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Read StoryHidden Treasures at Higgins House
Beloved by the campus and surrounding community for over a century, the Higgins House has been a prominent city fixture and architectural emblem of WPI’s innovative legacy since the building’s completion in 1923. The estate’s astounding exterior features are well known to most, but within are several detailed, secluded treasures that speak just as poignantly to its remarkable feat of architectural engineering and interior design.
The estate originated as the private residence of Aldus Chapin Higgins (1872–1948) and his second wife, Mary Sprague Green (1882–1970). Aldus was the eldest child of Milton Prince Higgins (1842–1912) and Katherine Chapin (1847–1925). His father was the first superintendent of WPI’s Washburn Shops and co-founder of Worcester’s Norton Company, while his mother was a notable community philanthropist with extensive involvement in developing the state’s parent-teacher associations. Both Aldus and his younger brother, John Woodman Higgins, graduated from “Tech,” as WPI was called in those days.
It was later in life that Aldus commissioned American architect Grosvenor Atterbury to design a house modeled after the Compton Wynyates estate, built in England circa 1525. He and Mary lived together at this remarkable home on the west side of Worcester for 25 years. Aldus passed away in 1948, and the structure was bequeathed to WPI upon his wife’s death in 1970—not long after which, as one of Worcester’s finest examples of Revival Period architecture, it was aggregated to the National Register of Historic Places.
While the bird’s-eye-view grandeur of the Higgins House is certainly breathtaking, it’s the attention to detail and personal touches throughout that make it truly extraordinary. It seems there isn’t a material untouched by elite craftsmanship, from exterior brickwork to interior wooden carvings—and everything in between.
One design in particular recurs throughout the house, both inside and out: an anchor with an intertwined porpoise. This emblem (complete with the name “Aldus”) was the imprint of 16th century Venetian printer Aldus Manutius. The anchor symbolizes strength and stability, the porpoise speed and activity. This motif can be seen in a large crest on the outside of the tower wall, carved into the bricks of the interior entrance hall, and again on the exterior stucco gables of the East Wing.
Likewise replete throughout the interior and across the gardens is intricate ironwork. With iron hinges brought back from England, Aldus designed ornamental pieces that took a Swedish craftsman two years to complete. Immediately upon entry, visitors may also notice the handcrafted hidden figures embedded into the mortar of the foyer’s brick walls. Between these treasures and wooden archway carvings, beautiful stained glass, and others not mentioned, roaming the halls and moving between the magnificent rooms of the Higgins House promises new layers of discovery with each visit.
To learn more about the history and inspiration of this estate, please visit our digital exhibit at exhibits.wpi.edu/spotlight/higgins-house.
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