Wells House (North Adams, Massachusetts)

Wells House
(2010)
Location 568 West Main St., North Adams, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°41′54″N 73°8′5″W / 42.69833°N 73.13472°W / 42.69833; -73.13472Coordinates: 42°41′54″N 73°8′5″W / 42.69833°N 73.13472°W / 42.69833; -73.13472
Area less than one acre
Built c. 1840 (1840)
Architect unknown
Architectural style Greek Revival
MPS North Adams MRA
NRHP reference # 85003393[1]
Added to NRHP October 25, 1985

The Wells House is a historic house located at 568 West Main Street in North Adams, Massachusetts. Built about 1840, it is a locally rare surviving example of a Greek Revival farmhouse. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.[1]

Description and history

The Wells House is located west of downtown North Adams, at the southwest corner of West Main Street (Massachusetts Route 2) and Notch Road. It is a 2-1/2 story wood frame structure, with a gabled roof, interior brick chimneys, and a clapboarded exterior. Its bays on three sides are articulated by two-story Doric pilasters, which rise to an entablature below the cornice. The gable ends on the sides are fully pedimented. The main facade is five bays wide, with the center entrance set in a recess with flanking sidelight windows and pilasters, and a transom window above.[2]

The house was built in about 1840, and is one of the city's oldest Greek Revival buildings.[2] It was built for Orson Wells, who first settled in North Adams in the 1810s and established an acid production facility nearby.[3] The Wellses were also involved in textile production that developed in the nearby Braytonville area.[2] They also owned much land in the area, even as it industrialized; around the turn of the 20th century the family still owned 160 acres (65 ha) of farmland. This land was eventually developed, but the Wells house remained in the family until 1968.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 3 "NRHP nomination for Wells House". National Archive. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  3. ↑ "History of North Adams, Mass., 1749-1885 Reminiscences of early settlers: extracts from old town records; its public institutions, industries and prominent citizens, together with a roster of commissioned officers in the War of the Rebellion". Hoosac Valley News Printing house. 1885. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  4. ↑ "MACRIS inventory record for Wells House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-06.


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