The House at 88 Prospect 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 ...
is one of three houses in the family compound of
Elizabeth Boit. Built in 1913, the compound of which this house is a part is the only estate of one of Wakefield's major industrial figures to survive. 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 1989.
Description and history
Elizabeth Boit, co-founder of the Harvard Knitting Mills, was one of the first highly placed female executive in the male-dominated management ranks of textile firms of the turn of the 20th century, and is believed to be the only woman in a top executive position in the United States textile industry in 1923. She pioneered improvements in worker conditions, offering health care to factory workers, and providing bonuses based on company profits. The compound she built at Chestnut and Prospect Streets, on the summit of Cowdry's Hill, is the only surviving estate of Wakefield's leading business executives.
Boit's three houses were all designed by local architect Harland Perkins, and were set in an estate compound on the summit of Cowdry's Hill that included three residences, formal gardens, a playhouse, and greenhouse. All three residences, 88 and
90 Prospect Street, and
127 Chestnut Street (1910–1913), were designed in the
English Cottage
A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...
style. The stucco structures have red tile roofs, recessed entries, exposed purlins, and irregular fenestration. This house is stories in height, with its entry facing west, set under a cross-gable roof section with a clipped gable. There are recessed porches on either side, supported by heavy columns.
See also
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National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:House At 88 Prospect Street
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Wakefield, Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1913
1913 establishments in Massachusetts