I’m a writer, architectural historian, and longtime editor of Old-House Journal, as well as owner of several old houses. Though my Queen Anne in Silver Spring, Maryland, has nary a hint of mansard roof, it was once home to the descendants of A.B. Mullett, the Victorian architect who launched the Second Empire style in America. From what we know, the house was built as a model for a never-completed development to beat the heat of Washington, DC. We think it came from a mail-order plan. What do you think?

See my seven minutes of Morning-TV show fame with good friends in Indianapolis at What Time is Your Kitchen?