St. Joseph Rectory

Located in the downtown district, the John. W. Busiel House is one of the Lakes Region’s most outstanding French Second Empire dwellings, as well as one of the most significant domestic structures in Laconia. Like several other contemporary residential and public buildings in the city (see BE16), it was designed by architect/ contractor Arthur L. Davis (1831–1922), whose talents were expressed in a variety of late Victorian styles. A reminder of New England’s former preeminence in the American textile industry, it was built for John W. Busiel, a local textile magnate. The residence consists of a three-story, mansard-roofed main block with a two-story wing appended to the east side. The three-bay facade of the main block is distinguished by its elegant and lavishly ornamented front, central entrance porch, while the front elevation of the wing is graced by a more extended but equally delicate porch. The wall sheathing is rusticated wood, with wooden corner quoins and an entablature surmounted by dentil molding. Pierced by curved-roof dormers, the concave mansard roof covering the main block exhibits projecting cornices embellished with modillions. Though lacking dormers, the mansard roof cornice of the wing is similarly treated. A cupola was formerly centered on the roof but was removed in 1953 to correct a water leakage problem. A carriage barn, formerly attached to the wing, was removed in the late 1920s to make way for construction of St. Joseph Catholic Church. Despite these losses, the house remains an accurate expression of Busiel’s economic success, and a reflection of his pride in his business and the local community. In 1905 the Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester acquired the property from the Busiel estate, and from that time to the present it has been the rectory for St. Joseph's Catholic Church. It survives as a last remnant of Laconia’s first fashionable neighborhood.