Knollwood

Knollwood is a former country estate on Salisbury Street in Worcester, now a district of about 15 acres. It was carved from the 122-acre estate of industrialist Lyman Gordon, a founder of Wyman & Gordon Co. The main house, built in 1914 by the Boston firm Little & Brown, is a stucco-covered, hip-roofed mansion modeled on French manor houses and approached by an allee of trees. Its ornamental iron canopy came from the W. A. Snow Iron Works and appeared in a 1915 trade catalogue. Around it survive a smaller second house, three employee cottages, two former stable and service buildings, garden walls, gate posts and tree-lined drives, all from the same design. Gordon died as the house neared completion. Later owners included Lucius Knowles of Crompton & Knowles Loom Works and art collector Theodore Ellis. Much of the land was subdivided for house lots, and since the early 1950s the main house has served as a girls' school. A 1954 school building is not considered contributing.