In my 6 months living on campus at UMass Lowell, I’d walked by it a million times- on the way to the dining hall, on the way to class, I could even see it right from my bedroom window. I’d seen its brick structure bathed in sunlight during the heat of August; I’d seen it surrounded by the warm colors of autumn, orange and red leaves dusting the porch area in the rear; and now, mid February, its roofs and window sills are buried in snow. During the fall, my favorite homework spot was sitting outside under the oak tree that casts its shadow on the building, and during the massive blizzards in recent weeks, its hilly surroundings were the starting point of an epic sledding track for enthused students. The Allen House truly is the centerpiece of South Campus.
Upon opening the glass paned front door and walking into the building, you enter a foyer. In the foyer sits a desk, with papers and pamphlets scattered as if someone had abandoned it in the middle of a project. There are posters advertising minority groups on campus, and a on the right, hangs a large black plaque explaining the history of the building and namely, it’s famed owner.
The Allen House was built in 1854, and in its 150 years, has been owned and utilized by various different groups before landing in the hands of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. It built by Abiel Rolfe, who was an agent for the Lowell to Nashua Railroad, and was originally called “The Terraces”. In 1864, Rolfe sold the house to a man named Rollin White who, during his ownership of the house, doubled its size. Years later in 1890, the house was purchased by Congressman Charles H. Allen. Mr. Allen was a Lowell native, graduating from Lowell High School and then later on from Amherst College. Charles H. Allen was truly a remarkable man with remarkable life accomplishments. He was a member of the School Committee in Lowell and played a part in establishing the Lowell Evening Schools. Allen served in the U.S. Congress from 1885 until 1889, and in 1890 was nominated for governor of Lowell. Allen was defeated, but later on served as Massachusetts Prison Commissioner from 1897 to 1898. When Theodore Roosevelt left his position as Assistant Secretary of the Navy to fight in the Spanish-American War, President McKinley asked Allen to fill the position. Upon Roosevelt’s return when the war ended in 1899, President McKinley named Allen the first civil governor or Puerto Rico. During his three years as governor, Allen brought the island government out of debt and left them with more than one million dollars in its treasury.
Upon retiring from government positions in 1902, Allen became even more involved with his community back home. He was on the boards of many banks and businesses in Lowell, was vice president of the Morton Trust Company, and was president of the American Sugar Refining Company. Beyond his social and business accomplishments, Charles Allen was a fan of the arts. He played the cello and was also a talented painter. While living in the house, Allen collected art and built an art gallery as well as a music studio in the house. Back when Allen lived there, of course before the University was built, the house was surrounded by beautifully detailed gardens to accent the breath taking view of the Merrimack River.
When Allen died in 1934, his daughter sold the house to the Grey Nuns of the Cross of Ottawa. The nuns used the house as a training space for novice nuns, and in 1957, sold the house to Lowell State College. Lowell State College later became the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Since purchasing the building, the University has used the house for student housing, classrooms, as well as offices. Beginning in the 1970s, the house was vacant for thirty years until the University decided to renovate and reopen it in 2007.
After reading the plaque, the first thing I noticed was the tall staircase winding up to the second floor. The staircase was roped off, so I wasn’t able to travel upstairs, but I heard footsteps and later saw a student come down, so I would assume the second floor is filled with offices. As I took a left at the staircase, I entered a living room-esque space. The hardwood floors seemed modern enough, although they creaked below my Eddie Bauer boots as I walked through. The large fireplace was clearly the centerpiece of the room at one point in time. The detailed mantle and wide set chimney had been painted white, while the inner portion remained rustic brick. It’s easy to imagine Charles Allen sitting here during a cold winter storm, enjoying the fire and painting a landscape of the snowy Merrimack.
After noticing a small table covered in UMass Lowell Brochures, I proceeded into a large room that is easily my favorite in the house. Now filled with chairs and a flat-screen television mounted on the wall on top of a huge, stunning fireplace, with a surround sound sound system in the corner, I could easily guess this room had some sort of modern use. Despite these present-day distractions, what caught my eye was the beautifully styled ceiling. Arched and painted white, the ceiling had gold carvings, all parallel and perpendicular to each other. The golden details also lined the crown molding of walls. Paired with the incredibly dark, almost black, wood of the walls, the room was the most antique looking. Hanging on the walls were paintings by Charles H. Allen himself, all beautiful landscapes, as well as some family portraits of the Allen family. To the right of the massive television stand the most wonderful french style doors. They open up on the back porch of the building. From here, you can see the Merrimack in clear view, although all I saw was feet and feet and feet of snow. 
Walking back through the double doors that I entered through, I continued through the first fireplace room to further explore. Each room in the house is opened by double doors with opaque glass, and through one set of these double doors, I found a meeting room with more large windows as well as photographs on the wall. In the photographs are current day students of the University matched with students of the past; a photo of science majors in a modern lab sits on top of a black and white photo of science students of what looks to be the sixties; a female basketball player donning her red UML uniform dribbles down the court as female athletes wearing white blouses and knee-length skirts toss around a ball beneath her.
Across the hall, were two closed doors. Although I’m sure they were closed for a reason, I opened and went in anyway. The room was empty for the most part, with spare chairs and tables scattered about. It was clearly a storage space. The room had the smallest window I’d seen so far in the house. Despite being the smallest, it without a doubt had the best view. When you looked out, you could see the Merrimack River curving in the distance, the open field just outside the fence of the softball field, and the end of Sheehy Hall. This window offers the clearest view of the river, and I’m without a doubt going back in the spring to see the view sans snow.
As I snuck out of the storage room and quietly shut its doors, I continued down the hall I’d been traveling. On the walls were more paintings by Charles H. Allen as well as photographs of his family. I soon came upon an office on my left, where I ran into Donna Spellissy, Special Events Coordinator for the University. I could tell that Donna loved being located within the Allen House, as she expressed “we are just so fortunate to have our offices located here and we occupy the entire house”.
She gave me some brief information about the use of the house, and later e-mailed me an article about the Allen House’s Inaugural art collection event which help more information about the history of the building. The house was utilized as the Chancellor’s Office, but today is occupied by the Hospitality and Event Services Department of the University. The Hospitality and Event Services Department are responsible for booking events for the entire university as well as external clients. The house maintains its original “Italianate” charm and is filled with meeting rooms and offices. When I asked what the large room filled with chairs and a massive TV was used for, Donna told me that this year the University is using the Allen House as the starting place of campus tours. Groups come into the house, sit and watch a presentation about the University, and are then sent on their way with tour guides to see the campus.
I think it’s a remarkable thing, how the house was adopted by the University at the very beginning of its lifetime, and now prospective students begin their prospective journey at Umass Lowell at the Allen House. It’s a beautiful building with a beautiful, antique charm, and now knowing the history, I’m even more glad to have it as my bedroom window view.
