Vernonia

by | Mar 29, 2018 | Vernonia

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The Martin L. Kelsey House is a historic house at 43 Elmwood Avenue in Burlington, Vermont. Built in 1879 for a local merchant, it is a distinctive and architecturally varied house, with elements of the Second Empire, Queen Anne, and Stick styles on display. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983,[1] and now forms part of a senior housing complex.

Description and history

The Martin L. Kelsey House stands just north of downtown Burlington, on the west side of Elmwood between Pearl and Grant Streets in a mixed residential-commercial area. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a mansard roof on the main block providing a full third floor. Ells of decreasing size and height extend to the rear of the house, which is set on a small parcel now surrounded by parking lots. The exterior has a large number of decorative elements borrowing from a variety of architectural styles. The mansard roof has a flared lower section, and is crowned by a band of wooden squares with recessed panels. Its dormers have steeply pitched gabled roofs, with elaborate Stick style decoration, and whose windows are framed by Italianate moulding. A large gabled section projects on the left side also with Stick decoration and a finial at the top of the ridge. The main facade is three bays wide, with bands of paneled woodwork below the groundfloor windows and between the first and second-floor windows. An entrance is in the right bay, with an Italianate porch featuring a valance of square panels similar to those that crown the roof. A second porch with similar styling extends along the left side to the projecting section.[2]

The house was built in 1879, in what was at the time a fashionable residential area north of Burlington's main commercial business district. Martin L. Kelsey, for whom it was built, owned a shoe and boot store on Church Street just two blocks away. His neighbors were similar well-to-do merchants and professionals. As the business district expanded, the neighborhood declined. The house was converted into apartments, and many of its neighbors were demolished in the 1960s.[2] It has since been made part of McKenzie House, a senior housing complex.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b Emily Wadhams (1982). "NRHP nomination for Martin L. Kelsey House". National Park Service. Retrieved 2016-10-29. with photos from 1982
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