George G. Dexter, artist and photographer, built this classic Queen Anne house on property formerly owned by Henry L. Ordway. The house is an exuberant example of this style, and many typical Queen Anne features have been incorporated into the design. These include various shingle types, asymmetrical massing, an offset bay with a pyramidal cap and finial, and a Palladian window. The outbuilding in the rear is said to have been used by Dexter as a photography studio.
George Dexter did much to preserve the history of Ipswich, recording and interpreting the town through photography until 1920. His photos are featured on this site. After his death in 1927, his daughter quitclaimed her share of the house to her mother, Mabelle Ordway Dexter, who married Dexter two years after her first husband, Wilbur Howard Willcomb, died in 1889. The house was for many years the home of Roland H. Willcomb, the son of George Dexter’s wife, Mabelle Ordway Willcomb Dexter, by her first marriage.
References:
- 1910 Ipswich map
- Salem Deeds 1772, 187: mortgage, Dexter to George Ordway, 1906
- Findagrave: George and Mabelle Dexter
- Genealogy of the Willcomb Family
Historic Ipswich 