The Red House, Lancaster, Massachusetts

This is the only known photograph of the Red House, located on the site of the present Atlantic Union Conference Building in South Lancaster. The house, situated on an elevation, was built for Nathaniel Thayer III, probably between 1870 and 1880. Although the exact identity of the architect is unknown, the castlelike style of he house, with its towers and turrets, is characteristic of Boston's John Hubbard Sturgis. The Thayers, as a family, were known to be among the most consistent and frequent of his clients. After Nathaniel Thayer III inherited the Homestead, the house became a residence of Thayer's daughters Anna Thayer Patten Davies and Cornelia, the Countess von Moltke who spent only limited amounts of time in Lancaster. In the mid-1930s, it was taken down. Longtime residents may remember a charming stone-walled terrace at the north end, which offered a commanding view of the intervale meadows below for many years after the house was gone. A small pet cemetery in back of the house site also remained for many years.

Courtesy of Lancaster Historical Society