Queen Anne House

Hiram Ricker House // 1893

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The Hiram Ricker House sits in the Poland Springs Historic District of Poland, Maine, and was built as the personal residence of its namesake, who developed this formerly sleepy town into a destination in the 19th and 20th centuries. Hiram Ricker (1809-1893), the son of Wentworth Ricker and Mary Pottle, helped turn his father’s country inn in Poland into a popular late 19th century resort, bringing in droves of tourists to take in fresh air and the healing natural spring water. He and his wife, Janette (Bolster) Ricker had six children, all but one of which helped run the resort. This Queen Anne style residence was designed by Lewiston architect, George M. Coombs, and is set back down a long drive overlooking the resort grounds. Sadly, Hiram Ricker died the same year his residence was built, but the home was occupied by the Ricker Family for years after, notably by Hiram’s son, Hiram Weston Ricker. It is covered in later siding, but the trim details are preserved and typical of high-end Victorian homes of this period in Maine.

Oakwold Cottage // 1883

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Oakwold, a stunning Queen Anne residence on Old Beach Road in Newport, Rhode Island was supposedly built on speculation and purchased by Augustus Jay (1850-1919). Mr. Jay was born in Washington, D. C., the son of Peter Augustus Jay and Josephine Pearson Jay. Augustus Jay graduated from Harvard College in 1871 and from the Columbia Law School in 1876, and worked as a diplomat. His wife was Emily Astor Kane (1854–1932), a daughter of DeLancey Kane and Louisa Dorothea (née Langdon) Kane. Emily was a descendant of John Jacob Astor. The “cottage” was named Oakwold, and was designed by architect Clarence Sumner Luce, who designed many summer residences in Newport, and specialized in the Queen Anne style. Particularly noteworthy in the design of Oakwold are the brick first floor with entrance within a recessed arched opening and pebble-dashed and half-timbered gable ends.

Dr. Thomas J. Shanahan House // 1892

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Dr. Thomas Joseph Shanahan (1873-1929) was born in Lawrence and graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1896. He practiced medicine in Brookline and Boston and was engaged in local organizations. He purchased this 1892 house on Aspinwall Avenue in Brookline in 1911, which had previously been rented to families. Two generations of Shanahans would own the house until the 1970s. After Dr. Shanahan’s death in 1929, the widowed Margaret Shanahan remained in this house with their daughter, Mary Margaret Shanahan, who was employed in 1940 as a medical secretary for a hospital. Mrs. Shanahan transferred title to the property in 1947 to her daughter, who converted the house to a two-family dwelling in 1953 for supplemental income. Architecturally, the house is Queen Anne and Shingle styles with continuous shingle siding, complex form with bays and oriels, and a unique arched opening in the gable over the entrance filled with a spindle screen. Architects were William Langley Morrison and Peter J. McEwen.

William Dexter House // 1899

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One of the best examples of the eclectic architecture designed at the of the 19th century in Norwood, Massachusetts, can be found on Beacon Street in the William Dexter House. Built in 1899 for William W. Dexter (1827-1911), who in 1852, married Harriet Blake, later settling in Massachusetts. Tragedy struck the family in 1871, when on the same day, his wife and daughter died; two days later, his sister-in-law, and six days after that, his other daughter Carrie died, all of bacterial infections. All that remained of the family was William and his only surviving daughter, Nellie. William remarried and built a blended family until his death in 1911. This house was built by Dexter, who worked as a contractor and painter, and George F. Bagley, a local builder. The complex form, rooflines, varied siding types, corner tower, and intact historic windows all add to its beauty. If only it had a historically appropriate color scheme to compliment it!

Henry S. Chase House // c.1882

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One of the many “hidden” gems of old houses in Brookline is this charmer on Francis Street, just west of the Longwood district. The residence was built by 1882, by Henry Savage Chase (1825-1885) who lived in a larger stone mansion across St. Paul Street (no longer extant). This house was rented out by Chase, possibly to friends and remained in the family for decades. This early Queen Anne style dwelling (and likely the main house) was designed by architect Edgar Allen Poe Newcomb, a relatively unknown architect of the period. The house has an irregular plan with varied siding and materials, with applied ornament that has survived intact for nearly 150 years.

C. D. Hammer House // 1893

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This lovely Queen Anne style residence near the Longwood section of Brookline was built in 1893 for C. D. Hammer, the General Agent for the Provident Life and Trust Company of Philadelphia. The stately suburban dwelling was designed by architect Julius A. Schweinfurth, a noted architect who designed many buildings in the region. While some of the stickwork and applied ornament has been covered by vinyl siding, much of the original detailing and some windows remain. The dropped pendants in the gables with flared bargeboard and highly ornamental corbels are a great touch and remain to this day. I bet all of the original details are still under that vinyl, just waiting to be shown again!

William Potter Rental House // 1889

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William W. Potter, a shoe manufacturer and businessman, and his wife, Isabella Abbe Strickland Potter, lived in the Longwood section of Brookline and became active in the surround areas development in the last decades of the 19th century. William bought land off Kent Street and began to lay out house lots, becoming a developer overseeing construction of stately Queen Anne Victorian rental properties marketed to upper-middle-class residents. For this house on Francis Street, he commissioned architects George Rand and Bertram Taylor, who were known for producing stylish residential designs for the middle class in the Boston area. The massive property was a duplex, providing units to two lucky families! The building has just about every hallmark feature of the Queen Anne style including: the conical roof on a rounded corner bay, a complex roofline, asymmetrical plan, varied siding/materials, and applied ornamentation. In the 1920s, the house was owned by Simmons College, and used as a boarding house. Luckily, the property was restored and now is one of the finest residences in the neighborhood.

Orlando & Ellen Alford House // 1883

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Orlando Hiram Alford (1840-1908) was an industrious and hardworking Vermonter who settled in the Boston area to make his wealth. He was a member of Bliss, Fabyan & Co., a large drygoods dealer, and would also become a director of the First National Bank, the City Trust Company, and the Franklin Savings Bank. In manufacturing, he serves the role of director of the Bates Manufacturing Company, the Merrimac River Towing Company, the Columbian Manufacturing Company, the Cordis Mills, and the Thorndike Company (among others). From his many positions and roles, he and his wife Ellen, were able to afford a house lot on Kent Street in the neighborhood between Longwood and Brookline Village. The Alford House, a stunning example of the Queen Anne style remained in family until after Ellen’s death in 1929, when it was purchased by the Boston Hospital for Women as a nurse’s residence. It was later used as apartments and was clad with vinyl siding, obscuring much of the original wood trim detailing. In the 2000s, later owners sought to demolish this house, which served as a rallying cry for neighborhood residents who understood the importance of the house and its context with surrounding lots. After the demolition delay process lapsed, they petitioned for a local district designation, effectively preserving the house for more generations to come! The Lawrence Local Historic District has since provided protection for houses in the area, but does not require a homeowner maintains or keeps up a property in a certain condition. Hopefully the Alford House will be restored soon!

Webber Duplex // c.1890

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In the late 19th century, the Longwood section of Brookline, saw a second surge of development when larger pieces of land were sold by heirs of the original developers. On the lot across from the Longwood Towers and near the Longwood rail station, Maine-born lumber dealer, John Prescott Webber, built this two-family residence and rented it out for supplemental income. Webber lived in a large home on Beacon Street while renting this and other properties in town to middle-class commuters to Boston. The Queen Anne style residence exhibits a unique rusticated stone first floor with wide arched entry with Richardsonian Romanesque carved detailing.

“Park Gate” Cottage // 1879

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“Park Gate” Cottage sits on Bellevue Avenue near Touro Park in Newport, Rhode Island and is one of many summer “cottages” for wealthy summer residents. The home replaced the Atlantic House, a large summer hotel formerly on the site. The wood-frame dwelling was designed by Newport architect George Champlin Mason for Seth Bunker Stitt of Philadelphia and constructed in 1879. Mason’s design for “Park Gate” includes many features typical of the Queen Anne style including the asymmetrical facades, wrap-around front porch, tower, and even the small details like dentils, spindle work and balustrades. The house was later purchased by Newport Lodge #104 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks in 1920, who own the building to this day.