The Lewis Downing Jr. House is a historic house at 33 Pleasant Street in Concord, New Hampshire,

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. Built in 1851, it was home for fifty years of Lewis Downing Jr., president of the

Abbot-Downing Company Abbot-Downing Company was a coach and carriage builder in Concord, New Hampshire, which became known throughout the United States for its products — in particular the Concord coach. The business's roots went back to 1813, and it persisted in ...

, a nationally known manufacturer of coaches, and is the only surviving building associated with that business. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1987.

Description and history

The Lewis Downing Jr. House is located about two blocks west of Main Street in central Concord, on the south side of Pleasant Street (

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware to Maine, also traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York (state ...

). The house is basically rectangular, with cross-gable sections projecting from the sides. Its notable features include the paired brackets in the eaves, the chimneys, and the side porch, which retains some of its original styling despite 20th-century repairs and replacements. A late-19th-century garage at the rear of the property also has decorative touches such as bracketed eaves, and a side entrance framed by arched latticework. This house was built in 1851 for Lewis Downing Jr., president of the

, a nationally known manufacturer of coaches, and is the only surviving building associated with that business. It is a modest example of Italianate architecture, and is typical of Concord's mid-19th-century upper-middle-class residential construction. Downing's father had established a carriage-making business in Concord in 1813. In 1826, Downing Sr. and partner J. Stephen Abbott developed the very successful

Concord coach The Concord coach is a type of horse-drawn coach, often used as stagecoaches, mailcoaches, and hotel coaches. The term was first used for the coaches built by coach-builder J. Stephen Abbot and wheelwright Lewis Downing of the Abbot-Downing Comp ...

. Downing Jr. took the helm of his father's business in 1865 and oversaw its greatest period of growth, opening shops in

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and

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, and selling products internationally as far away as

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and Australia. His house, in which he lived until his death in 1901, remained in the family until 1919, and now houses professional offices.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Downing, Lewis Jr. House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in New Hampshire Italianate architecture in New Hampshire Houses completed in 1851 Houses in Concord, New Hampshire 1851 establishments in New Hampshire National Register of Historic Places in Concord, New Hampshire

Description and history

See also

References