The Roswell House on Franklin Street

The Roswell family established their mansion on Franklin Street in 1911 after Arthur Roswell purchased the property while expanding his successful furniture manufacturing business. Three generations lived there, including Arthur, his wife Helen, their children, and Arthur’s mother who remained in the household. The family income came from furniture production, woodworking contracts, and regional retail supply.

Local records describe the mansion as a carefully maintained residence with active use of the sitting room, workshop, and upper bedrooms during the years when Roswell Furniture Company remained profitable.

The first warning sign appeared in 1932 when Roswell Furniture Company recorded cancelled orders and overdue payments from regional retailers. During the economic downturn, Arthur reduced employees, closed the upper tower rooms, and postponed repairs to the slate roof, porch spindlework, and damaged clapboard siding. After Arthur’s death in 1935, his heirs struggled to manage the declining business. By 1938, unpaid factory loans, property taxes, and inheritance expenses forced the Roswell family to leave Franklin Street and relocate while creditors arranged the sale of the residence.

The Roswell House was abandoned in 1939 after the collapse of the furniture business, unpaid debts, and unresolved estate expenses left the property without a stable owner. No restoration occurred, and no Roswell descendants returned after leaving Franklin Street. Municipal records documented unsuccessful ownership transfers and continued deterioration of the vacant mansion. The interior rooms remained closed, preserving household furnishings, business documents, and personal belongings left behind. Over the decades, moisture damage, weather exposure, and structural wear affected the clapboard walls, slate roof, and decorative woodwork. The Eastlake and Colonial Revival mansion remains empty on the city residential block, slowly deteriorating without restoration or confirmed future use.