313. Perry-Kester House (FY 1764)
1404 Brookstown Avenue
Contributing, ca. 1915
Although the Perry-Kester House was covered with aluminum siding (possible over stucco)after 1950, it retains enough significant architectural features to continue its contributing role in the architectural character of the West End. The two-story foursquare house has a bellcast pyramidal roof and a fancy gabled dormer with flared eaves, slate shingle siding, a Classical round-arched window, corner Tuscan pilasters, and a “half-timbered” tympanum. The front porch with gabled center bay features slender tapered posts (paired or tripled)on heavy square plinths, a heavily turned balustrade, and a paneled skirt around the foundation. The interior boasts a handsome dining room with a high paneled wainscot, sliding pocket doors, and a long horizontal leaded glass window.
Nathaniel E. Perry, secretary-treasurer of the Norman-Perry Drug Company, purchased this property in 1915, and his house was built soon thereafter. In 1933 it was sold to Lindsey B. and Margaret H. Kester, who lived here and owned the house until 1950. It has had four owner-occupants since then. (TR, CD, SH)
Garage, Contributing: Behind the house is a two-car grooved cinderblock (intended for stucco?)and brick garage with a slate roof which appears contemporary with the house