The south side of the Allen Brown House, built in 1855 at 129 Rumstick Rd.

In 1854, Allen Brown, who would later become a senator in the General Assembly, bought 12 lots, part of the former Thurber Farm in Barrington, for $1,330.

Less than 20 years later, in 1873, Brown sold the properties, located in an area that is now near Rumstick Road, Governor Bradford Drive and Highland Avenue, at a profit, pocketing $13,000, according to the Barrington Preservation Society.

Today, the Allen Brown House, a three-story Victorian built in 1855 at 129 Rumstick Rd., on a 1.2-acre lot, is on the market for $1,895,000.

Lawyer Nancy Neis bought the house nearly 15 years ago with her former husband, a doctor, when their children were 4 and 2.

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Walk through the House of the Week

The cream-colored clapboard house is on a fairly busy street, Rumstick Road, at the intersection with Governor Bradford Drive, but it is set far back from the street.

A fenced tennis court is at the edge of the property, close to the street, and there are two driveway entrances, one on Governor Bradford, which leads to the two-car garage and the back door, and one on Rumstick, a curving driveway that leads to the more private front entryway.

There is a large wraparound porch, which is still a dominant feature of the house, even though Neis said they enclosed part of it to create a family room years ago.

She said the house was in near-perfect condition when they bought it, but they wanted to make it their own, and over the years they have completely redecorated the house, and the kitchen and baths have been updated.

The 12-room house has about 5,000 square feet of living space, including seven bedrooms, three full bathrooms and one half bathroom.

The house combines all the elegance of a grand historic house –– tall ceilings, large windows, arched doorways, intricate woodwork and detailed crown moldings — with every modern convenience.

The house has a sunny, state-of-the-art kitchen with a Viking range as well as the house’s original wood stove. One wall is almost entirely windowed, and it has a French door that leads to a private bricked patio on the south wall.

There is a first-floor laundry room behind the kitchen, and nearby stairs that lead to the basement and a mudroom entrance near the garages.

The bathrooms are spacious and modern, with deep tubs, walk-in showers and shining white tile work.

The house also has an impressive array of closets and storage spaces, from the finished basement to the extra bedrooms on the top floor, which was once used as an au pair suite.

The first floor has the family room, living room, dining room library, kitchen, laundry room and half bath.

There are four bedrooms and two full bathrooms on the second floor. The top floor has three more bedrooms, one full bathroom, attic storage and a den.

Neis has a workout room in the finished part of the basement.

The library and living and family rooms all have French doors that open to the wide mahogany porch, which Neis said is convenient for entertaining in the warmer months. She said that when hosting parties, her family often leaves these doors open to allow guests to freely wander inside and outside.

“We’ve had a lot of parties at this house,” she said.

Although the house is large, it doesn’t seem overwhelming or outsized. Neis said several potential buyers have said they would enlarge the kitchen, even though the room, which measures 14 by 21 feet, already has a large center island, a home office space and room for a custom-made granite-top table and chairs.

The tabletop was made to match the countertops and would probably stay with the house, “if they want it,” she said.

The house has a number of large window seats in the family room and the master bedroom suite, and two working fireplaces.

The property also has an artesian well, which is not used for drinking water, an underground irrigation system and an invisible fence for pets.

The house is decorated with formal elegance on the first and second floors, but here and there is a touch of whimsy, including a dog-print wallpaper on the walls of the back stairway. The third floor is carpeted in a dashing leopard print.

Neis said she wants to downsize, and she is planning to buy a smaller single-family house on the East Side of Providence.

The Allen Brown House, 129 Rumstick Rd., Barrington, is for sale at $1,895,000. Annual property taxes are $19,120. For further information, contact listing agent Patricia Deal of Residential Properties Ltd., (401) 457-1316, or (401) 245-9600.How to submit a House of the Week

A different House of the Week appears each Saturday in the projoHomes section of The Providence Journal. The feature tells the story of the house and the people who have lived in it. If you would like us to consider a house for sale as a subject of this news feature, send a photo, information about the house and why it is of interest, to Christine Dunn or Andy Smith,

75 Fountain St., Providence, RI 02902; fax (401) 277-8250; or e-mail pjhomes@projo.com.

For more information,

call Dunn: (401) 277-7913 or Smith: (401) 277-7262.

cdunn@projo.com