The Sarah Monroe Three-Decker is located in Worcester's eastern Belmont Street neighborhood, on the east side of Rodney Street just north of Belmont Street (Massachusetts Route 9). It is a three-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and exterior finished in modern siding. The main roof has deep eaves, which were originally adorned with paired carved brackets and modillion blocks. The facade is asymmetrical, with a projecting three-story polygonal window bay on the right, and a single-story porch on the left, sheltering the entrance. The porch was originally an elaborate Queen Anne construction, with turned posts and balustrade. The exterior of the house also originally had more elaborate styling, with bands of wooden shingles between the floors in the projecting bay. The house follows a typical side-hall three-decker plan, with a long projecting side jog on the right side.[2]
The house was built about 1892, during the early phase of triple-decker development in the Belmont Hill area. This area was a popular residential destination for Swedish and Finnish immigrants, who were employed steel and wire factories in northern Worcester.[citation needed] The first documented owner was Sarah Monroe, who also lived here. Most of the documented early tenants were wireworkers, laborers, and machinists.[2]
