Built 1912 Architectural style Flemish/Eclectic NRHP Reference # 80000580 Added to NRHP 5 March 1980 | Architect Little & Brown MPS Worcester MRA Opened 1912 | |
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Similar Wachusett Reservoir, DCU Center, Green Hill Park, Salisbury Mansion and Store, Elm Park | ||
The Francis Dewey House is an historic house at 71 Elm Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1912, it is locally distinctive for its architecturally eclectic design by the Boston firm Little & Brown. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. Its owner, Francis Dewey, was a prominent lawyer and businessman.
Description and history
The Dewey House is located in a residential area west of downtown Worcester, at the northwest corner of Elm and West Streets. It is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, with its exterior clad in stucco. It is architecturally distinctive, with curving Flemish wall gables rising to urned tops at various points on each facade. The front, facing south, is basically symmetrical, with five sections, the central one projecting slightly. It and the outer sections are topped by the Flemish gables, and all four sections other than the center have two-story polygonal projections. The center section has the main entrance, sheltered by a porch of cast stone with Tuscan columns, entablature, and upper balustrade.
The house was built in 1912 to one of three designs submitted to Francis Dewey. They all had a similar footprint, suggesting the structure may incorporate elements of an older (c. 1860) house that had been standing on the property. The winning design was by Little & Brown; the losing designs were in Colonial Revival and English Revival (Tudor) styles. Francis Dewey was the fourth generation of his family in the legal profession, serving as a judge and railroad company executive.