George B. and Ruth D. Wells House

Last updated
George B. and Ruth D. Wells House
SouthbridgeMA WellsHouse.jpg
mid-1980s photo
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationDurfee Rd., Southbridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°3′43″N72°3′1″W / 42.06194°N 72.05028°W / 42.06194; -72.05028 Coordinates: 42°3′43″N72°3′1″W / 42.06194°N 72.05028°W / 42.06194; -72.05028
Built1932 (1932)
ArchitectWood, Paul A.
Architectural styleInternational Style
MPS Southbridge MRA
NRHP reference No. 89000548 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 22, 1989

The George B. and Ruth D. Wells House is a historic house on Durfee Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1932 to a design by Boston architect Paul Wood, it is one of the first International Style houses to be built in the northeastern United States. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1] It is not generally accessible to the public, but is vacant and was listed for sale in 2014.

Contents

Description and history

The Wells House stands on about 10 acres (4.0 ha) of wooded land on the north side of Eastford Road in southern Southbridge, separated from the road by a portion of the Cohasse Country Club's golf course. The house is a large single-story structure with about 9,000 square feet of living space, organized as a series of block-like shapes. It has steel framing, and its walls are clad in either beige brick, or floor-to-ceiling glass windows set in black metal frames. The brick, originally painted white to set it off from the window frames, has returned to its natural color over time. The interior of the house is organized to take advantage of daylight, with living spaces generally facing east, south, and west, with the northern part of the structure taken up by passageways and utilitarian parts of the house. [2]

George Wells was a scion of the Wells family, which owned the locally prominent American Optical Company, and the grandson of architect Daniel Burnham. Wells and his wife Ruth, having seen International Style houses on travels to Europe, decided to build a house in that style, but had difficulty finding an architect in Boston or New York City who worked in the style. He eventually commissioned Boston architect Paul Wood to do the design, and the house was built in 1932. The house, built in a rural section of Southbridge near his cousin John's French chateau-style house, was a marked contrast. The house, one of the first International houses to be built in the eastern United States, was written up in 1933 in House Beautiful . [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Jehiel Cochran House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Jehiel Cochran House is a historic house at 65 Burnham Road in Andover, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Massachusetts cultural inventory records at 63 Burnham Road, but by the Andover Historical Society at 65 Burnham Road. The house, built in the 1830s, is locally distinctive for its use of brick, and for its association with the Jehiel Cochran, the brickyard owner who built it. It was listed on the National Register in 1982.

St. Georges Greek Orthodox Church (Southbridge, Massachusetts) Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

St. George's Greek Orthodox Church is a historic Greek Orthodox Church building at 55 North Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1932, it is the oldest Orthodox church in the city, and is a locally rare example of Byzantine and Greek architecture. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Simon Plimpton Farmhouse Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Simon Plimpton Farmhouse is a historic farm in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It was probably built about 1789 by Simon Plimpton and his brother Baxter on family-owned land. Baxter Plimpton eventually deeded his share over to Simon; the house has been in the hands of Plimpton descendants since. The house is a 2+12-story wood-frame house, five bays wide, with a center chimney. Although the house is nominally Federal in its styling, there are Greek Revival details that may have been added later. The full-width front porch is a late 19th-century addition.

Globe Village Fire House United States historic place

The Globe Village Fire House is a historic former fire house on West Street at Main Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It is the first of two fire stations built by the city in the 1890s; the other, the Elm Street Fire House, is still in use as a fire station. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. At the time of its listing it had been repurposed for use by a veterans group.

Elm Street Fire House United States historic place

The Elm Street Fire House is a historic fire house at 24 Elm Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in 1899, it was Southbridge's second fire house to be built in the 1890s, and serves as the fire department headquarters. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Ashland Mill Tenement United States historic place

The Ashland Mill Tenement is a historic tenement at 141-145 Ashland Avenue in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built about 1835, this unassuming rowhouse is one of the oldest documented factory-related buildings in the city. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Central Mills Historic District United States historic place

The Central Mills Historic District encompasses a historic mill complex on the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts. Located at the corner of Foster and North Streets, the site consists of three brick buildings, the oldest of which has portions dating to 1837. Despite being extensively rebuilt in the early 20th century, the complex has an appearance that is more typical of 19th century mills.

Centre Village Historic District United States historic place

The Centre Village Historic District encompasses the historic central business district of Southbridge, Massachusetts. The district includes properties on Main Street, roughly between Elm and Goddard Streets. The central area represents a fairly well preserved Late Victorian commercial center. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

E. B. Cummings House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The E. B. Cummings House is a historic house at 52 Marcy Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in the 1870s, it is an unusually late example of Greek Revival architecture with Italianate embellishments and later Victorian additions. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1989.

Dennison School House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

Dennison School House is a historic school building at Dennison Lane in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built about 1849, it is the city's only surviving rural district schoolhouse built in brick. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Dunbar-Vinton House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Dunbar-Vinton House is a historic house at Hook and Hamilton Streets in Southbridge, Massachusetts, USA. Probably built in the early 19th century, it is locally unusual for its brick construction at that time, and may have been built as a district schoolhouse. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Hamilton Millwright–Agents House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Hamilton Millwright–Agent's House is a historic house at 757–761 Main Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built about 1840, it is a rare surviving house from the Hamilton Woolen Company's early period of worker house construction. It is also rare as a brick house of the period; they were not commonly built in Southbridge at the time. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District United States historic place

The Hamilton Woolen Company Historic District encompasses the well preserved "Big Mill" complex of the Hamilton Woolen Company, built in the mid 19th century. Located at the confluence of McKinstry Brook and the Quinebaug River in central Southbridge, Massachusetts, the complex consists of a cluster of mill buildings and a rare collection of 1830s brick mill worker housing units located nearby. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

George H. Hartwell House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The George H. Hartwell House is a historic house at 105 Hamilton Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It is a rare example of a modest vernacular Italianate house in Southbridge, and one of the only ones built of brick. It was built in the 1850s, not long after that stretch of Hamilton Street was laid out, for Dr. George Hartwell, nephew of Dr. Samuel Hartwell. The Hartwells controlled the Hartwell Block on Main Street, and George Hartwell ran a pharmacy, which continued in business into the 1970s. While the house has significant Italianate features such as bracketed eaves and paired windows, it lacks the flat roof line that is characteristic of other local Italianate houses, and is less massive than the more imposing James Gleason House and Chamberlain-Bordeau House.

House at 18 Walnut Street Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The House at 18 Walnut Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts is one of two modest yet remarkably high Shingle Style houses on Walnut Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It was built c. 1898 by George Wells, president of the locally important American Optical Company, apparently to provide worker housing for company employees. Of the two houses Wells had built, this one is the best preserved. It has a slate gambrel roof with projecting sections.

House at 64 Main Street Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The house at 64 Main Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts is a vernacular Queen Anne Victorian house built around the turn of the 20th century. It was built for George Wells, president of the American Optical Company, as a property to rent to factory workers. Its styling includes a wraparound porch, and diamond-pattern shingles in the gable end, as well as patternwork in the slate roof. However, it also has some Colonial Revival details, including the window treatments and the front door surround.

Judson–Litchfield House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Judson–Litchfield House is a historic house at 313 South Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built sometime in the 1830s, it is a well-preserved local example of brick Greek Revival architecture, of which there are few surviving examples in the city. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

George Sumner House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The George Sumner House is a historic house at 32 Paige Hill Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The 2+12-story late Federal wood-frame house was built sometime before 1830, probably for Major George Sumner. Sumner was a leader in the early development of the textile industry in Southbridge, being the first in the area to offer as a service the complete cycle of woolen textile processing, although some work was still initially done in homes, not in a factory setting. The house is notable for the fanlight window on the gable end, which is a late 19th-century addition.

Vinton-Torrey House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Vinton-Torrey House is a historic house at 5 Torrey Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It was built in 1841 by J. Eliot Vinton, whose ancestor John acquired the land in 1738. The 2+12-story brick house may incorporate elements of an earlier house. The house expresses some Greek Revival characteristics in brick, notably pilasters on the corners. The doors and windows feature granite lintels, and the slightly larger front overhang is a typical local feature. In the late 19th century the property belonged to E. M. Torrey.

John M. Wells House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The John M. Wells House is a historic house at 491 Eastford Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts, United States. The Wells family were the founders of the American Optical Company, a leading business in Southbridge. The house John M. Wells had built in 1927 was reminiscent of a French chateau, and was the first to be built in the Cohasse Farms section of Southbridge. The only previous development in the rural area had been the development of the Cohasse Country Club in 1919. Wells' cousin George would build a more modern house nearby in 1932.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 "MACRIS inventory record for George B. and Ruth D. Wells House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-29.