Quincy House Tour

1656mn

1656

1656 Maine is a Gothic revival house built in 1891 with a front gable addition in 1923 by Ernest Wood. The house has some of the most interesting masonry details of any house in Quincy. The primary Queen Anne massing of the house is under a large, steeply pitched hip roof.

Woods' gable front addition uses an extremely steep pitch as well. This front gable is worth investigating in itself for all of the Gothic elements that Wood uses. The gable itself covers the end of the house and has a small parapet rather than a cornice and an overhanging eave. The very top of the gable has a gothic finial seen on top of pointed elements of Gothic Buildings.

The surface of the house is a red brick. When set next to the stone detailing, it emphasizes the great deal of craftsmanship associated with the Gothic. Surrounding the windows of Wood’s gable projection are rucicted quoins. A rusticated stone spandrel panel divides the inset windows. At the end of the Gables are limestone scrolls that end the parapet.

On the older part of the house limestone details are also present and link the old and the new materially. The front porch of the house has been filled in with windowpanes that have leaded glass transoms; a popular element in Gothic revival homes. This house is an interesting stylistic adaptation of an older Queen Anne home.