Jonathan Bowers House

The Jonathan Bowers House is an historic house in Lowell, Massachusetts. Built in 1872 for a local businessman, it is one of the most unusual houses in Massachusetts, being a circular masonry building with Second Empire styling. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

Jonathan Bowers House
Location58 Wannalancit St.,
Lowell, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°38′46″N 71°19′42″W
Built1872 (1872)
Architectural styleSecond Empire
Part ofWannalancit Street Historic District (ID98000541)
NRHP reference No.76000253[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 18, 1976
Designated CPMay 20, 1998

Description and history

The Jonathan Bowers House stands on the east side of Wannalancit Street, a residential street just east of the Pawtucket Canal west of downtown Lowell. It is set at the top of a low rise traversed by the north-south road. It is 2-1/2 stories in height, and is built out of locally quarried granite. It is circular in shape, and is topped by a mansard roof with fish-scale slate shingles. At the center of the roof is a circular cupola with belvedere. The roof is pierced by pedimented gable dormers in a classic Second Empire style, and by a circular chimney.[2]

The house was built on land long owned by the Bowers family, but was subdivided for development around 1850.[3] It was built in 1872 by Jonathan Bowers, a local industrialist who owned a sawmill and a granite quarry, as well as an amusement park in nearby Tyngsborough. The materials to build the house (its exterior stonework and interior woodwork) came from Bowers' businesses. Bowers occupied the house until 1879, after which it was owned by a dealer in plumbing and metals. From 1919 to 1924 it was owned by a French-American social club, the Club Lafayette. Returned to private ownership, it has since served mainly as a residence, also housing a small law office for a time. It is one of Lowell's most unusual architectural landmarks.[2]

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. "MACRIS inventory record for Jonathan Bowers House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-03-31.
  3. "NRHP nomination and MACRIS inventory record for Wannalancit Street Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
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