In 1902, Francis Bryden Dana (1865-1917) began construction on his home here in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. Francis was a member of the wealthy Dana Family and as a young man, attended the Boston Latin School and Harvard College. He became the president of the Dana Hardware Company of Boston. For his Brookline residence, Dana hired the exclusive architect, William Gibbons Rantoul to design the house which blends Arts and Crafts and Colonial Revival styles. The use of stucco siding, shed dormers, and portico with low sloped roof revealing exposed rafters falls squarely within the Arts and Crafts style; while the symmetrical facade, gambrel roof, and projecting octagonal bays are reminiscent of the more traditional New England Colonial Revival style.
The area was developed thanks to Amos A. Lawrence (1814-1886), a wealthy second-generation Bostonian, who provided much of the capital and enthusiasm for the growth of the cotton industry in New England prior to the Civil War. Lawrence’s involvement in the industry aided the development of the Massachusetts mill towns of Lowell and Lawrence, whom the city was named after. In 1851, Amos Lawrence purchased 200 acres of land from David Sears, who himself developed the equally beautiful Longwood neighborhood of Brookline on the other side of Beacon Street. Amos began to subdivide the land, working with the architect George Minot Dexter and landscape architect and surveyor, Alexander Wadsworth, who designed Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, to create an early picturesque residential suburb. With houses designed in the newly popular Gothic Revival and Mansard styles and several small parks, the area became known as Cottage Farm. This house was built for Amos Lawrence as an early, brick Mansard home, and rented out to Frederick Almy, a wealthy Boston attorney. The property was sold out of the Lawrence Family and later purchased by John Gorham Palfrey (1875-1945) a lawyer, who modified the house by removing the mansard roof and replacing it with a full third story with a brick veneer to match the walls below to give it a more Colonial Revival design.
Built c.1805 for Elisha Payne, this architecturally distinguished Federal style mansion in Canturbury, Connecticut is one of the most significant buildings in the state, not only for its architecture but historical significance. In 1831, a young white woman, Prudence Crandall, was asked to open a boarding school for girls in Canterbury. She purchased this mansion and began operations for the school, which was attended by many wealthy girls in town. In 1832, Ms. Crandall was approached by a young Black girl who worked as a servant in town, named Sarah Harris, asking to attend the school. Encouraged by conversations with both Harris and Maria Davis, a Black woman who worked for Crandall and shared copies of the abolitionist newspaperThe Liberatorwith her, Crandall agreed to admit Harris. Almost immediately, residents protested the school’s admission of a Black girl and parents threatened to withdraw their students, Crandall undeterred, closed her school and reopened in 1833, solely for Black and Brown students. Young girls traveled from several states to attend the school. The legislature of Connecticut responded by passing the “Black Law,” which prevented out-of-state Black and Brown people from attending school in Connecticut towns without local town approval. Crandall was arrested, spent one night in jail, and faced three court trials before the case was dismissed. In September 1834, a nighttime mob of men attacked the house, smashing the windows, leading Crandall to close the school out of fear for her students as no protections were afforded to them. These events made national and international news in the 1830s and galvanized the burgeoning abolitionist movement. Crandall would later marry and left Connecticut, never to return. For her vision and brave actions at this school, Prudence Crandall is Connecticut’s official state heroine and the house was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1991.
Located in northern Canterbury, Connecticut, this rural farmhouse was built following the American Revolution, showcasing the emergence of the Federal style from the Colonial Georgian type farmhouses before. The house dates to 1783 and was built by Captain Asa Bacon (1735-1819), a wealthy farmer and captain in the Revolutionary War. The home was also occupied by his son, Asa Bacon Jr. (1771-1857) a Yale educated lawyer who practiced law in town before moving to Litchfield. Asa Jr. was a turnpike promoter, advocating for turnpikes through the formerly sleepy agricultural town, opening it up to trade and commerce. The early Federal-period home features a five-bay facade and central entry with triangular pediment and fluted pilasters. The house appears much like it would have when originally built besides the Victorian-era two-over-two window sashes installed in the late 19th century. The farm even retains a few 19th century barns, likely built when the windows were replaced by later owners.
The Edward Waldo House in Scotland, Connecticut, is a vernacular Georgian house with saltbox roof and wings which from its erection about 1715 until 1971 was owned by members of the Waldo family. Edward Waldo (1684-1767) purchased land here along the Shetucket River in 1702 and by 1715, erected this house. The saltbox house which Edward Waldo built was one of the first houses in the town of Scotland and would remain in successive generations of the family for centuries. The house was the birthplace of Samuel Lovett Waldo (1783-1861), a portraitist who was a founder of the National Academy of Design as well as Daniel Waldo, chaplain of Congress, 1856-1858, and was one of seven Revolutionary War veterans who, having survived into the age of photography, were featured in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution. The last Waldo owner, Miss Ruth Waldo died in1975. She insured the preservation of her family homestead by bequeathing the house, its contents, and about 15 acres of land to the Antiquarian & Landmarks Society of Connecticut Inc. and the surrounding acreage to the Connecticut Forest and Park Association, creating an enduring legacy for centuries to come. The house, set amongst a quiet country road, is evocative of early days in Scotland, Connecticut, and is one of the finest-preserved Colonial homes in this part of the state.
Behold, one of the finest, and well-preserved Greek Revival style homes in Salem. This is the Payson-Fettyplace House on Winter Street, built in 1845 with its gable facing the street to create a pediment, a wide entablature and cornice, and pilasters on the flushboard façade, which together make the building read more like a Greek temple than a residential home. The residence was built for Edward H. Payson, a bank officer, and his wife, Amelia, who lived in the home for only two years before moving into a larger residence across the street just two years after this house was completed. The property was sold to a Carleton Dole of Maine and again sold in 1850 to Thomas J. Fettyplace. The Fettyplace family were based out of Marblehead and many of them relocated to Mobile, Alabama, to make money in the cotton and shipping industry in the South. Thomas purchased this home in Salem for his mother who spent her final years here until 1861. After the Civil War, the Fettyplace brothers would move back north and this home remained in the family until 1912. The house is now a bed & breakfast known as the Amelia Payson House, named after the original owner.
Built in 1887 for Charles Odell and his wife, Alice, this Queen Anne house on Winter Street in Salem, Massachusetts, stands out as a high-style example of Victorian architecture on the street notable for early-mid 19th century architecture. The house lot was purchased by the Jewett Family who lived in the brick house next door and long used the lot as a garden. Charles and Alice Odell married in 1888, so this Victorian home was built for the newlywed couple to raise their family. Charles A. Odell (1863-1931) worked at his father’s insurance and real estate business, later assuming ownership of business upon death of his father and was a district agent for New England Mutual Life Insurance Company. Sheathed in a combination of wood clapboards and shingles in a variety of patterns, the house has a steeply hipped, slate roof punctuated by cross gables and hipped dormers. The predominant window sash style consists of a distinctive sash in which the upper displays a triangle with central muntin over a conventional two-light lower sash. The property has been lovingly preserved for well over a century and is a landmark example of a Queen Anne style house in Salem.
Built in 1811 for Joseph Story, lawyer, politician, and judge of the United States Supreme Court, this stately brick residence on Winter Street in Salem, Massachusetts, is significant, not only for its architecture, but for its esteemed owners. Judge Joseph Story (1779-1845), who was then Speaker of the House of Massachusetts in 1810, purchased this house lot near the Salem Common, and proceeded to have this three-story brick house constructed. By the time it was finished, Story had been appointed by President Madison to the bench of the United States Supreme Court. He was just 32-years-old when nominated to the bench. The house is also the birthplace in 1819 of Story’s son William Wetmore Story, a well-known sculptor. Judge Story would reside here until 1829, when he moved to Cambridge in order to pursue his work at the new Harvard Law School. The property was sold in 1831 to Robert Upton (1788-1863), a self-made merchant heavily engaged with trade in South America. Robert Upton and his sons were among the most important men in Salem in the 1830s-1850s, for they were able to maintain a successful foreign commerce, and keep ships and men employed, at a time when Salem was otherwise fading as a seaport. The house has been lovingly maintained by centuries of stewards, and the house was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1973.
The Blaisdell-Carter House is a great example of a Queen Anne style home in Chicopee, Massachusetts. The house was built in 1890 for Harriet P. Blaisdell following the death of her husband, Samuel Blaisdell, a cotton broker, in 1888. Mrs. Blaisdell hired David B. Griggs, a builder in Chicopee under the firm D. B. Griggs & Sons, to design and build the residence, which sat across the street from Griggs’ own home. Harriet would pass away just three years after her home was built, and the property would eventually be sold to Nathan P. Ames Carter (1864-1959). The residence sits on a large lot and exhibits varied siding, asymmetrical plan with porches, additions, and steep gable roofs, and the use of irregular windows of varied sizing and locations. While the second floor porch has been enclosed, the house retains much of its original fabric and has not been covered by vinyl or aluminum siding, a rarity in Chicopee.
While most houses I have featured in Cornwall date to the early-mid 19th century, there are some great examples of early 20th century Colonial Revival dwellings, built at the time the town became eyed as a wealthy retreat for city-folk. This Colonial Revival residence was built for Ms. Harriet Bennett (1841-1928), an ardent suffragist and an active member of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association. Harriet was married to William C. Bennett and after his death in 1898, she devoted the rest of her life to charitable causes and giving back to others. As a widow and in her seventies, Harriet oversaw construction of this house, which was completed by 1912, in that same year, established the Cornwall Equal Suffrage League, hosting many of its events and meetings from this house. The League’s activities mirrored the efforts of suffragists throughout the nation. The house remains a well-preserved example of a house in the Colonial Revival style in town.
Buildings of New England 