Built 1872 (1872) Architectural style Second Empire Opened 1872 | Architect Unknown NRHP Reference # 76000253 Added to NRHP 18 June 1976 | |
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Location 58 Wannalancit St., Lowell, Massachusetts Part of Wannalancit Street Historic District (#98000541) Similar DeCordova Museum and Scul, Lowell Cemetery, Lowell Memorial Auditorium, Middlesex Canal, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox | ||
The Jonathan Bowers House is a historic house at 58 Wannalancit Street in Lowell, Massachusetts. Built in 1872 for a local businessman, it is one of the most unusual houses in Massachusetts, being a circular masonry building with Second Empire styling. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Description and history
The Jonathan Bowers House stands on the east side of Wannalancit Street, a residential street just east of the Pawtucket Canal west of downtown Lowell. It is set at the top of a low rise traversed by the north-south road. It is 2-1/2 stories in height, and is built out of locally quarried granite. It is circularl in shape, and is topped by a mansard roof with fish-scale slate shingles. At the center of the roof is a circular cupola with belvedere. The roof is pierced by pedimented gable dormers in a classic Second Empire style, and by a circular chimney.
The house was built on land long owned by the Bowers family, but was subdivided for development around 1850. It was built in 1872 by Jonathan Bowers, a local industrialist who owned a sawmill and a granite quarry, as well as an amusement park in nearby Tyngsborough. The materials to build the house (its exterior stonework and interior woodwork) came from Bowers' businesses. Bowers occupied the house until 1879, after which it was owned by a dealer in plumbing and metals. From 1919 to 1924 it was owned by a French-American social club, the Club Lafayette. Returned to private ownership, it has since served mainly as a residence, also housing a small law office for a time. It is one of Lowell's most unusual architectural landmarks.