Built circa 1821 for Susan Bellows Robeson, daughter of Colonel Joseph Bellows (1744-1817) and granddaughter of Colonel Benjamin Bellows (1712-1777), Walpole’s founder, this refined house is widely regarded as the town’s earliest example of Greek Revival architecture. Modest in scale yet formal in expression, it marks a clear departure from the earlier Colonial houses nearby and reflects Walpole’s early embrace of national architectural trends.
The house is distinguished by its temple-like front façade, dominated by a full-height portico with tall classical columns supporting a triangular pediment. The smooth, white exterior finish, strong cornice line, and symmetrical window placement emphasize order, proportion, and restraint, all hallmarks of the Greek Revival style. Unlike later, more elaborate examples, this early version is intentionally restrained, translating monumental classical forms into a dignified village residence suited to a small household.
Designed and built by Levi Hubbard (1764–1831), the house was intended for Susan Bellows Robeson (1780–1860), eldest daughter of Colonel Joseph Bellows (1744-1817) and granddaughter of Colonel Benjamin Bellows (1712-1777), Walpole’s founder. Recently widowed at the time of construction, Susan Robeson managed the household while raising two children alongside four stepchildren from her husband Major Jonas Robeson’s earlier marriage, embodying both independence and civic responsibility.
Local tradition preserves a vivid story of her character. On the night of her death, as Walpole prepared a torchlight procession in support of Abraham Lincoln’s election, every house around the Common was to be illuminated. When told her windows were dark so she might rest more comfortably, Susan replied:
Let every pane of glass in every window of this house be lighted at once if there are candles enough in town to do it.
She died before morning.
In the twentieth century, the house entered a new chapter when it was purchased in 1932 by P. Lucile Tucker (Hawley) Bragg (1879–1953), a schoolteacher and antiques dealer who sold and displayed items from the barn on the property.
The Susan Bellows Robeson House stands as a landmark of architectural transition on Westminster Street, linking Walpole’s founding families, early Greek Revival design, and generations of residents whose lives shaped the village’s civic and cultural identity.
Aaron Howland House 