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- ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and <br /> evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) <br /> This house has been so altered in recent years that very little is <br /> evident of the original besides its high narrow Federal Vernacular profile and <br /> its position very close to the street. The fact that the older section is <br /> three bays wide rather than the customary five gives credence to the present <br /> owners' belief that it was originally a barn or shed rather than a house. The <br /> mortared fieldstone foundation is probably an anomaly rather than an indication <br /> that the house was moved from somewhere else. <br /> HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state <br /> history and how the building relates to the development of the community.) <br /> Although the former archivist of the Lexington Historical Society claimed <br /> this house was built in 1805 by Thomas Smith, he apparently had it confused with <br /> a house immediately to the west no longer standing. Deed research does indicate, <br /> _ however, that this house was built before 1830, because when this property was <br /> sold that year to John Ellis it included a "dwelling house." In 1845 it was sold <br /> by Grace Ellis to John Earle, Jr. , who in 1844 had married a daughter of Josiah <br /> Smith, the shoemaker and fifer who lived in the house at 272 Concord Avenue <br /> (see. form) . In 1868 Earle, having moved to Jamaica Plain, sold the property to <br /> Elizabeth Condon and it then remained in the Condon family for the next 90 years. <br /> The Condons were farmers, at least until 1901 when they sold most of their 13 <br /> acres and the lot was reduced to its present half-acre size. <br /> The house was extensively renovated three years ago and, as a result of the <br /> work, the present owners have made the following observations: the older section <br /> (the three bays on the west end) was crudely framed and finished, suggesting it <br /> may have been a barn or other outbuilding; the original building was one-and-a <br /> half stories and the roof has subsequently been raised; the original structure - <br /> appeared to have been built without a chimney but instead with stovepipe holes; <br /> the entry gable, which contains a bathroom on the second story, was evidently <br /> added in the 1940s when interior plumbing was put into the house; and the two- <br /> story ell on the east has been widened and some rear ells removed since a 1945 <br /> plan of the property (seedocuments on file with Lexington Historical Commission) . <br /> The bay windows were added during the recent renovation. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) <br /> Worthen Collection, photographs, "Kite End." Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, <br /> Massachusetts. <br /> 1830 map <br /> Deed research on file with Lexington Historical Commission <br /> 10M - 7/82 <br />