In September, 1914, local lodge number 1274 of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks purchased the Charles E. Leonard House on High Street for use as a meeting place. The house had been constructed on a large parcel of land by Leonard (1830-1904), a partner in the Middleborough shoe manufacturing firm of Leonard & Barrows in the 1870s. An exuberant mix of Italianate and Flemish Baroque details, the Leonard House for many years was a showplace in town, noted for its porte-cochère, four-story tower with ocular window and large carriage house connected directly with the main house. The grounds of the estate covered four and a half acres and were among the most beautifully landscaped in town.
Following Leonard's death, the house was inherited by his sons, Charles M. and Arthur H. Leonard. Charles M. Leonard later became the sole owner, and it was he who sold the house to the local Elks in 1914.
The Elks maintained the house for many years, and residents still recall the beautiful architecture of the building's exterior and interior spaces. In time, however, the Elks made changes to the structure and by the 1960s much of the architectural detail, costly to maintain, had been pared down or removed altogether including most noticeably the upper two stories of the tower, but the shutters, porch railings and iron finials on the gables, as well.
Additions were also made to the house in order to accommodate the needs of the growing organization, including the construction of a one story shed-roofed addition on the west side of the structure. In 1970 more space was created when the rear wing of the house and the porte-cochère were demolished to make way for the construction of a 90 by 50 foot wood-frame addition containing a banquet hall, Boy Scout meeting room, kitchen and sauna on the ground floor and a lodge hall on the upper floor.
The mansion was destroyed by fire in 1980. In 1982, the present Elks Lodge was constructed upon the site.
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2 comments:
Another home Run!
What a loss, both before and after the fire! A shame that organizations and individual owners sometimes strip old houses of original details. I'm from Newburyport, Mass., a city that prides itself on historic architecture. Nevertheless, a local Greek revival brick house was stripped of it's classical, columned side portico and original wrought iron fence, a Victorian house was stripped of it's beautiful wrap around porch and lawn, to make parking spaces, and an 18th century inn was leveled in the 1950's to make space for a gas station. Just three examples of this kind of dumbness. We don't "own" historic houses. They are in our CARE, as they are part of the history and fabric of our communities and belong in some sense to all of us.
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