Swan Larson Three-Decker


The Swan Larson Three-Decker is a historic triple decker house at 12 Summerhill Avenue in Worcester, Massachusetts. The house was built c. 1918 and is a well-preserved local example of Colonial Revival styling. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Description and history

The Swan Larson Three-Decker is located in Worcester's northern Greendale area, on the south side of Summerhill Avenue east of Massachusetts Route 12. It is a three-story wood frame structure, covered by a hip roof and finished in wooden clapboards. Its front facade is asymmetrical, with a stack of porches on the left and a wide polygonal window bay on the right. The porches are supported by clustered columns, and topped by a fully pedimented gable with oriel window. The ground floor porch has been enclosed in glass. On the right side of the building, a square window bay projects, topped by a pedimented gable. The building historically had bands of trim and wooden shingles between the floors; these have been removed.
The house was built about 1918, when the Greendale area was being developed as a streetcar suburb for workers at the city's northern factories. Its first owner, Swan Larson, was a carpenter who lived at 6 Summerhill Avenue, and owned several other triple deckers in the area. Early residents included workers at the Norton Company and a bank teller.