Mid-19th century and later. 1109 Ann St.
-
(West Virginia Collection within the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division)
This extraordinary building is screened by lush landscaping that hides it from easy view. It appears to have begun as an Italianate house, with hints at the exotic Moorish Revival in its broad overhanging eaves and the monitor centering the hipped roof. A later, steep-roofed polygonal tower once dominated the facade but now shares honors with a huge, rounded Colonial Revival porch. Parkersburg architect Harry Ray Nay designed some of the twentieth-century alterations.
Robert J. A. Boreman, vice president of the Citizens Trust and Guaranty Company, was an early-twentieth-century owner. Dr. and Mrs. Thomas L. Harris were later owners. All were as prominent in city affairs as their mansion would lead one to expect.