The Lydie Blodgett Three-Decker is a historic
triple decker
A three-decker or triple-decker, in the United States, is a three-story ( triplex) apartment building. These buildings are typical of light-framed, wood construction, where each floor usually consists of a single apartment, and frequently, or ...
in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
. Built in 1902, it was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1990
as a good example of a Queen Anne triple decker. Many of its details have been removed or obscured by later exterior siding replacement and porch reconstruction (see photo).
Description and history
The Lydia Blodgett Three-Decker is located on Worcester's Belmont Hill, a residential area east of its downtown, and stands on the east side of Eastern Avenue, between Vinson and Catharine Streets. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, set on a high brick foundation and covered by a gabled roof. When the building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1990, it was called out for its well-preserved Queen Anne styling, including its porch with Tuscan columns, and brackets in the roof corners near projecting bays, but these features have been compromised or lost by subsequent alterations. The left side of the gable roof extends lower than the right side, and there is a half-round louver in the gable end.
The house was built about 1902, when Belmont Hill was undergoing a building boom. The neighborhood was heavily populated with Scandinavian immigrants, mainly from
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. The house's first documented owners were the heirs of Lydia Blodgett, who also owned two other buildings nearby. Early residents included workers at Worcester's manufacturing businesses, as well as a painter and a coachman. August Westbom, a dry goods merchant who was an early resident, eventually bought the building, continuing to occupy it into the 1930s.
[
]
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Apartment buildings in Worcester, Massachusetts
Apartment buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1902
National Register of Historic Places in Worcester, Massachusetts