Looking like something out of a post-war subdivision, this ostensibly Colonial Revival four-plex would have gotten away with its charade if it hadn’t been for those meddling architectural sleuths that happened upon it!  Located just a block away from the gloriously monolithic historic preservation endeavor known as the Cross House, the facade looks a bit newer than those of its neighbors.

The cover-up was quite thorough, but the conspirators slipped up (they always do).  What gave the plot away?

From the front, there is nary a trace of the structure’s more flamboyant 19th-century history.  But turn the corner and look up.  The eaves are not only a bit too deep for a mid-20th century Colonial Revival, but they are bracketed in the Italianate style – even going so far as to sport drop finials!  For whatever reason, the brackets were left in place when this former single-family house was remodeled inside and out… there’s always a smoking gun!

From the front it is not apparent that this structure with its Colonial Revival trappings had actually started out in the Italianate style.

But turn the corner and WHAM – the brackets pop out in stark contrast to the watered-down Colonial themes below them.

The side elevation shows the low pitch of the original roofline – still sporting Italianate brackets.  Image courtesy Google Street View.

A closer and (sorry about the pixels) fuzzier view of the brackets.