The elegant Victorian house at 14 Liberty Street in Ipswich was built between 1896-98 by George B. Brown, who owned a grain mill on Washington Street. The house features a partial wrap-around porch and original woodwork and stairs inside.
The Queen Anne Free Classic style of the early 20th Century shares some of the characteristics of the more elaborate Queen Anne houses of the late 19th Century, but is a separate class style of architecture, and continued in popularity for a couple of decades later than the more elaborate Queen Anne houses. One of the strongest defining features of Queen Anne Free Classic houses are wrap-around porches with classical rather than turned columns. Another example in Ipswich is the house at 15 Turkey Shore Rd.
Nancy Priest lived here and told us that the house started as a one-family home with a maid’s quarters in the attic. It was converted into a two-family, then restored to a one-family house. She told us there have not been many owners, considering the age of the house.
Sources and further reading:
- George Brown House, c.31 Washington St, 1883 (MACRIS)
- John A. Brown gravestone, Old South Cemetery, Ipswich
- Mary Abby Lord Brown (wife of John A. Brown) gravestone, Old North Burying Ground
- George B. Brown House, 14 Liberty St.
- 1896 Directory of the Town of Ipswich
- The Agawam manual and directory: a directory of the Agawam district: first part, Ipswich, Rowley, and Hamilton, 1888 – Perley, M. V. B
- 1940 Census: George B. Brown at Liberty St.
- Candlewood: John Brown
Historic Ipswich 
