An extremely sophisticated example of the more urban tendencies of Federal-era designers, this suburban house could fit into a Washington or Richmond streetscape. The McDowell House has recessed arches that recall houses in Baltimore and Washington by such architects as Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Robert Mills, and George Hadfield and the Boston and Richmond work of Alexander Parris, who had worked for Charles Bulfinch. The tripartite or “modified Venetian” windows are impressive. The cast iron porch dates from the 1850s and may have come from a local foundry.
