Oakes, J. J., House

This clapboard house at 14 South Street in Southbridge was built between about 1855 and 1870 and combines Italianate and Second Empire styling. It sits at an intersection with a spacious triangular front lawn. Its Italianate features include a horizontal emphasis, a three-bay facade, projecting cornice window caps, bracketed eaves and a massive porch with arch motifs. A concave slate mansard roof with dormer windows provides the Second Empire element. It is one of only two large Second Empire houses left in town; the other is the Calvin D. Paige House on Main Street. The land was once part of an earlier Oakes family property. The house was the home of James Jacob Oakes, born in Southbridge in 1832, who ran a dry goods and clothing store on Main and Hamilton Streets. This part of South Street was sparsely settled before 1870, then grew into a neighborhood of successful businessmen and old Southbridge families. The house is valued for its link to that development and for its design. It remains a residence in good condition.