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Styles · 32 buildings with a page · 9 more in the state inventory, not yet researched

Second Empire

The mansard roof: a full extra story hidden under a steep, dormered slope.

Usual dates
1860–1885
In Newburyport
c. 1861–1880
Built 1775–1830
3
Built 1830–1860
1
Built 1860–1900
28
260 Merrimac Street, Newburyport
An example260 Merrimac StreetTowle Manufacturing Company1866 · Photo: Biff Bouse

How to recognize it

  1. 01A mansard roof, straight, concave or convex, usually with a slate lower slope
  2. 02Dormer windows in the roof, often with arched or pedimented tops
  3. 03Brackets under the cornice at the base of the roof
  4. 04Tall windows with molded hoods, as on Italianate houses
  5. 05Iron cresting along the roof edge on the fullest examples
  6. 06Towers with their own mansard caps on larger houses

About the style

Second Empire is Italianate with a mansard roof, the double-pitched roof named for the Paris of Napoleon III. The steep lower slope, pierced by dormers, made the attic a full story, which is why the style was so popular for adding to older houses as well as for new ones. Below the roof the details are Italianate: brackets, hooded windows, bay windows and paired doors.

Newburyport built Second Empire houses and cottages through the 1860s and 1870s, and several earlier houses gained a mansard in those years.

Second Empire in Newburyport

51 High Street, Newburyportc. 179851 High StreetPhilip Coombs House73 High Street, Newburyportc. 180073 High StreetEbenezer Wheelwright House19-23 Water Street, Newburyportc. 183019-23 Water StreetGunnison Building54 Kent Street, Newburyportc. 186054 Kent StreetWilliam Henry Toppan House93 High Street, Newburyportc. 186193 High StreetLucy Moseley Muzzey House207 High Street, Newburyportc. 1862207 High StreetJohn Gorwaiz House88 High Street, Newburyportc. 186588 High StreetWilliam D. Hervey House183 High Street, Newburyportc. 1865183 High StreetEdward S. Moseley House38 Moseley Avenue, Newburyportc. 186538 Moseley AvenueHenry W. Moulton House59 Washington Street, Newburyportc. 186559 Washington Street260 Merrimac Street, Newburyport1866260 Merrimac StreetTowle Manufacturing Company212 High Street, Newburyportc. 1868212 High StreetNathaniel Horton House13 Broad Street, Newburyportc. 187013 Broad StreetHiram Leach House37 Bromfield Street, Newburyportc. 187037 Bromfield StreetCurrier-Wells-Tingley-Gerrish House40 High Street, Newburyportc. 187040 High StreetHale-Dewint House114 High Street, Newburyportc. 1870114 High Street283 High Street, Newburyportc. 1870283 High StreetAndrew W. Miltimore House29 Madison Street, Newburyportc. 187029 Madison Street298 Merrimac Street, Newburyportc. 1870298 Merrimac StreetDr. James Abbott Merrill House33 Munroe Street, Newburyportc. 187033 Munroe Street8 Kent Street, Newburyportc. 18728 Kent StreetJohn Caldwell House49 Ashland Street, Newburyportc. 187549 Ashland Street32 Dove Street, Newburyportc. 187532 Dove StreetHarold Forsyth Lunt Cottage31 Federal Street, Newburyportc. 187531 Federal StreetHenry W. & Emily E. Crosby House123 State Street, Newburyportc. 1875123 State Street15 Walnut Street, Newburyportc. 187515 Walnut StreetGeorge W. Roaf House420 Merrimac Street, Newburyportc. 1880420 Merrimac StreetHorace A. Hawkes House20 North Atkinson Street, Newburyportc. 188020 North Atkinson Street7 Court Street, Newburyport18827 Court StreetImmaculate Conception Church Rectory257 High Street, Newburyportc. 1882257 High StreetDouglass-Woodwell House101-103 State Street, Newburyportc. 1888101-103 State StreetFred L. Atkinson House14 Toppan's Lane, Newburyportc. 189014 Toppan's Lane
Also in the state inventory 9 buildings not yet researched

81–83 Merrimac Street

98–100 Prospect Street

Boardman Street

Bromfield Street

Buck Street

High Street

State Street

Tremont Street

Washington Street

Styles are as recorded on each building's page; a building whose page names two styles is listed under the one that fits its date, or under Victorian Eclectic when both are Victorian, with its own wording under its address. Buildings not yet researched show the state inventory's dates and styles. Hollow dots are lost buildings. Locations: MassGIS / Massachusetts Historical Commission.