Larrabee's Brick Block, Melrose

Larrabee's Brick Block is a historic commercial and residential building at 500-504 Main Street in Melrose, Massachusetts. It is one of only two relatively unaltered 19th century commercial buildings in Melrose. The three story brick Second Empire building was built in 1880 by John Larrabee, on the site of a wood frame meeting hall. The block is built of brick laid in stretcher bond, and its third floor is under a mansard roof typical of the style. The ground floor consists of two storefronts with recessed entrances and plate glass windows, and a separate recessed entrance giving access to the upper residential floors. The second floor facade has two projecting bay windows, decorated with brackets and panel trim, above the two store fronts, and a sash window above the residential entrance. The mansard roof originally had single window dormers, but c. 1910, all but one of these were removed and replaced by extensions of the second story bay windows. ()