William Dean Howells House

Architect: Elinor Mead Howells
Style: Second Empire
City: Boston, MA

The William Dean Howells House at 37 Concord Avenue in Cambridge was designed by Elinor Mead Howells for her husband, the author William Dean Howells, who purchased the land in 1872 for 33 cents per square foot. The family moved in on July 7, 1873, calling it "the prettiest house in Cambridge," and lived there until 1878.

the building

A literary gathering place. During the Howells family's five years here, visitors included Mark Twain, Henry James, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and President James Garfield; Helen Keller later lived in the house while attending school.

the style

The house was built in the Second Empire style in 1873.

the architect

Elinor Mead Howells, the wife of author William Dean Howells, designed the house for the family in 1873.

significance

The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

nearby

Grace Hopkinson Eliot Hall 0.1 mi · Colonial Revival · 1907
Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson House 0.2 mi · Queen Anne · 1880
Asa Gray House 0.2 mi · Federal · 1810
Edwin Abbot House 0.2 mi · Richardsonian Romanesque · 1889
Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site 0.2 mi · Georgian · 1759
Oliver Hastings House 0.2 mi · Greek Revival · 1844

All 282 buildings in Boston