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Styles · 19 buildings with a page · 161 more in the state inventory, not yet researched

Victorian Eclectic

Late-nineteenth-century houses that borrow from several styles at once.

Usual dates
1860–1900
In Newburyport
c. 1860–1895
Built 1830–1860
3
Built 1860–1900
14
Built 1900–1945
2
5 Willow Avenue, Newburyport
An example5 Willow AvenueJames C. Colman Housec. 1872 · Victorian · Photo: Biff Bouse

How to recognize it

  1. 01Details from more than one style on the same building
  2. 02Brackets under the eaves, from Italianate
  3. 03Turned porch posts, spindles and patterned shingles, from Queen Anne
  4. 04Bay windows and window hoods
  5. 05A plain, earlier form, often a side-hall or center-entrance house, underneath
  6. 062-over-2 or 1-over-1 sash

About the style

Victorian Eclectic is the state inventory's name for the many houses of the 1860s to 1890s that belong to no single style: Italianate brackets on a Greek Revival form, a Queen Anne porch on an Italianate house, a Second Empire dormer on a cottage. Builders took what they liked from the pattern books, and the results are a mixture. The label is a description, not a criticism.

Many of these houses are also older buildings that were modernized in the Victorian decades, keeping a Federal or Greek Revival plan under new trim.

Victorian Eclectic in Newburyport

17 Carter Street, Newburyportc. 186017 Carter StreetPeter Boardman HouseVictorian4 Forrester Street, Newburyportc. 18604 Forrester StreetUnknown builderVictorian3 Park Street, Newburyportc. 18603 Park StreetWilliam Lancaster HouseMid-Victorian Eclectic/Italianate39 Broad Street, Newburyportc. 186639 Broad StreetHenry Payne HouseItalianate/Queen Anne22-24 Allen Street, Newburyportc. 187022-24 Allen StreetNewman-Atkinson HouseVictorian30 Ashland Street, Newburyportc. 1870–189030 Ashland StreetVictorian16 Chapel Street, Newburyportc. 187216 Chapel StreetMartha E. Davis HouseVictorian5 Willow Avenue, Newburyportc. 18725 Willow AvenueJames C. Colman HouseVictorian72–80 State Street, Newburyport, in the MACRIS inventory photoc. 187472–80 State StreetNewburyport Five Cent Savings Bank69 Purchase Street, Newburyportc. 187569 Purchase Street200 Merrimac Street, Newburyport1876200 Merrimac StreetCaldwell Distillery WarehouseGreek Revival/Victorian Eclectic305 Merrimac Street, Newburyportc. 1876–1894305 Merrimac StreetEvans-Peavey HouseItalianate/Vernacular Victorian8 Brooks Court, Newburyportc. 18858 Brooks CourtItalianate/Queen Anne65 Federal Street, Newburyportc. 188765 Federal StreetEngine House Number 2Victorian50 Woodland Street, Newburyportc. 1890–191050 Woodland StreetMabel R. Johnson HouseVernacular Victorian Gothic/Queen Anne6 Magnolia Street, Newburyportc. 18976 Magnolia StreetHerbert and Laura Currier HouseVictorian8 Beacon Avenue, Newburyportc. 19008 Beacon AvenueNewburyport Gas & Electric Company HomeVictorian1-3 Bromfield Street, Newburyportc. 19101-3 Bromfield StreetJoseph Liberty HouseVictorian55 Woodland Street, Newburyportc. 191055 Woodland StreetBertha M. Lunt HouseVictorian
Also in the state inventory 161 buildings not yet researched

1–3 Congress Street

11–13 Chapel Street

11–13 Pond Street

114–118 Merrimac Street

14–16 Magnolia Street

158–160 State Street

16–18 Charter Street

16–18 Strong Street

164–166 Merrimac Street

18–20 Barton Street

18–20 Magnolia Street

19–21 Titcomb Street

24–26 Strong Street

25–27 Broad Street

25–27 Bromfield Street

29–31 Purchase Street

32–34 Woodland Street

33–35 Forrester Street

42–44 Water Street

44–46 Federal Street

5–7 Bromfield Street

5–7 Eagle Street

5–7 Milk Street

5–7 Washington Street

50–58 Middle Street

510–512 Merrimac Street

514–516 Merrimac Street

518–520 Merrimac Street

522–524 Merrimac Street

54–56 Prospect Street

55–57 Pleasant Street

60–62 Water Street

64–66 Milk Street

74–76 Prospect Street

78–84 Pleasant Street

84–86 Water Street

93–95 Lime Street

Alter Court

Ashland Court

Ashland Street

Auburn Street

Barton Street

Boardman Street

Bromfield Street

Butler Street

Carter Street

Center Street

Chapel Street

Charter Street

Chestnut Street

Coffin Court

Collins Street

Fair Street

Forrester Street

Franklin Street

Hancock Street

High Street

Howard Street

Jackson Street

Johnson Street

Kent Street

Lime Street

Low Street

Madison Street

Marlboro Street

Merrimac Street

Neptune Street

Oakland Street

Payson Street

Pike Street

Prospect Street

Railroad Street

River Street

Salem Street

Spring Street

Summer Street

Tyng Street

Union Street

Vernon Street

Walnut Street

Warren Street

Water Street

White's Court

Woodland 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.