Andover Street Historic District

Andover Street in Lowell's Belvidere section is lined on both sides with large houses over a stretch of about 1.1 miles. The district covers roughly 70.6 acres and holds 165 resources, of which 139 contribute to its character. The earliest surviving house, a Federal farmhouse, dates from 1802, when the area was woodlot and farmland. Development then came in three phases. Italianate and Queen Anne homes were built from the 1860s to the 1890s. Large Colonial Revival houses followed around the turn of the century. Smaller Colonial Revival and Bungalow-influenced houses went up in the 1920s and 1930s. Landscape features include tree-lined edges, manicured lawns, iron fences and stone walls. Lowell architect Frederick W. Stickney and Chelmsford architect Edwin R. Clark designed a few of the houses, while local contractors built most of the rest, often from pattern books. The loss of two grand estates and some newer infill detract somewhat, but the street keeps the look of a broad avenue of stately homes.