The Gothic Revival D. Wheeler Swift House in Worcester

In the late 19th century, D. Wheeler Swift, a native of Falmouth, Massachusetts, became a prominent business owner. He was an inventor of envelope-making machines and eventually became a director of the United States Envelope Company, which was formed by merging his company with several others.

Swift's home, the D. Wheeler Swift House at 22 Oak Avenue in Worcester, was built in 1879–80 to a design by the noted local architect Stephen C. Earle. The house is a well-preserved example of Gothic Revival and Stick style design. It is a 2+1/2-story wood-frame building featuring a front-facing gable roof, clapboard siding, and a granite foundation.

The structure is located at the southeast corner of Oak and Kendall Streets, where it is surrounded to the north, east, and south by buildings of the UMass Medical Center. A rectangular section with a gable top projects to the left side of the house. The main gable features bargeboard and a decorative apron, while the porch wraps around two sides of the house with a low geometric railing.

Detailed woodwork in the porch bracketing echoes the woodwork in the gables. In an unusual touch, the main entrance is set at an angle at the corner of the building. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons