Part 4...The Graham House
Robert Graham began working on the foundation of his home in April of 1872 and it was said the work would be “vigorously pushed forward until the building stands completed.” It took until late August/early September of 1873 for the home to be completed and moved into. One detail of the construction preserved by the newspaper is that Robert’s son Ernest, as just a young boy, laid one of the bricks for the home.
The house was built as a two-family dwelling. Robert and his family were to occupy the west half, and his wife’s parents, Joseph and Julia Post, were to occupy the east half. The east and west halves of the house are a mirror image of each other. Though the word duplex didn’t come into existence until 1922, this was the first duplex in Lowell. Later the building was split into four apartments. The building then became the first apartment building in Lowell.
The house is described as a two-story Italianate structure with fourteen-foot ceilings. Italianate features include its hooded windows, its bracketed roof with wide overhang, and the nearly flat roof. There is a widow’s walk on the roof that is not accessible today. One small touch of flair is the "G" for Graham in the little window in the top front of the building.
The facade has three sections; a flat center section and a wing on either side which curves outward into the front yard. Symmetrically balanced, each curved wing has a front door, chimney, and identical window arrangement. This curving also appears along the sides of the building. Robert Graham was a visionary, a forward thinker within his field. The curves seen in the building were also just coming to be a technique in this time period. As these curves are brick, the expertise of the brick layer is on full display. The center section has a front porch on the first floor and a balcony on the second, each running the width of the section.
The foundation of squared cut fieldstone is about four feet high. Because of flooding, this is somewhat common in houses built in that time period. The house is yellow brick and is one of only a few brick residences in town dating from this time.
While each side was private from the other, and each side had its own basement stairs, the basement itself was shared space. Each side, however, had its own fieldstone cistern measuring 6'x12' in the basement to collect water from the roof. It is estimated that the cisterns could hold from 1300-1500 gallons of water each. There is an iron pipe embedded near the top of each cistern that leads below the ground surface for overflow and to let unwanted vapors out.
On the main level, the Parlors were the rooms nearest the front entrance. There was a parlor stove on the north wall of each parlor and one on the south wall of the center room so that they utilized the same chimney. It is supposed that the center rooms were the dining rooms. Each features an entrance doorway to the outside. The kitchens were in the back of the house near the back doors. There are still covered stovepipe holes in the chimney where the kitchen stoves were. Also, while remodeling on the east side, scorch marks could be seen on the wall from the heat of a cookstove.
It is believed that the bedrooms were on the 2nd floor. The southern room does not have a closet, so may have been a sitting room or bedroom with a wardrobe. The center and north rooms each have a closet. There was a parlor stove in each room as can be seen by the chimney covers. There was also a large grate in the floor over the parlor to allow the heat from the stove on the main floor to rise.
There were two staircases on each side from the main level to the upstairs. The grand staircase in the front door entryway, and one off of the center room, or dining room. This second staircase was very steep and narrow, and the intended use was for the live-in servants.
There was no indoor plumbing when the house was built. There was only an outhouse.
Images:
The decorative "G" glass window.
The front of the Graham House.
The 1931 Centennial parade going past the Graham House.
The house was built as a two-family dwelling. Robert and his family were to occupy the west half, and his wife’s parents, Joseph and Julia Post, were to occupy the east half. The east and west halves of the house are a mirror image of each other. Though the word duplex didn’t come into existence until 1922, this was the first duplex in Lowell. Later the building was split into four apartments. The building then became the first apartment building in Lowell.
The house is described as a two-story Italianate structure with fourteen-foot ceilings. Italianate features include its hooded windows, its bracketed roof with wide overhang, and the nearly flat roof. There is a widow’s walk on the roof that is not accessible today. One small touch of flair is the "G" for Graham in the little window in the top front of the building.
The facade has three sections; a flat center section and a wing on either side which curves outward into the front yard. Symmetrically balanced, each curved wing has a front door, chimney, and identical window arrangement. This curving also appears along the sides of the building. Robert Graham was a visionary, a forward thinker within his field. The curves seen in the building were also just coming to be a technique in this time period. As these curves are brick, the expertise of the brick layer is on full display. The center section has a front porch on the first floor and a balcony on the second, each running the width of the section.
The foundation of squared cut fieldstone is about four feet high. Because of flooding, this is somewhat common in houses built in that time period. The house is yellow brick and is one of only a few brick residences in town dating from this time.
While each side was private from the other, and each side had its own basement stairs, the basement itself was shared space. Each side, however, had its own fieldstone cistern measuring 6'x12' in the basement to collect water from the roof. It is estimated that the cisterns could hold from 1300-1500 gallons of water each. There is an iron pipe embedded near the top of each cistern that leads below the ground surface for overflow and to let unwanted vapors out.
On the main level, the Parlors were the rooms nearest the front entrance. There was a parlor stove on the north wall of each parlor and one on the south wall of the center room so that they utilized the same chimney. It is supposed that the center rooms were the dining rooms. Each features an entrance doorway to the outside. The kitchens were in the back of the house near the back doors. There are still covered stovepipe holes in the chimney where the kitchen stoves were. Also, while remodeling on the east side, scorch marks could be seen on the wall from the heat of a cookstove.
It is believed that the bedrooms were on the 2nd floor. The southern room does not have a closet, so may have been a sitting room or bedroom with a wardrobe. The center and north rooms each have a closet. There was a parlor stove in each room as can be seen by the chimney covers. There was also a large grate in the floor over the parlor to allow the heat from the stove on the main floor to rise.
There were two staircases on each side from the main level to the upstairs. The grand staircase in the front door entryway, and one off of the center room, or dining room. This second staircase was very steep and narrow, and the intended use was for the live-in servants.
There was no indoor plumbing when the house was built. There was only an outhouse.
Images:
The decorative "G" glass window.
The front of the Graham House.
The 1931 Centennial parade going past the Graham House.
