old houses

Greenough-Dwight House // 1829

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One of six attached houses townhouses between 70-75 Beacon Street, this stately granite-faced residence was built concurrently with its neighbors in 1828 on speculation for the Mount Vernon Proprietors, a group of wealthy Boston businessmen who helped develop Beacon Hill into the posh, architecturally significant neighborhood it is today. The Mount Vernon Proprietors knew how important Beacon Street was as the entry into the neighborhood, and thus, hired Boston’s premier architect, Asher Benjamin, to design the row. When completed, all of the houses were identical, but throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, they all deviated from the original design, some gaining additional floors, others adding bay windows, but all together form a cohesive and architecturally significant span of houses. Completed in 1829, the corner dwelling is known as the Greenough-Dwight House and it retains its original three-story rusticated granite façade with segmental arch openings. The major change to the exterior of the Greenough-Dwight House is the addition of the ornate wood oriel window with iron cresting in 1874, the oriel and facade feature the iconic purple windows, which became a status symbol in the 20th century. The story goes, that between 1818 and 1824, an English company sent shipments of glass that contained too much manganese oxide into Boston Harbor. After being exposed to sunlight for an extended period of time, the manganese oxide in the glass began to turn purple creating the colored panes we love today. Over time, many panes broke or were replaced, creating the checkerboard appearance on so many windows, but many owners in the 20th century had imitation purple glass installed as a marker of wealth and prestige, like in this house and bay, which were built after the period that the glass was brought over from England. My favorite in the row, the Greenough-Dwight House shines with its granite facade and brick end wall, with panes reflecting the sun off her violet glass windowpanes. 

Dodge-Brown House // 1786

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The Dodge-Brown House on Thomas Street in Providence, Rhode Island, was built in 1786 by Seril Dodge (1759-1802), a silversmith and clockmaker. Seril Dodge was a middle-class resident who did well in Providence circles, as an artisan and shop keeper. The house was originally a two-story residence with central entrance that was raised up in the early 20th century to facilitate a new storefront. Seril Dodge and his family only lived here briefly before moving to a brick house next door. Dodge sold the property to Nicholas Brown II (1769-1841) who rented the home to his stepmother, Avis Binney Brown, who became the widow of one of Providence’s richest men, Nicholas Sr. It continued to stay in Brown family hands through the nineteenth century, but only as an investment. The house was raised one story above street level in 1906, when the handsome Colonial revival storefront was installed from plans by the firm of Stone, Carpenter and Willson. The original front door with elaborate pedimented and pilastered enframement is now a door to a small second floor balcony. Since 1919, the Providence Art Club has owned the building, who for years had the ground retail space occupied as an art store, but now contains a club gallery.

Dr. George W. Carr Mansion // 1885

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Perched on College Hill in Providence, Rhode Island, the Dr. George W. Carr Mansion at the corner of Benefit and Waterman streets, stands as one of the most attractive and interesting interpretations of the Queen Anne style in New England. The stately home was built in 1885 for George Wheaton Carr (1834-1907) a medical doctor who served as a surgeon during the Civil War and later as head surgeon for multiple Providence-area hospitals. For his Providence home, Dr. Carr hired architect, Edward I. Nickerson, to furnish plans, which resulted in this mansion with irregular plan, four-story corner corner capped with a conical roof, varied materials in stone, wood shingles, half-timbering, and copper bays. The Carr Mansion was purchased by the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1916, and has served a variety of roles for the school including as student housing and a cafe/lounge.

Barney-Sturtevant House // c.1805

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This large mansion in Swansea, Massachusetts, was constructed in the early 1800s for Mason Barney, a shipyard owner, likely by his own shipwrights. Barneyville, formerly known as “Bungtown” in the early 1770s, was a bustling village in Swansea where young men worked from sunup to sundown sawing, filing, shaping, boring, and fastening planks and timbers together for the Barney Shipyard. The shipyard was founded in the 1770s by Jonathan Barney, a prominent boat builder in New England established the shipyard in the 1770s. The Barney Shipyard saw its greatest success under Barney’s son, Mason, in the early 18th century. When Mason Barney (1782-1868) inherited his father’s shipyard, he also had this house built for his family, just a stone’s throw from the shipyard where he could oversee the many ships built and sailed down the river to Warren, Rhode Island, for fitting. By the early 20th century, the shipyard had already closed and this property was purchased by Lorenzo P. Sturtevant, a jeweler who completely updated the old Barney House in the Colonial Revival style, adding the entry porch and oversized dormers. By the end of the 20th century and early 21st, the house was abandoned and decaying until a few years ago when new owners renovated the old Barney-Sturtevant Mansion back to a livable home.

Jonathan Hill House // c.1720

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This modified First Period house on Main Street in Swansea, Massachusetts, dates to about 1720 and is a New England Colonial in all the best ways. The residence was built for Jonathan Hill (1684-1737) who purchased what was once a seventy-acre farm on the site in 1720 from Ebenezer Eddy, a local blacksmith. Jonathan Hill farmed the land nearby until his death in 1737, and in his will, the property passed to his widow, Elizabeth which was mentioned as “my new house built for the bringing up of my children.” The large colonial home is a center-hall form with a central stair surrounded by four rooms on each floor. Subsequent owners for over 300 years have lovingly maintained and preserved this important early house. 

Hull-Chace House // c.1734

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This unique two-story house on Main Street in Swansea, Massachusetts, is said to date to about 1734 but for the most part, its appearance dates to 100 years later. It is possible this was once a one-story, brick house, but by 1836, the property was owned by Samuel Sherman Hull (1788-1862) and Sarah Waite Hull (1799-1863) who married in 1835. It was during their ownership, that the house was expanded and “modernized” in the Greek Revival style in the 1830s or 1840s, when the wooden upper floor was added with elaborate central entrance with sidelights and pilasters at the corners and entry. The property was farmed by Mr. Hull and by the end of the 19th century, was owned by Mrs. Caroline A. Chace. It is possible that the brick floor operated as a store with a residence above but now is a single-family home.

Birch-Stevens Mansion // 1855

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Built in 1855, the Birch-Stevens Mansion of Swansea, Massachusetts, is a grand Italianate style residence distinguished by its low hipped roof with belvedere, broad overhanging eaves with brackets, paired arched windows, and expansive wrap-around porch, all of a scale not commonly found in such a small community. The residence was built for James Birch and overseen by his new bride, Julia Chace. Before construction on the home, James Birch (1828-1857), not a wealthy man, worked as a stagecoach driver in Providence. His bride-to-be desired a large mansion in her native Swansea, equipped with servants and all the finer things of life. Since this dream was not attainable in his present circumstances, Birch, an enterprising 21 year old, decided to join the Gold Rush in California to make his fortune. In California, James became a stagecoach line entrepreneur and founder of the California Stage Company, the largest stage line in California in the 1850s. James made a fortune and returned to his wife in Swansea bringing money for her to begin constructing their grand mansion. James left again, this time establishing the San Antonio -San Diego Mail Line, the first transcontinental mail route in the United States. In 1857, while heading home, James sailed from San Francisco to Panama, took a train across the Isthmus, and sailed for New York on the steamer SS Central America. During the voyage, his ship was struck by a hurricane and later sunk. Many survivors clung to pieces of the ship’s wreckage for days with many dying to exposure or were swept away to their deaths, like James. He was just 28 years old. Back in Swansea, Julia was heartbroken but remarried her late-husband’s business partner, Frank Shaw Stevens, an equally successful businessman. Julia died in 1871, and Frank married a younger Elizabeth Case. The couple resided in this mansion for decades and donated substantially to their community, including funding the Town Hall, Public Library, Episcopal Church, and local public schools. In her will, Elizabeth Case Stevens bequeathed the large mansion in 1837 to the Frank S. Stevens Home for Boys which began as a boy’s orphanage. The organization remains to this day with an expanded mission, and maintain the sprawling estate and its various outbuildings, including the historic stable and farm structures.

Silas Peavy House // 1905

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Silas Peavy (1858-1939) was born in Waterville, Maine, and with his brothers, Gustavus and Leopold, worked at his father’s clothing and merchandise store. The family moved to the Boston area and established J. Peavy and Brothers, continuing the family business in Boston with locations in New York. In 1904, Silas Peavy purchased a house lot on Kent Street and hired the architectural firm of Hartwell & Richardson to design a house there for his family. Peavy likely moved to this neighborhood as it became a Jewish enclave around the turn of the 20th century. The Silas Peavy House is an excellent example of the Neo-Classical style with symmetrical facade, porte cochere on the side, and monumental elliptical portico supported by two-story Ionic columns.

James W. Clapp House // c.1869

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In 1868, James Wilkinson Clapp (1847-1931) married Eliza Tuckerman and they soon after moved into this large Victorian-era house on St. Paul Street in Brookline. James was the second son of Otis Clapp, a politician, publisher, and promoter of homeopathy. Otis Clapp operated a large homeopathic pharmacy, Otis Clapp & Son, which continued as a business after his death, evolving to encompass different areas of medical technology. It was one of the oldest-operating pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States by the time it was acquired by Medique in 2008. James Clapp was also a medical doctor and at the young age of 22, acquired a house lot here on St. Paul Street and had this large Second Empire style residence built for his family. Dr. James W. Clapp worked as a pharmacist and taught courses at the Boston University School of Medicine. He spent summers at his gentleman’s farm in Bolton, Massachusetts, until his death in 1931. The Clapp House was later used as a doctor’s residence and office and a nursing home, suffering from neglect, but was ultimately restored in the early 21st century.

Stoneholm Manor // 1865

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Stoneholm Manor is a historic estate tucked away in Sharon, Massachusetts, that remains one of the finest examples of a Second Empire style mansion and carriage house built of stone in New England. Stoneholm was built in 1865 for Horace Augustus Lothrop (1828-1898) within a year of his marriage to second wife, Sarah Gorham Swain. Horace A. Lothrop was a manufacturer and businessman with factories in Sharon and nearby towns and he invented innovative tools like hoes and wooden shanks for foot support in shoes and boots. He was also engaged in politics, serving in the state legislature and on the local school board. His country estate in Sharon is unique for its construction of locally quarried rock-face granite walls, fine mansard roof with cupola, and matching L-shaped carriage house, all in great condition. Stoneholm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and remains a private residence.

Hotchkiss-Shoninger House // 1854

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The Hotchkiss-Shoninger House on Chapel Street in New Haven’s Wooster Square district is one of three residences in a row developed and designed by the duo of architect, Henry Austin, and lumber dealer/developer, Nelson Hotchkiss. The finest of the three residences, this house, was built in 1854 and features a double bow-front facade, brick walls covered in stucco, and ornate two-story central porch with brackets and colonettes. Nelson Hotchkiss moved into this home from his first Austin-designed house and resided here for a number of years before moving back to the first home again. The second owner Frederick Betts, was an insurance commissioner, and in the late 19th century and early 20th century, the home was owned by Bernard Shoninger, a German-born, Jewish organ maker.

Max Adler House // 1879

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The Max Adler House on Greene Street in New Haven’s Wooster Square neighborhood is a flamboyant example of Victorian-era residential architecture that is hard to classify as an architectural style. The residence was constructed in 1879 for Max Adler (1841-1916) a German-born Jewish immigrant who grew up in New Haven and became a leader in industry at a young age. Max founded the Strouse & Adler Corset Company, which is said to be the first corset factory in the United States. The company did very well and he was able to erect this residence overlooking Wooster Square park for his family. Architecturally, the house has a mansard style roof, a feature of the Second Empire style; applied stickwork in the wooden bays, porch and dormers, a feature of the Stick style; and embroidered panel brickwork and terra cotta, elements of the emerging Queen Anne style. The Adler House has been lovingly preserved and is one of New Haven’s finest Victorian-era residences.

Follett House // c.1820

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A rare surviving half-cape dwelling, the Follett House on Chestnut Street in Wrentham, Massachusetts, has been lovingly preserved by generations of stewards as a private home. Given its form and vernacular style, the house could date to the mid-18th century, but available early records show it was owned by members of the Follett family in the 19th century. The home was owned by Amorous Follett (1792-1863) and his wife, Huldah Mason Follett who operated a farm on the property and raised their children in the small residence. The property was later inherited by the couple’s son, Alonzo Follett and his wife, Tryphena. The half cape is just three bays wide with a steeply pitched side gable roof, shingled siding, and later wings, expanding the original house.

Samuel Hawes House // c.1742

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The Hawes’ in Wrentham, Massachusetts, were a prominent local family that largely settled in the western part of the town, building large farmhouses with properties bounded by rustic stone walls. This residence on Spring Street dates to the mid-18th century and was likely built for Samuel Hawes (1713-1795) around the time of his marriage to Priscilla Ruggles in 1741. After the death of both Samuel and Priscilla in 1795, the couple’s only son, David, bought out his two sisters value in the property and lived here with his family. The property was passed down through members of the Hawes Family until the 20th century, though later owners have still maintained and preserved this significant home for future generations.

Hawes Homestead // c.1740

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One of the earliest extant homes in western Wrentham, Massachusetts, the old Hawes Homestead on Williams Street stands as an important Georgian style farmhouse in what was once a more pastoral part of the community. The house likely dates to the mid-18th century (or earlier) and was possibly built by Daniel Hawes, who farmed the land here. Due to the varied sizes of the upper windows, the residence was most probably a three-bay house with central chimney, and the right-most bay and modern chimney were added later. The residence was later inherited by his son, and later by other heirs before the property sold out of the Hawes family in the mid-19th century.