RESTORING the grandeur

A PEDESTRIAN RENOVATION IN THE 1990S OBSCURED THE ESSENTIAL NATURE OF THIS 1912 COLONIAL REVIVAL HOUSE. USING AN APPROPRIATE CLASSICAL VOCABULARY, ARCHITECT FRANK SHIRLEY MADE IT STATELY AND LIVABLE.

- BY REGINACOLE PHOTOGRAPHS BY RANDY O'ROURKE

"In this part of the world, it's rare to see a Colonial Revival house sheathed in stucco," says architect Frank Shirley. “But Allen W. Jackson, the architect who designed it in 1912, was fond of European design. I think the stucco exterior was, for him, reminiscent of houses of the English Arts & Crafts period." The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based architect has worked on two- or three-hundred houses since founding his firm 25 years ago. (In 2025, Shirley was named to the American Institute of Architects' prestigious College of Fellows.) This house was built in a familiar American style, “but it was particularly interesting,” he says.

When new owners of the house contacted him, in 2020, the house presented both outdated function and awkward new changes. Sleeping porches upstairs and down had been enclosed; the entry hall and stair had been cheapened by remodeling; a back stair leading from kitchen to third floor took up valuable space and impeded the flow.