The Elias Boardman House is a historic house at 34 Salem Street in
Wakefield, Massachusetts
Wakefield is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, incorporated in 1812 and located about north-northwest of Downtown Boston. Wakefield's population was 27,090 at the 2020 census. Wakefield offers ...
. Built in 1790, it is one of the city's most elaborate examples of Federal period architecture. It was built by Elias Boardman, and was dubbed Boardman's Folly for its extravagance. 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 1989.
Description and history
The Boardman House stands in a residential area northeast of downtown Wakefield, at the southeast corner of Pleasant and Salem Streets. It is a three-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide and five bays deep, with a hip roof and interior chimneys. The third floor windows, in a typical Federal period twist, are smaller than those on the lower two floors. The building corners have slender pilasters rising to a full entablature and modillioned cornice. It has en elaborate entrance surround, with sidelight windows, pilasters, and a corniced entablature. Above the entrance is a Palladian three-part window that is probably a later addition. The interior follows a central hall plan, and has a particularly fine carved central staircase.
This large Federal style house was built in 1790 by Elias Boardman, a builder who had worked extensively in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. The house's decorations were so extravagant for what was then rural South
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
it was dubbed "Boardman's Folly". The stylistic elements are more typical of those found in the more sophisticated settings of Boston and
Salem
Salem may refer to: Places
Canada
Ontario
* Bruce County
** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie
** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce
* Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...
.
See also
*
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, E., House
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wakefield, Massachusetts
Federal architecture in Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1820