Victorian Building

South Lancaster Engine House // 1888

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The South Lancaster Engine House is located in the village of South Lancaster, Massachusetts, and is one of the town’s three remaining historic fire stations and the oldest that remains in use by the local fire department. At the Town Meeting of June 18, 1887, it was decided that $3, 500 would be expended to build a station for the Fire Department in South Lancaster. Construction began in 1887, and was completed in March of 1888 from plans by architect, C.A. Woodruff. The station housed horse-drawn wagons, including one sleigh, and featured a bell in the belfry to call attention to the public. The station appears much like it did when built in 1888, besides the bright white paint color and the modification of the engine doors for the new, larger fire trucks. 

Founder’s Hall // 1884

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Completed in 1884, Founder’s Hall is the oldest building on the campus of Atlantic Union College, a now defunct college in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The handsome Queen Anne style building was constructed for the school, originally known as South Lancaster Academy by Stephen N. Haskell, an elder of the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church. The building was designed by Worcester-based architects Barker & Nourse, and is the oldest educational SDA facility standing. The institution changed names, first to Lancaster Junior College, and then to Atlantic Union College, before the institution closed in 2018. The building and nearby campus buildings were sold in 2021, but the future is uncertain at this time.

Whiting Library // 1891

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The Whiting Library in Chester, Vermont, was designed by architect George H. Guernsey, and is said to be the only building in the village designed by a regionally significant architect. For the design, Guernsey created an eclectic library blending Romanesque and Queen Anne influences that strikingly enhance the library’s relatively modest physical stature. The building was named to honor Chester physician, Laurin G. Whiting and his wife, Abigail, who donated funds for the land and building. The polychromatic brick and granite building features unique gables, corner tower, and arched openings, which were carried over to a lesser scale into an addition a few decades ago.

John D. Runkle House // 1875

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The John Runkle House on High Street, is one of the most interesting houses in Brookline. Built in 1875 for educator John Daniel Runkle (1822-1902), the brick residence excellently blends early Queen Anne form and flourish with Victorian Gothic design elements all with Stick style entry porches and dormers. John D. Runkle was a noted mathematician who later became the second President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1868 until 1878. This occurred before MIT moved over the Charles to Cambridge, so President Runkle would not have traveled far to the Institute when located in the Back Bay. The Runkle House was designed by the architectural firm of Weston & Rand with an irregular plan of elaborate belt courses in the brickwork that is set against the extremely steep slate roof with tall prominent chimneys and corner turret. Sadly, the residence is largely obscured by a tall wooden fence, but I caught it on a good day that a panel was down.

Hope Block // 1869

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The Hope Block on North Main Street in Providence’s East Side neighborhood is an architecturally significant commercial block in the Second Empire style. The masonry building was constructed in 1869 and is probably designed by architect, Clifton A. Hall, who designed similar buildings in the city around that time. The block was developed by Edward M. Young and Ezra P. Lyon of the firm, Young & Lyon to house their fruit and grocery store, which they operated here from 1870 until 1889. By the latter half of the 20th century, the building was owned by the Rhode Island School of Design, and rehabilitated for classrooms in 1984, even retaining the cast iron storefronts, unique arched windows, and slate mansard roof. Today, the Hope Block houses the RISD Store.

Horatio Adams Stable // c.1880

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This oversized stable and carriage house is located at 3 Maple Street in Kingston, Massachusetts and it dates to about 1880. The stable was built for Horatio Adams (1845-1911), a wealthy resident who operated a successful slaughterhouse and stockyards nearby along with maintaining stores adjacent to the nearby the train tracks. After Horatio Adams died, the stable was eventually purchased by Edgar W. Loring and converted to a cranberry screen & warehouse for his cranberry farm. The significant Queen Anne/Stick style building suffered from deferred maintenance by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, but was purchased in recent years and undergoing a restoration of the exterior. Does anyone know what its use is today?

Dorchester Temple Baptist Church // 1889

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Located at the corner of Washington Street and Welles Avenue, the Dorchester Temple Baptist Church was designed in 1889 by architect Arthur H. Vinal, as one of the best examples of a church designed in the Shingle Style in New England. The church began in 1886 as a mission church of the Tremont Temple Baptist Church in Boston. At this time, Dorchester was a semi-rural area and would surge in development when the streetcars were electrified in the 1880s. With a rapidly developing neighborhood, the congregation here, purchased lots and hired Vinal to furnish plans for a house of worship. The church’s cornerstone was laid October 3, 1889, with the church membership numbering ninety-nine at that time. Membership would decline in the decades following WWII, and shifting racial and ethnic demographics in the neighborhood brought new members to worship here. The building was renamed as the Global Ministries Christian Church by the current congregation, who with the assistance of preservation grants, worked with Mills Whitaker architects to restore the iconic landmark. Specific details of the building stand out, including the stained glass windows, the belfry with bulbous form, and the arched openings with continuous shingled walls.

John A. Turner Cottage // c.1875 

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One of the most charming houses in Westborough, Massachusetts, can be found on Central Street, in the commercial village of town. The house was built around 1875 as a Mansard cottage, a style that was beginning to wane out of style by this point. The cottage was built for John Addison Turner (1833-1900) and his wife, Mary Ann Fiske. John worked as a superintendent at the National Straw Works factory, a local manufacturer of straw hats and other goods. The Turner House remains one of the best-preserved Victorian-era homes in Westborough and is even painted to highlight the many intricate details. 

Richmond Block // 1892

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The Richmond Block on Bow Street in Union Square, Somerville, is a historic and architecturally significant mixed use building. Constructed in 1892 as one of the substantial wood-frame buildings in the western section of Union Square, the Richmond was designed by architect Aaron Gould for Mr. Charles Drouet, who developed the Drouet Block, a historic flatiron building just years later. Designed in the Queen Anne style, this building is noteworthy for its corner tower, octagonal oriel bay windows, sleeping porches on the side facade, and polychromatic color scheme to highlight the many architectural details on the block.

Zenas Lane House // c.1860

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The Zenas Lane House on Union Street in Rockland, Massachusetts, was built circa 1860 for its namesake, a shoe manufacturer who later engaged in real estate and local politics. Zenas Meriet Lane married Emeline Morse and had this handsome Italianate style residence built on the town’s main street. The two-story house is capped with a shallow hip roof with eyebrow window heads breaking the eaves. At the rear of the site, there is a preserved carriage house which echoes design details from the main structure.