One of the finest Second Empire homes in Newton, Mass., the Samuel Farquhar House is pure delight. Pictures don’t do it justice.

Built around 1868, its mansard roof features slate tiles of various shapes and colors, and an adorable octagon turret adorns the back corner of the home.

Born in Boston, Farquhar (1842-1918) was a partner in a slate roofing business with his father, John. In 1880, Sam moved to a different house in Newton with his wife and four children.

In 1889, the house was rented to a clothing manufacturer in Boston, then appears to have been vacant from 1895-1905. A Newton police officer became a tenant in 1915.

After Farquhar’s death in 1918, the house was sold to Jeffrey and Elizabeth Boudrot. Jeffrey was a gardener for a private family, and his presence in the neighborhood signaled a shift from its originally white-collar residents.

The Boudrots had four children. After Elizabeth was widowed, she turned over the deed to two of her daughters. Daughter Maude Fogeron owned and lived in the house until her death in 1991.

The three bedroom, two bathroom house has 2,388 square feet, and last sold in 2000 for $489,000 and is currently assessed at $776,600 according to the city’s assessor’s database.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.