George F. Lindsay: 294 Summit Avenue

The first house to stand at 294 Summit Avenue was a large Italianate mansion with a cupola, built by Henry N. Paul in 1858. It is one of the early Summit Avenue mansions pictured in the famous dogsled photo. The house stood until 1893, when it was demolished by Alpheus Stickney who lived in a large mansion next door, which was too demolished in 1930.

The present house on the site was built in 1919 by George F. Lindsay. He hired the Boston firm of Parker, Thomas, and Rice to design the home, which cost about $30,000. Lindsay, born in Iowa in 1871, accumulated his wealth working in the lumber trade with the Weyerhaeuser family. In 1932 the house was sold to Frederick K. Weyerhaeuser and his wife Vivian O’Gara Weyerhaeuser, grandson of Frederick Weyerhaeuser who lived at 266 Summit Avenue.

Georgian Revival in style, the house’s interior reflects its formal exterior. The two-story front foyer features French glass doors, a green and black stone checkered floor, and turned staircase with a simplistic newel and spindles. Decorative plaster, carved stone fireplace mantels, and wall paneling, decorate the many rooms of the house. Local architect William Ingemann was hired by the Weyerhaeuser’s to design an addition to the home’s east side, which added a new study and dining room on the first floor, and a new master bedroom on the second. The house stayed in the Weyerhaeuser family for nearly half a century, and today is still a private residence.