark’s ownership appeared in architectural publications in 1919, highlighting the architecture and interior design.

Austin Cottage and Moon Gate // 1885

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The Austin Cottage and Moon Gate on Water Street in Marion, Massachusetts, are iconic landmarks in the community that showcase the architectural history of this coastal community. The Queen Anne style “cottage” was designed by Boston architect and Marion summer resident, William Gibbons Preston, for Judge James Walker Austin (1829-1895) in 1885. Early in his professional career, James W. Austin left Boston for the Hawaiian Islands, where he was recruited by King Kamehameha as a legal advisor and went on to serve as district attorney. He was elected a member of the Hawaiian parliament three times and was later appointed as judge in the Hawaiian Supreme Court and eventually became chief justice there before moving back to Boston in the 1870s. Judge Austin and his family summered at this cottage, known as “Edgewater” until his death, but the property remained in the Austin Family with final ownership held by the couple’s daughter Edith Austin (1873-1957). According to local lore, the moon gate was built for Edith around 1922 as an entrance to her extensive gardens. Edith is said to have been inspired by photographs of moon gates shared by her friend June Butler, who had married Parker Converse, who also summered in Marion, following their honeymoon in China. Local stones were used to construct the circular gate and the elements on the cornice of the gate were obtained from China. In Chinese culture moon gates are thought to offer an auspicious welcome or fortune to those who pass through with the ducks that adorn the top apparently symbolizing wealth and marital bliss. The garden has since been subdivided from the Austin estate, which was damaged in the 1938 New England Hurricane but both remain preserved today.

George House // 1929

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This Georgian Revival house on Butler Point in Marion, Massachusetts, was built in 1929 at the period of great transition of many coastal communities in New England between the Gilded Age and later summer cottage period of prosperity and the Great Depression.The “cottage” here was built for Jerome R. George (1867-1942), vice president and chief engineer of the Morgan Construction Company of Worcester and avid boater. A native of Ohio, he was a
noted designer of steel mills in the United States, Europe, and India and built this home, likely as their summer retreat.
The house is prominently sited and is one of the best examples of the Colonial Revival style I have seen in the seaside town. It is clad in cedar shingles as a nod to the vernacular coastal homes and larger Victorian-era summer homes seen in the village but resembles the 18th century Colonial homes with an elaborate pedimented entry, symmetrical facade, corner quoins, and massive brick chimneys.

Delano House // 1902

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This early 20th century home on Cottage Street in the South Coast community of Marion, Massachusetts, was built in 1902 for Hattie F. Delano and Walton S. Delano, a descendant of the great Delano family in Massachusetts. Walton worked in nearby Wareham at A. S. Gurney and Company, dealers in coal, grain and flour. The house is unique as it is in the American Foursquare form, a type of home built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The hallmarks of the style include a basically square, boxy design, two-and-one-half stories high, usually with four large, boxy rooms to a floor, a center dormer, and a large front porch with wide stairs. This example stands out for the shingle siding, flared eaves and rubblestone foundation, a nod to the more rustic summer cottages built in Marion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

McCormick Garage // 1907

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In the late 19th and early 20th century, Marion, Massachusetts, became an exclusive summer colony where wealthy families from cities would flock to soak up the sun and breathe fresh coastal air away from the heat and pollution of industrial centers at the time. One of these families was headed by Stanley Robert McCormick (1874-1947) of Chicago, the son of Cyrus McCormick, inventor and founder of the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company which would later become the International Harvester Corporation. Stanley McCormick was married in 1904 to Katharine Dexter McCormick (1875-1967), also a member of a wealthy family, who would devote her life to advancing women’s causes, serving as the vice-president of the National American Women Suffrage Association and in 1920, co-founded the League of Women Voters. Katharine remained active in later life, funding new birth-control research and the building of an all-women’s dormitory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, named McCormick Hall. Soon after Stanley and Katharine married, they purchased waterfront property in Marion, where Stanley spent summers as a child, to build a summer residence for his own family. In 1906, Stanley purchased land on Lewis Street and hired the Boston architectural firm of Page & Frothingham, to design and oversee construction of a large brick “cottage” and this brick garage structure down the street with a residence for the driver. While their summer residence was being built, Stanley McCormick, like his sister Mary, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. In 1909 he was declared incompetent by the California Supreme Court and would live for the rest of his life at the McCormick estate, “Riven Rock,” in Santa Barbara, California. In 1929, his wife Katharine and Stanley’s brother Harold were named conservators of his estate, which exceeded $30 million. The McCormick estate in Marion was occupied by Katharine’s mother for a number of years with Katharine visiting many summers. The cottage property was eventually sold and demolished in 1953, and the old garage was converted to a home with additions to make the property a year-round residence.

Blankinship-Prichard House // c.1794

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Marion, Massachusetts, is an old house lover’s dream. The coastal town’s Main Street is lined with historic cottages, large 19th century homes built for sea captains, and historic churches that show the evolution and growth of the sea-faring community. This cape house with oversized dormers was built c.1794 for Captain Job Blankinship (1764-1799), who married Betsey Hammond that same year. Tragically, Captain Blankinship died at sea in 1799, but the property remained in the family until the mid-19th century. The residence was later purchased by Henry and Abby Luce Prichard. Henry was a Civil War veteran who enlisted in the 25th Massachusetts Volunteer infantry and was part of the Burnside Expedition fought off the coast of North Carolina. Later in the war, Prichard was seriously wounded at the Battle of Cold Harbor and was discharged, and never fully recovered. He worked in his later years as an accountant in Marion and took up canoeing in the harbor until his death in 1913. It was likely after that the large dormers were added to the roof, which were later connected in the 21st century.

Marion Old Post Office – Ryder Cottage // c.1830

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Built around 1830, this little cottage is among the many photogenic buildings found along the idyllic Main Street in Marion, Massachusetts. The structure is said to have been originally located behind the Congregational Church and moved to its current location after 1855. By 1879, the structure was converted to a residence and owned by Ms. Sarah Ryder, then the widow of John C. Ryder. The vernacular cottage is sheathed in weathered shingles, which enhances its beauty and connects it architecturally with the coastal community.

Hadley’s Store – Ryder-Harwood House // c.1806

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This late-Georgian style residence on Main Street in Marion’s Wharf Village is a stone’s throw from the harbor and has been conveniently located near the town’s Long Wharf since it was constructed around 1806. The building was constructed as a store for A. J. Hadley, where ships were outfitted for voyages. While Hadley’s store occupied the eastern half of the first story, the left side of the ground floor was Marion’s first post office. The second floor served as a clothes-making factory with the top floor operating as a sailmaker’s loft. By 1855, the structure was converted to a residence and owned by Sumner Ryder, who served as the Town Clerk and later joined the ranks of the Union Army during the Civil War. During the early 20th century, the property, with its widow’s walk, was owned by members of the Harwood family, including Ms. Sarah W. Harwood, who lived here with Margaret French (1860-1935) who was listed in the Census for decades as her partner, housemate, and boarder. 

John Pitcher House – Old Parsonage, Marion // 1813

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Known as the “Old Parsonage” this historic house in Marion, Massachusetts, was built in 1813 by Capt. John Pitcher (1788-1867) around the time of his marriage to Catharine Clark. John Pitcher was the brother of Elizabeth Pitcher Taber, a major benefactor of the town of Marion. The residence is unique in that the primary facade is actually facing away from the street, with the prominent three-story facade being the historic rear of the home. The Federal period house sits on a raised stone foundation with a central door and shingle siding above. Behind his home, a large pasture was grazed by sheep and cows until the land was sold off and subdivided for residential development later in the 19th century. When Capt. Pitcher died, he left his house to the Congregational Church, which used it as a parsonage for many years until 1966, when the church sold the property to Lawrence P. and Edith G. Pangaro, who co-founded the Marion Sentinel and the Sippican Publishing Company. The home was recently renovated.

Cobb-Luce House // 1841

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This beautiful side-hall Greek Revival style residence on South Street in Marion, Massachusetts, was built in 1841 as a parsonage for the Marion Congregational Church, built that same year. The first pastor to reside here was Rev. Leander Cobb, who assisted his father, Rev. Oliver Cobb, who had been preaching in Marion since the completion of the first meeting house in 1799. After Leander Cobb’s death in 1873, the church decided to sell this parsonage and it was purchased by Rev. Cobb’s second wife, Selina, who sold it to George Luce (1825-1893) a master mariner. In 1960, the property was sold to local historian and founder of the Sippican Historical Society, Olive Hiller Somers (1890-1967). The residence was renovated and retains much of its original architectural integrity.

Stone Farmhouse // c.1724

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One of the oldest extant homes in Newton, Massachusetts, can be found in the Oak Hill section of town on Dedham Street as a 18th century farmhouse with central chimney. This area was settled by members of the Stone Family as far back as the 1600s. The house is said to date to at least 1788 when it was owned by Ebenezer Stone (1757-1800), but given its form and historic map documentation, it is likely that the home dates to 1724 when the property was owned by Jonathan Stone. The farmhouse remained in the family for generations until it was sold out of Stone family in the 1880s. By 1919, the property was owned by Pietro Volante (1881-1953) a gardener and produce dealer, who built several outbuildings on the property and added porches to the old home. The property was formerly set back farther off the street, but was moved to its current siting and restored in 2017, to allow for a separate dwelling to be built behind. The old Stone Farmhouse was landmarked by the Town of Newton to preserve this important property.

Farmer-Colson House // 1803

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A fine example of a Federal style brick-ender, the Farmer-Colson House in North Billerica is a stately and well-proportioned residence of its type in Massachusetts that has been lovingly preserved inside and out for over 200 years. The house was built in 1803 by Oliver Farmer (1760-1839) on land he acquired from his wife, Hannah’s father. The house was later inherited by Oliver and Hannah’s daughter, Rachel, and her husband Israel Colson. Israel Colson arrived in the mill village in about 1830 from Rhode Island and was a farmer by trade but became engaged in the development of the locks for the Middlesex Canal on the Concord River in the village. Architecturally, the house retains its symmetrical facade with center entrance adorned by a fanlight transom and sidelights, massive end chimneys, and an attached barn/stable.

Faulkner House // c.1825

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Adjacent to the Faulkner Mill, this early 19th century house in North Billerica was built by a member of the Faulkner family, who helped make the village an industrial center in this part of Massachusetts. This house is said to have been built around 1825 and was the residence of James Faulkner (1801-1877), who co-ran the adjacent Faulkner Mill with family, manufacturing cloth goods. A late Federal style house, the Faulkner residence features a five-bay facade with center entrance and corner quoins. After the death of James Faulkner, the property was inherited by his heirs, and in 1927, was given to the children of Billerica by Anne Faulkner, for use as a kindergarten, which remains to this day.

Dr. Bowers House // 1804

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An excellent example of a Federal style country mansion, the Dr. Bowers House sits on the edge of the Town Common in Billerica, Massachusetts, retains its original form and architectural features which set it above many other residences of its period in town. The mansion was built in 1804 for Doctor William Bowers (1744-1820) and is square in plan with five bays on each side and brick end walls. The roof features a large monitor and massive chimneys extending from the rooms below. Formal entrances are located on both street-facing elevations, with the side door likely originally serving as an entrance to the doctor’s home office.