The William Dean Howells House is a historic house at 36 Pepperrell Road in Kittery Point, Maine. Built c. 1870, this house was for many years the summer residence of writer and editor

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

, best known as editor of ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' magazine. The house 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 1979 (where the listing misspells the name "Howels").

Description and history

The Howells House is located on the south side of Pepperrell Road (

Maine State Route 103 State Route 103 (SR 103) is a long state highway in extreme southern Maine. The route is signed east–west, but forms a half-loop, with most of its western segment running strongly southeast slightly inland of the Piscataqua River and ...

), occupying a parcel of land that stretches down to the banks of the Piscataqua River, between the village of Kittery Point and

Fort McClary Fort McClary is a former defensive fortification of the United States military located along the southern coast at Kittery Point, Maine at the mouth of the Piscataqua River. It was used throughout the 19th century to protect approaches to the harb ...

State Park. It is a 1½-story wood-frame structure, with a mansard roof, clapboard siding, and a fieldstone foundation. The main facade faces south toward the river and is three bays wide, with projecting bays on either side of a picture window. The right bay houses an entrance, while the left bay has a three-part window with a larger central arched portion. The mansard roof is pierced by shed-roof dormers. The main house is joined to a former carriage barn via an enclosed passage; the barn has been styled similarly. The house was built about 1870 by Joseph D. Branum, a businessman from

Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield is a city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, and the seat of Hampden County. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ...

. The house was for about 20 years the summer residence of the noted literary figure

(1837-1920). Howells achieved critical acclaim as editor of the ''

'' in the 1870s, and was also a writer of note. He was in his later years a major contributor to ''

Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associati ...

'', and served as an advisor to

Harper and Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Howels, William Dean, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Second Empire architecture in Maine Houses completed in 1870 Houses in Kittery, Maine National Register of Historic Places in York County, Maine

Description and history

See also

References