Quincy House Tour

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238 South Twelfth Street is a unique and very interesting Queen Anne home built in 1889 by architect John Batschy. Batschy, known for his unique Queen Anne designs, placed this red limestone house under a large hip roof with an attached projecting front gable and a hexagonal corner turret.

The roof appears to be the original tin material, a feature very unique because of the house's age.

Below the roof are more unusual details such as a Moorish arch window and a large Romanesque window. In the tower there are large, double hung windows that allow a copious amount of light into the house. This feature was important during the era just before the age of electric light.

The first story porch sits just to the right of the hexagonal turret and displays very ornate wooden spindle work, which resembles abstracted classical forms. The entry from the porch is defined by a pediment which contains more ornate wooden detail work.

In the spandrels between the double hung windows are large terra cotta panels. More masonry detail work can be seen in the sculptured chimneys that rise above the roof line. Overall, this house is a wonderful example of the texture and detail that defined Victorian era architecture.