Brown's Manor
Why it's listed
Brown's Manor is a two-story brick house on High Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts, built around 1886 in the Second Empire style. It has wood and brownstone trim, a slate-covered mansard roof, a symmetrical four-bay facade, quoins and a bracketed cornice. The center entry has a round-headed double-leaf door under a well-detailed porch. The lot was part of a thirty-acre parcel sold to George A. Brown by Abraham Lord on November 6, 1886, and the house is believed to have been built soon afterward. The Brown family worked as brickmakers, lumbermen and housewrights and were known for some of the finest buildings in Essex County; this house, built for themselves, shows their skills. It was listed as one of the most imposing Second Empire buildings in Ipswich and the only one built of brick, and it retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship. The house is now divided into apartments.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is one of the most imposing Second Empire buildings in Ipswich and the only one built of brick. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship and reflects Ipswich's late 19th-century development. It was built by the Brown family, brickmakers, lumbermen and housewrights known for fine buildings in Essex County.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80000459, listed September 17, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 115 High St., Ipswich |
|---|---|
| County | Essex County |
| Listed | September 17, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80000459 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Brown family (brickmakers, lumbermen and housewrights); built for George A. Brown |
| Architectural style | Second Empire |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | National, State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Used as apartments; a later rehabilitation review (1988) described it as a 2 1/2-story brick house on about one acre, with apartments before and after rehabilitation. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.68888, -70.84906 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80000459.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4975952
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.