Statement of Significance (as of designation - November 11, 1971):
William Dean Howells, prolific author, editor of the "Atlantic Monthly" and America's most influential literary critic at the end of the 19th century, lived here from 1878 to 1882. Howells inveighed against the typical romantic literature of his time, urging writers to espouse realism and to depict life as it was, warts and all. Nearly every important American author of the late 19th century visited this brick and stucco house that Howells commissioned architects McKim, Mead and White to design.