I suppose someday that McMansions will be analyzed and discussed by architectural historians – in serious academic tones, not the side-splitting sarcasm of sites like McMansion Hell. Until that day (I will hopefully just be pottering around my gardens in my dotage when that time arrives), the late 19th century homes of the well-to-do and connected serve as my sugary dose of fun architecture. The circa 1898 Shaw House in the Wallace Woods Historic District is a fine example.
The Shaw House is a giddy combination of the Queen Anne and Shingle styles.
The farm owned by the Wallace family, located north of Covington, was subdivided in the early 1890s, and lots went up for sale in 1895.* The electric streetcar had routes on either end of the new Wallace Subdivision, and it quickly became the place for movers and shakers to live.
Circa 1983 image of the Shaw House. Photograph from the NRHP files.
William McDowell Shaw, a lawyer turned judge and Republican politician, wasted no time in securing a lot on Wallace Avenue. His new house was not an exercise in subtle and sedate architecture.
The 2.5 story brick and frame dwelling has flared cross gables that seem to heave dramatic sighs as they swoop from the roof toward the ground, and bay windows of various shapes and sizes break up the vast spaces of the walls. Trim work (cornice returns of a type) act as exclamation points (or highly groomed eyebrows for the windows).
The facade of the house.
The first floor is sheltered underneath the bulk of the upper stories, with a pergola extending out over the entry door. The pergola is a later addition, but a historic one by this point. A gorgeous bay window with leaded lights is located beside the front door.
The bay window on the facade. Photo from Zillow Real Estate listing.
The house is currently on the market, which means I got to satisfy my curiosity about the integrity of the interior – and you can too at this link!
Aerial image of the house via Zillow.
The Wallace Woods Area Residential Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places – and it’s a lovely neighborhood to explore (and at which to gawk).
A detail of the exuberant gables.
Wallace Woods was a suburban neighborhood, and although most houses had modern amenities including sewer, running water, and gas and electric – they didn’t have to pay what many people considered the high tax rates of Covington. But that would not last, and Wallace Woods was annexed by the city of Covington in 1907.
Interior staircase. Image from Zillow.
The social cachet of Wallace Woods persisted until World War I – and then many wealthy residents were tempted away by new suburban developments – most of which were free of the odious city taxes. Although I don’t know when revitalization of the neighborhood began – likely in the 1980s – it is an inviting and delightful area today, and full of architectural treats that tell the story of residential development from the end of the 19th century into the early twentieth.
*Robert Wallace actually tried subdividing his farm earlier – around 1850 – but an economic depression foiled his plans.
I would say a difference between “Victorian” architecture and current McMansions is the lack of fun. Modern McMansions are very serious while Victorian houses were meant to delight the eye. The British often filled their aesthetically pleasing houses with Aesthetic Movement furniture. There is nothing aesthetic about McMansions.
Plus, McMansions are constructed so shoddily that you will likely outlast most of them. You can potter about your garden like Sun Tzu, knowing your McMansion enemies have long floated down the river.