dower house

American  

noun

British.

1. the dwelling that is intended for or occupied by the widowed mother of the owner of an ancestral estate.

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dower house British  

noun

1. a house set apart for the use of a widow, often on her deceased husband's estate

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Etymology

Origin of dower house

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

A dower house now, it had once been the principal mansion of his family.

From The Tenants of Malory Volume 1 of 3 by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan

She would settle herself in the dower house which is almost as fine as Hunsdon Towers.

From The Gorgeous Isle A Romance; Scene: Nevis, B.W.I. 1842 by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn

Now Malory is a dower house of the Verneys.

From The Tenants of Malory Volume 1 of 3 by Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan

Your uncle says your grandmother left your father her dower house and estate, because she knew his father would cut him off.

From Freckles by Stratton-Porter, Gene

David shivered a little as he threw in the clutch, passed on round the back of the building and through the iron gates of the ancient dower house.

From The Wicked Marquis by Oppenheim, E. Phillips (Edward Phillips)