Quincy House Tour

1631mn

1631

1631 Maine Street is an example of the types of houses that were being built to rival the shingle and Queen Anne homes of the 1870’s and 80’s. Built of rough cut stone in 1882, this house takes its stylistic interpretation from the architecture of well-known Boston architect H.H. Richardson. Richardson’s architecture was a variation on the Romanesque, a European style used mostly in Churches between the seventh and tenth centuries. Richardson used this style to develop his own which included the use of very rough cut stone, the half round or Roman arch and the use of varying color gained from natural materials rather than paint. This house is important because it was a further interpretation of what Richardson was doing at the time, which would have been published in architecture journals.

The house is a large monolithic block of solid stone with a somewhat steep sloping hip roof. The roof end at the crest, is topped by finials, architectural elements, is associated with the Middle Ages. Within the roof is a large segmental arch dormer that uses multicolored stones as vousoirs. Richardson used many color stones to add color and texture to his building in an attempt to show the viewer that natural materials are colorful on their own and the excessive painting seen in the Queen Anne is unnecessary. On the second story corner of the front facade is a stone detail of a column. Elements such as these are often part of Ricardsonian Romanesque homes because they emphasize the structural importance of the true classical column rather than mere ornamentation, something seen regularly on the Queen Anne and Italianate. A third interesting stone detail is the ornate chimney cap, which is detailed, in a plant-like ornamental pattern.

On the front of the house was an unfortunate addition of a prairie style front porch, which really detracts from the great deal of character that the original house has. Houses such as these were the forerunners to the prairie and craftsman style and were another interpretation of the picturesque design methods seen in many of the homes of the late nineteenth century.