Misplaced Pages

Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of MassachusettsShow map of the United States
Location	140 Highland Ave., Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′16.51″N 71°6′9.11″W / 42.3879194°N 71.1025306°W / 42.3879194; -71.1025306
Area	less than one acre
Built	1885 (1885)
Architectural style	Queen Anne, Shingle Style
MPS	Somerville MPS
NRHP reference No.	89001266
Added to NRHP	March 8, 1990

The Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House is a historic house at 140 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1890, it is one of the city's least-altered examples of Queen/Stick style Victorian architecture. It was for many years home to Robert Luce, a one-term Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Description and history

The Barnes House stands in central Somerville, on the south side of Highland Avenue (a major east–west route through the city) between Central Street and Trull Lane. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and clapboarded exterior. The roof faces each have dormers, the one in front extended in width to a triangular shaped, and nearly filled by a half-round window. The main roof eaves are bracketed, and there are Stick-style braces on the square posts supporting the front porch. The porch has a shed roof, and wraps around to the right side to a projecting section.

The house was built sometime between about 1885 and 1895, and is one of a few virtually unchanged Queen Anne/Stick style Victorians in the city. It was built for Walter S. Barnes, who worked in the box-making business in Boston. It was home for many years to the family of Robert Luce (1862–1945), a prominent local politician. Luce, a Republican, served many years in the United States Congress representing Somerville, and served a single term (1912–13) as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerville, Massachusetts
• Walter Barnes (sportswriter) (1860–1940), a son of Walter Barnes and Melissa Barnes

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. "NRHP nomination for Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
3. "Sports Writer for 40 Years". The Boston Globe. February 14, 1940. p. 17. Retrieved March 24, 2023 – via newspapers.com.

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Topics	Contributing property Keeper of the Register Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places National Park Service Property types
Lists by county	Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester (northern)
Lists by city	Barnstable County Barnstable Harwich Bristol County Fall River New Bedford Taunton Essex County Andover Gloucester Ipswich Lawrence Lynn Methuen Salem Hampden County Springfield Middlesex County Arlington Cambridge Concord Framingham Lexington Lowell Marlborough Medford Newton Reading Sherborn Somerville Stoneham Wakefield Waltham Weston Winchester Norfolk County Brookline Milton Quincy Suffolk County Boston northern southern Worcester County Southbridge Uxbridge Worcester eastern northwestern southwestern
Other lists	Bridges Cape Cod National Seashore National Historic Landmarks Boston
Category National Register of Historic Places portal United States portal

• Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Somerville, Massachusetts
• Houses completed in 1885
• Queen Anne architecture in Massachusetts
• Shingle Style architecture in Massachusetts