Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood

The Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood is a residential historic district in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It consists of seven three family houses built by the owners of the American Optical Company to provide housing for their workers.[2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1]

Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
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Location	Twinehurst Place, Southbridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°4′42″N 72°1′57″W
Architectural style	Colonial Revival
MPS	Southbridge MRA
NRHP reference No.	89000593 [1]
Added to NRHP	June 22, 1989

Six of the seven houses are on Twinehurst Place, a short loop near the junction of Paige Hill Road and Central Street; one house has an address on Central Street but is physically adjacent to the others. The center of the loop is an open grassy area, giving a clear view of the neighborhood. All of the houses were built between 1915 and 1917, and exhibit Colonial Revival characteristics despite subsequent alteration. The typical house has a three-bay front facade, with the building entrances in the end bays, topped by a gabled pediment above. Two of the buildings have only a single entrance. Most of the buildings have three-part picture windows in the center bay.[2]

The houses appear to be somewhat typical 2.5 story two family houses, with their gables toward the street. However, each has extended dormers sufficient to provide a full apartment on the third floor. Each unit originally had a porch on the south side, but in all cases these have been subsequently enclosed. The houses originally had wood shingle siding, but this has generally been changed: on some of the houses it has been replaced by wider wood siding, and on others by synthetic siding. Despite these changes, Colonial Revival trim details have generally been preserved.[2]