Queen Anne

Edward Johnson House // c.1886

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Central Falls, Rhode Island, is not necessarily known for its residential architecture, but like any good industrial city, there are some excellent examples of Victorian houses from the mid-late 19th century to be discovered! This is the Edward L. Johnson House on Cross Street in Central Falls. The house was built around 1886 for Mr. Johnson, a manufacturer, who resided here for some years with his wife, who founded the Pawtucket Women’s Club in 1899 and was an active member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The house is an excellent example of the Queen Anne architecture style, from the various siding types including clapboard and patterned shingling; its steep cross-gable roof; and its variety of windows, including a shallow bay on the first floor and oval and half-round windows in the 2nd-floor porch. 

Broad Street Fire Station // 1889

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Built in 1889 at the same time as the Central Falls City Hall across Broad Street, this former fire station in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is a great example of late 19th century architecture for a civic use. The fire station was built in the dense Central Falls village, before it separated from Lincoln, creating their own city. The brick, Queen Anne style structure features a unique mansard roof which is broken by a series of pedimented dormers. The original arched doors have since been infilled, but maintain the original openings, awaiting a thoughtful restoration. The fire station was designed by Pawtucket-based architect, Albert Humes. Due to ever-growing fire trucks, the historic station was eventually deemed obsolete, and a new station was built elsewhere. Today, the former Broad Street Fire Station is occupied as the Morabeza Health Center.

Central Falls City Hall // 1888

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Welcome to Central Falls, an industrial city in Providence County, Rhode Island. With an area of only 1.29 square miles it is the smallest and most densely populated city in the smallest state, and the 23rd most densely populated incorporated place in the United States. Originally, Central Falls was one of the many villages within the town of Smithfield, but in 1871, the town split into three smaller towns: Smithfield, North Smithfield and Lincoln. Central Falls village then became part of the town of Lincoln until Central Falls’ industrial character and differing needs had it split off to form the small city of Central Falls in 1895. Before it was its own city, Lincoln officials had this building constructed in 1888-9 on Broad Street, the commercial and civic center of the city. This red brick, Queen Anne building with its four-stage tower was built as Lincoln High School, the first school in the town built exclusively for secondary education. Designed by William R. Walker & Son, architects, the building features shingles in the gable, asymmetrical plan, and carved terracotta panels. The building continued as Central Falls High School until 1927, when the city offices were moved there, and it has remained as the City Hall ever-since.

Parsons-Zielinski House // 1897

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Bounded by three streets and overlooking the town Common, this stately house in Salem, Massachusetts, showcases a blending of Queen Anne and Colonial revival styles. Built in 1897 from plans by Boston architect, Alfred Fernald, the house was constructed by and for its first owner, Joseph Parsons, a Civil War veteran and house builder. The Parsons family continued to live in the house until Joseph’s death in 1915, after which his widow, Minnie, sold the property and moved to Florida. Dr. Ignatius Zielinski purchased the property in the 1920s and divided the house into a physician’s office and several residential units. Tragically, Dr. Zielinski died while serving his country during WWII, and the family would retain the property until 1987. The house is unique for its materiality with the first floor consisting of ashlar, rough-faced stonework with a wood-shingled second story, stained glass windows and a wrap-around porch.

Odell House // 1887

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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.

Roughwood Estate Cow Barn // 1892

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Like the Roughwood Mansion and carriage house, this building was designed and built in Brookline, Massachusetts, in the early 1890s as part of the “Roughwood” estate. Despite its high-style and ornate detailing, the building was actually constructed as a cow barn. Built in two phases for its two owners, William Cox and Ernest Dane, the large barn structure blends Victorian design into a use more reserved for vernacular detailing. The building was designed by Andrews, Jacques and Rantoul, and like the mansion and carriage house, blends Queen Anne and Shingle styles under one roof. Ever-since the estate became a college in the 1960s, the building has been used as a maintenance building. It appears that since it has been owned by Boston College as part of it’s Messina Campus, it is undergoing a thoughtful restoration!

Roughwood Estate Carriage House // 1891

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Built on the expansive grounds of “Roughwood”, a country estate in Brookline, Massachusetts, this former carriage house has seen many iterations in its lifetime. Like the mansion house, the carriage house is a blending of Queen Anne/Shingle styles with fieldstone and shingle construction, designed by the architectural firm of Andrews, Jacques & Rantoul. When the Roughwood Estate was purchased and converted to Pine Manor College, the carriage house was adaptively reused and added onto as the Annenberg Library with a large imaginatively designed wing by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott completed in 1986. The building remains as a library as part of the newly established Messina College, a campus of Boston College, which opened in July 2024 for over 100 first-generation college students. Gotta love adaptive reuse!

Blaisdell-Carter House // 1890

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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.

Griggs House // 1891

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This fancy Queen Anne Victorian residence can be found in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, and is one of the most unique houses in the industrial city. This property was built and occupied by David B. Griggs, a builder in Chicopee under the firm D. B. Griggs & Sons. The firm was very busy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as Chicopee saw rapid industrial prosperity followed by a population boom, growing in population from over 9,000 residents in 1870 to 36,000 in 1920. Builders like David Griggs were able to grow to upper-middle class and buy property on desirable house lots and build large homes for their family, as was the case here. David Griggs died in 1896, five years after his home was built, and the property was inherited by his son, Millard Griggs. While the residence is covered in vinyl siding (original siding and trim is likely underneath the present siding), the house retains much of its original fabric including the brackets, delicate open friezes at the porches, and four-story tower.

Justin and Sarah Spaulding House // 1886

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Justin Spaulding and his wife, Sarah (Cooley) Spaulding erected this house on Springfield Street in Chicopee, Massachusetts, in 1886, and would later be known for their philanthropic gifts to their home city. Justin Spaulding (1838-1906) was a wealthy grocer who amassed a small fortune operating stores in the industrial Lower Pioneer Valley. The Spaulding House is one of the finest Queen Anne style buildings in Chicopee, and is notable for its asymmetrical form, tower, ornate gable detailing, porches with original balustrade, and the chimney with inlaid terracotta tiles. Justin Spaulding died in 1906, and Sarah C. Spaulding (1840-1907) would pass away a year later. They had no children. In her will, Sarah bequeathed funds for the first purpose-built library in Chicopee and money for a memorial chapel in a local cemetery. The Spaulding House was acquired by the Academy of Our Lady of the Elms (now Elms College), moved to its present location in 1920, and was converted to the Office of Admissions for the College. Besides the need for a new coat of paint, the house is lovingly preserved!

Thurston-Gladding House // 1886

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One of the finest Victorian-era houses in the College Hill/East Side area of Providence is this stately residence at 30 Stimson Avenue, known as the Thurston-Gladding House. The house was built for newlyweds, John Russell Gladding and Ellen (Thurston), on land given to the couple by Ellen’s father, attorney and judge, Benjamin Thurston. John Gladding was originally from Connecticut and the couple split their time between their Providence home and a country retreat in Thompson, Connecticut. Architects Thomas J. Gould and Frank W. Angell (Gould & Angell) furnished the plans for the home, which features a ground floor faced with textured brick and walls adorned by continuous wood shingle siding above. A rounded tower, projecting bays and dormers, and a elongated front porch break up the massing into a pleasing composition.

Louis E. Robinson House // 1892

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Built in 1892, at the height of the convergence of tastes of the Queen Anne Victorian and more traditional Colonial Revival architectural styles, the Louis E. Robinson House at 60 Stimson Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, showcases the intricacies and whimsy that can be designed when a house is a blending of styles. The residence was built for Louis Elmer Robinson (not Robertson like so many sources claim), a cotton dealer and merchant, from plans by architect Frank W. Angell of the firm, Gould & Angell of Providence. The Robinson House is a gambrel-roofed mass, set gable end to the street, leaving only the ground story and side elevations in clapboard. The polygonal half-tower attached to the side elevation and its paneled grouping of windows retains the older medieval allusion of the early Queen Anne style, but with a swans neck pediment topping the stair hall window showcased the Colonial influence. I am imagining the home with a more period-appropriate color palette, but it still shines!

Newton D. Arnold House // 1888

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Behold, a Queen Anne Victorian house in all her majesty! This residence, the Newton D. Arnold House, is located at 24 Stimson Avenue in Providence, and is one of the finest examples of its style in the city. Newton Darling Arnold (1843-1916) was employed at the Rumford Chemical Works serving as Treasurer for the company and from this position, accepted additional roles in banking and fraternal organizations, like the Freemasons, where he served a term as Grand Master of the secret society. Newton and his wife, Caroline, purchased a house lot on Stimson Avenue and set out to build one of the finest homes in Providence. To achieve this, they hired local architect, Edward I. Nickerson, to furnish designs. The Arnold House is covered by clapboard and shingle siding beneath a complex, cross-gabled roof of slate, with an ornate gable end and two-story corner tower.

Ellen and Charles Baker House // 1898

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The versatility of the Queen Anne style of architecture is unmatched! This stunning example is located at 67 Stimson Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, and was built in 1898 for Charles H. Baker and his wife, Ellen. Mr. Baker was a superintendent at the Gorham Manufacturing Company, one of the largest manufacturers of sterling and silverplate tableware in America. Sadly, Charles Baker would not get to enjoy the house for long as he died within a year of the house being finished. Ellen and the couple’s daughter, Maude, would reside here for years later. The Providence architectural firm of Gould and Angell designed the house with a large brick Flemish gable breaking the shingled mass of the house in a really abrupt, yet pleasing way.

Goodwin House // 1886

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Queen Anne style buildings are a favorite as they are all so different and interesting to look at with all the ornate details, asymmetrical forms, varied siding, and rooflines. This example on Stimson Avenue in Providence is a great example of the style. The house was built in 1886 for William P. Goodwin (1852-1921), a banker, insurance executive, and author, who never married and lived in the house with his sister, Sarah Jane Goodwin. Keeping it in the family, William hired his brother, architect, John Bray Goodwin, to design his residence, with little expense spared. Interestingly, the house is built right at the street with its front door accessed up a stair and a brick base adjacent to enclose the property from the sidewalk, creating a high garden wall with gate. There is so much to look at here, it is spectacular.