Wilbur House
725 Vernon St
1825
Architectural Style
Federal
Significance
Agriculture, Architecture
Use Type
Agricultural, Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
This is a pre-1830 Cape that was "updated" at some point in the mid-19th c. by a 2-story center gable addition. The main entrance is surmounted by a bracketed and pedimented door hood. Windows are fully in framed and cornice-headed. The center gable exhibits dentils and paired bracket at the laver. On the side of this "center pavillion" are small square windows with multi-pane Queen Anne treatments. In the center of the roof is a brick chimney.
Historical Significance
This house is an interesting, relatively stylish example ofa Cape Cod, center plan cottage "updated" via an Italianate/Queen Anne "center pavilion." Since at least the early 19th c. (if not earlier as Wilburs lived on Spruce St. as early as 1793). This property has been associated with Bridgewater's Wilbur family. The early 1800s until the 1870's, George S. Wilbur, farmer owned this house. In 1879, the house was owned by the Wilbur estate—this cottage's "Victorianization" apparently occurred during the early 1880s. By the early 1900's, Elias S. Wilbur, farmer, lived here. Today this house stands surrounded by contemporary suburhan homes, dramatically underlining the effects of modern development in the vicinity of older properties.