Category: Colonial Revival

Staples-Hutton House (1805)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Concord, Houses, Queen Anne

The house at 215 Lexington Road in Concord has undergone a great deal of change over the centuries. The origins of the house lie in a two-story building known as the Old Gun House that once stood on Bedford Street near the center of town. It was built c. 1805 to house the two brass cannons of the Concord Artillery, which had been authorized the previous year. Sometime in the 1860s, developer Samuel Staples (1813-1895) moved the building to the current property on Lexington Road. In the 1840s he had served as the town jailer and in 1846 had jailed Henry David Thoreau for a night for nonpayment of his poll tax. Staples remodeled the former armory as his residence and lived in it for about ten years. In 1883, Benjamin H. Hutton, or Huttman (?), of New York purchased the house for himself and his family and soon after acquired the house at 201 Lexington Road, where his brother-in-law would live for some years. Huttman hired architect John Chapman to expand remodel both homes in the Queen Anne style. The family later had financial troubles and the house was sold at auction about 1911-1912. It was bought by Philip Flavin, a dentist who converted the building into a double house.

Thomas Saunders House (1764)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Gloucester, Houses, Libraries

The house at the corner of Middle Street and Dale Avenue in Gloucester was built in 1764 by Thomas Saunders, a merchant, utilizing plans probably brought over from England. The house has been much altered over the years. A later owner, Capt. John Beach, an emigrant from England, added a third story and an octagonal cupola to the house after a neighbor across Middle Street blocked his view of the harbor. The cupola was removed in 1827 due to issues with leaking. Sadly, there are no images of what the cupola looked like. The house’s seventh owner, William A. Pew, moved the structure 13 feet to the west and added an Italianate tower to the front of the house, which he remodeled as a fine Victorian mansion. All but the base of the tower was lost in 1934 when it was altered to become the building’s entry porch. Samuel E. Sawyer bought the house in 1884 in order to donate it to become the home of the Gloucester Lyceum and Sawyer Free Public Library. The Lyceum had been established in 1830 and its library, with support from Sawyer, was first established by 1854 and became a free library by 1871. The library lacked a permanent home until Sawyer donated the Saunders House in 1884. The building would have a new wing added in 1913 and a modern library extension was added to the north of the house in 1975-1976. The Library is also home to a series of WPA murals painted in the 1930s by Frederick L. Stoddard. Continue reading “Thomas Saunders House (1764)”

Mason Library (1913)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Great Barrington, Libraries

Dedicated July 24, 1913, the Mason Library Great Barrington was designed by Blanchard & Barnes of New York. Mary Augusta Mason, widow of Captain Henry Hobart Mason, left $50,000 to build and furnish the library, which replaced am earlier one located in a clapboard house that had previously stood on the site. The building was rededicated in April, 2007 after extensive renovations that doubled its size and made it handicapped accessible. Continue reading “Mason Library (1913)”

Prospect Hill School (1897)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Italianate, Schools, Westfield

The former Prospect Hill School at 33 Montgomery Street in Westfield was erected in 1897 to replace an earlier school building on the site, erected c. 1850s-1860s. The new school building was designed by local architect Augustus W. Holton and originally had eight classrooms and a recessed entry with a portico. In 1919 the building was enlarged and altered, with two more classrooms and an auditorium being added, the new front entry being in a projecting central pavilion. The school closed in 1991. The school building was later redeveloped as apartments.

Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church (1967)

by Dan//Churches, Colonial Revival, Harvard

Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church

The first Congregational meeting house in Harvard was erected in 1733. This was replaced by a newer and larger structure completed in 1774. A steeple was added in 1786 and a bell was acquired in 1806. The congregation split in 1821, with the more conservative Trinitarians leaving to form the Evangelical Congregational Church. The large old meeting house, which had fallen into disrepair, was replaced with a smaller building in 1840. This was destroyed by fire in 1875 and a fourth meeting house, designed in the Queen Anne style, was soon built. This church was also destroyed by a fire, on December 13th, 1964, after a Sunday service. The current Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church, at 9 Ayer Road, was dedicated on June 18th, 1967.

Frank L. Dean House (1901)

by Dan//Colonial Revival, Houses, Worcester

10 Cedar St., Worcester

The house at 10 Cedar Street in Worcester was built c. 1901 and was the home of Frank L. Dean (1865-1934). From 1879 to 1898 he had lived in the family home at 14 Cedar Street. In 1889 he married Mabel Houghton Dean and they had shared that house with his mother and sisters. Dean was a lawyer, clerk of the Superior Court and Republican politician who served as a city councilman from 1901 to 1902. Since 1966 the house has been home to Preservation Worcester.