The Sykes House is a historic house located at 521 West Main Street in
North Adams, Massachusetts
North Adams is a city in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its population was 12,961 as of the 2020 census. Best known as the ...
. It was built in 1890, and is a prominent local example of
Queen Anne architecture
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the ...
. 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 1985.
Description and history
The Sykes House is located in
Braytonville In 1831 the land, owned by Luke Brown, had been purchased for $520 by William E. and Thomas A. Brayton. In 1832 a stone mill 40 x 74 feet, three stories high, with an attic was constructed allowing for larger print cloths, 52 by 52 feet to be manuf ...
, one mile west of downtown North Adams, on the north side of West Main Street (
Massachusetts Route 2
Route 2 is a major east–west state highway in Massachusetts. Along with Route 9 and U.S. Route 20 to the south, these highways are the main alternatives to the Massachusetts Turnpike/ I-90 toll highway. Route 2 runs the entire ...
) opposite Marion Avenue. It is a -story wood-frame structure, with a complex roof line and mostly clapboarded exterior. A polygonal bay projects to the front and right side, with the main entrance to its left. The entrance is sheltered by a porch with turned posts, a spindled valance, and a decorative panel in the gable. The chimney has a decorative brick corbelling at the top. Windows on the second floor have decorative carving in the lintels above them. A single-story ell extends to the left, and a two-story ell extends to the rear.
[
The house was built by the Porter & Hannum company, a leading homebuilder in North Adams, for Thomas Sykes, a supervisor at the North Adams Manufacturing Company. Sykes, a native of ]Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
, spent 25 years with the company, in addition to working at other mills in the region. The house is not as elaborate or lavish as many Queen Anne designs, and its design may have originated in a mail-order catalog. The only major modification to the building was the addition in 1920 of a two-story porch structure on the rear right side. The house has seen a variety of uses, including as a rooming house a combination art studio and residence.
See also
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References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Houses in North Adams, Massachusetts
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Berkshire County, Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1890
Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts