George B. and Ruth D. Wells House

George B. and Ruth D. Wells House
Location Durfee Rd., Southbridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°3′43″N 72°3′1″W / 42.06194°N 72.05028°WCoordinates: 42°3′43″N 72°3′1″W / 42.06194°N 72.05028°W
Built 1932
Architect Wood,Paul A.
Architectural style International Style
Governing body Private
MPS Southbridge MRA
NRHP Reference #

89000548

[1]
Added to NRHP June 22, 1989

The George B. and Ruth D. Wells House is a historic house on Durfee Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts. George Wells was a scion of the Wells family, which owned the locally prominent American Optical Company, and the grandson of architect Daniel Burnham. Wells and his wife, having seen International Style houses on travels to Europe, decided to build a house in that style, eventually commission Boston architect Paul Wood to do the design. The house, built in a rural section of Southbridge near his brother John's French chateau-style house, was a marked contrast. The house consists of a series of brick and steel block-like shapes, with all of the major living areas facing east, south, and west. Steel framing allowed for the use of wraparound windows to maximize light. The house exterior was painted white, in keeping with the International Style. The house, one of the first International houses to be built in the eastern United States, was written up in 1933 in House Beautiful.[2]

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15.
  2. ↑ "MACRIS inventory record for George B. and Ruth D. Wells House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-29.

External links