Melrose spotlight: The Greek Revival building style

Continuing our tour of Melrose architectural styles, we visit Cottage Street, the premier place in the city to see the Greek Revival. Cottage Street was Melrose’s first suburban development. The neighborhood was laid out in 1846, just one year after the railroad came to town, and the houses were built according to a standard Greek Revival model.

Take a look at 72 Cottage Street. Unlike the houses we have seen so far, this one is oriented with its gable facing the street, a choice which has major aesthetic and practical advantages. The gable-front orientation recalls the look of a Greek temple, with the part of the decorative pediment played by a fully functional second story living space. Like the Parthenon, you enter this house by passing through a row of fluted columns, which takes you to a full front porch on which you can take shelter from bad weather or loiter on a pleasant day. Above the columns rests a substantial architrave that adds visual interest to the house, and below them sits an exposed foundation that adds height to the structure. The windows are symmetrical and well-proportioned, with the first-floor fenestration nearly floor to ceiling.

The practical advantages of the gable-front orientation can only be fully appreciated in the full context of the rest of the property. These houses are much longer than they are wide and were built right at the edge of their property lines, which allowed the owner to lay out a driveway leading to stables. Much as modern Melrosians may take the subway to work but use a car for other journeys, these Melrosians of the 1840s took the train to work but otherwise relied on a horse and carriage. One advantage of moving to Melrose was that they now had a property large enough to accommodate that private mode of transport. Because access to the stables was of such critical importance, owners of these houses over the past 150 years have continually made additions back from the property line rather than to the side, which has preserved the integrity of the original Greek Revival design.

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