Oakview Mansion

The property is historically associated with F.O. Winslow, heir to a significant tanning fortune, and Frank Allen, Governor of Massachusetts from 1928 to 1930.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

“Oak View” stands as Norwood’s most distinguished example of Second Empire (Mansard) style architecture. Along with its well-preserved 19th-century landscape, it serves as a testament to the prosperity generated by Norwood’s Victorian-era tanning industry.

The house is set back from Walpole Street on an elevated rise, facing a deep lawn with mature trees. Clad in clapboard, it consists of an original T-shaped structure with later additions extending from the side walls. The principal façade is composed as a tripartite design, featuring an open entrance porch supported by Tuscan columns, flanked by two-story octagonal bays. The house is topped by a hip-on-bellcast Mansard roof, which retains much of its original slate shingles.

Architectural highlights include:

• A main entrance framed by sidelights and Classical Revival “eared” surrounds, with a multi-pane transom above.
• An elaborate front porch blending Eastlakian and Classical Revival elements, featuring a cast-iron railing.
• Tall, narrow, double windows with segmental-headed enframements opening onto the porch.
• Octagonal bays that extend into the roofline as gabled dormers, along with a central gabled dormer on the main façade.
• Wide, paneled pilasters accentuating the corners of the house, with paired brackets beneath the deep eaves.

Additional architectural features include:

• A conservatory-like addition on the south façade with flanking slender, engaged columns, surmounted by a balustrade.
• A broad bow-front addition on the north wall, also topped with a balustrade.
• The northern (Fisher Street) elevation, the most architecturally complex, featuring three projecting sections and a rear addition.
• Historical photographs indicate that the house originally had a square, arcuated cupola, removed at an undetermined date.

The richly detailed interior preserves numerous Victorian-era elements, including:

• White marble fireplaces.
• Parquet floors.
• Seven-foot windows.
• Curved glass in a room that functioned as a chapel for nuns in the early 1970s.
• Ornate wood trim.
• Hand-carved handles on built-in drawers.
• Brass-trimmed light switches.

The mansion’s scale, sophisticated Italianate, Eastlake, and Classical Revival detailing, and its park-like setting distinguish it as the most remarkable Second Empire residence in Norwood.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE

289 Walpole Street, or “Oak View,” holds significant historical associations with Francis Olmsey Winslow, heir to the Winslow Brothers Tannery, a local enterprise of national renown. His son-in-law, Governor Frank Allen of Massachusetts, also resided here during the early 20th century. The estate is one of the few properties in Norwood whose historical impact extends beyond the local level.

The Winslow and Allen families entertained prominent figures of national and international stature at Oak View, including:

• U.S. Presidents William Howard Taft and Calvin Coolidge
• Painter John Singer Sargent
• Philosopher William James
• Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
• Japanese diplomat Viscount Kentaro Kaneko
• Irish tenor John McCormack
• Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff

Francis Olmsey Winslow (1844–1926), known later in life as “Mr. Norwood,” was a leading figure in business, investments, civic affairs, town governance, state politics, philanthropy, education, history, and the arts. His grand Second Empire mansion at 289 Walpole Street reflects the post-Civil War economic prosperity of his family’s tanning business—Winslow Brothers, later Winslow Brothers and Smith. Along with the Everett Furniture Company, it was one of Norwood’s oldest large-scale manufacturing enterprises.

The Winslow Brothers Tannery was more than just a local industry. According to historian Tolles, “historians of the leather industry regard it as possibly the pioneer, and at least the oldest company in continuous existence in the U.S. that specialized in the tanning and furnishing of sheepskins.” As late as the early 1970s, the company operated from its South Street office in Boston under the classification “leather-sheadings-wool.”

The Winslow Tannery traces its origins to a tannery established in South Dedham (now Norwood) in 1776. In 1860, F.O. Winslow and his brothers—Elisha F., George S., and M.M. Winslow—took over management of the company following their father George Winslow’s retirement. Eight years later, in 1868, F.O. Winslow built 289 Walpole Street.

Local tradition suggests that F.O. Winslow played a key role in designing the house, with architectural advice from a brother living in Paris, who was familiar with the Second Empire style. In addition, Norwood builder and architect Tyler Thayer of Vernon Street likely contributed to the mansion’s design and construction.

The Winslow Brothers Tannery experienced steady growth throughout the late 19th century. By 1890, the factory employed 150 workers and had the capacity to process over one million hides annually. Between 1890 and 1894, the company expanded rapidly, and by the mid-1890s, its workforce had grown to 275 employees, with a payroll exceeding $10,000 per month.

The tannery was strategically located between two ponds, just south of Walpole Street, in the area now bordered by Endicott Street and Davis Avenue. In 1901, the Winslow and Lyman Smith Tanneries merged under the ownership of George F. Willet and Edward C. Mills. By 1906, Norwood had become the world’s largest handler of sheepskins.

From the mid-1920s to the late 1960s, 289 Walpole Street served as the residence of Frank Allen, Governor of Massachusetts (1928–1930), and his family. Between the late 1950s and early 1970s, the property was owned by the Missionary Servants of the Most Blessed Trinity. Locals called the property “The Cenacle”. After remaining vacant for 18 months in the mid-1970s, it was purchased by Bob Pegurri and past Norwood Historical Society President Barbara Rand in 1978. They renovated the home for both boarding house use and their private residence. In 1989, Barbara Rand opened a Dollhouse museum on the property.

In 2019, developers presented a plan to the Nowood Planning Board to develop the property into condominiums. A historic zoning amendment was proposed by Pegurri and Rand in October of 2019. The proposal aimed to amend Norwood Zoning to support the preservation of large, historically significant residential structures. Under the amendment, any single-family residence built before 1930 with at least 4,000 square feet of habitable space—regardless of zoning district—could be converted into two, three, or four residential units, provided a Special Permit was granted by the Planning Board. The amendment required that the historic exterior of the structure be largely preserved without significant alterations. This change would apply to approximately six existing single-family homes in Norwood. Town Meeting approved the amendment in a 70-11 vote.

In November of 2022, the house and property were used in a Liam Neeson film. Originally titled “Thug”, the film was released under the title “Absolution” on February 20, 2025.

In March of 2025, the large trees in front of the house were cut down, prompting questions about whether development would be underway on the property. No more information is currently available.

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George Curtis, Norwood Historical Society

(BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES)
Maps, Atlases – 1876, 1882, 1888, 1898
Norwood Historical Society photo file
Norwood Messenger – 12/25/20 p. 11, 1/29/1928
Norwood, Massachusetts (1898)
Norwood – A Centennial History – Tolles

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