Gabriel, George, House
Why it's listed
This house at 31 Lenox Street in Worcester was built around 1899 on land from the McFarland-Chamberlain Farm, which was subdivided around 1896 to create the Richmond Heights neighborhood. It is a clapboard Colonial Revival residence with a rectangular plan, hip roof with dormers, and Ionic pilasters. Less common features include a second-story bowed oriel with a Palladian window, splayed window lintels with keystones, and Ionic porches that keep their original balustrades. The house has not been altered or moved and is in excellent condition. Its first occupant was George Gabriel, a bookkeeper and later manager of the George Blake Company, dealers in iron, steel and other metals. He moved here in 1899 from a house on Melville Street that he had built in 1891. His move followed a wider pattern, as Worcester's well-off residents left districts north, east and south of downtown for the city's west side. The house is regarded as one of the earliest and finest in Richmond Heights.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it an unusually fine example of Colonial Revival architecture and one of the earliest and finest houses in Richmond Heights. It also reflects the shift of Worcester's middle and upper classes toward the city's west side in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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 80000523, listed March 5, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 31 Lenox St., Worcester |
|---|---|
| County | Worcester County |
| Listed | March 5, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80000523 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in excellent condition and still used as a residence; not altered or moved. |
| Acreage | 0.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.27765, -71.83354 (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 80000523.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5539574
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.