Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House

Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	140 Highland Ave., Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°23′16.51″N 71°6′9.11″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1885 (1885)
Architectural style	Queen Anne, Shingle Style
MPS	Somerville MPS
NRHP reference No.	89001266
Added to NRHP	March 8, 1990

The Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House is a historic house at 140 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1890, it is one of the city's least-altered examples of Queen/Stick style Victorian architecture. It was for many years home to Robert Luce, a one-term Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.

Description and history

The Barnes House stands in central Somerville, on the south side of Highland Avenue (a major east–west route through the city) between Central Street and Trull Lane. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and clapboarded exterior. The roof faces each have dormers, the one in front extended in width to a triangular shaped, and nearly filled by a half-round window. The main roof eaves are bracketed, and there are Stick-style braces on the square posts supporting the front porch. The porch has a shed roof, and wraps around to the right side to a projecting section.

The house was built sometime between about 1885 and 1895, and is one of a few virtually unchanged Queen Anne/Stick style Victorians in the city. It was built for Walter S. Barnes, who worked in the box-making business in Boston. It was home for many years to the family of Robert Luce (1862–1945), a prominent local politician. Luce, a Republican, served many years in the United States Congress representing Somerville, and served a single term (1912–13) as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerville, Massachusetts
• Walter Barnes (sportswriter) (1860–1940), a son of Walter Barnes and Melissa Barnes