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ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and <br /> evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) <br /> Built c. 1804, the Cutler farmhouse is one of the remaining Federal <br /> farmhouses along the old Cambridge-Concord Turnpike, now Concord Avenue. Very <br /> little of the original Federal finishes remain, however. On the exterior only <br /> the five-bay facade and the two end chimneys of the central portion date from <br /> - the Federal period. On the interior, the only Federal elements are the "ribbed <br /> molded" chair rail and cornice in the west front parlor; the filled holes on <br /> the stair treads indicating the original balusters were slender, square in <br /> - (see Continuation Sheet) <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 /> The land on which this house is located was owned in the eighteenth <br /> century by Ebenezer White. After his death, it was sold in about 1789 to a <br /> Joseph Underwood who, in turn, sold the lot to his son Joseph Jr. in 1804. The <br /> house was apparently built about this time, for the deed refers to Joseph <br /> Underwood Jr. 's "new house." Further corroboration is supplied by the Middlesex <br /> County Commissioners records for 1804 which, in describing the Cambridge-Concord <br /> Turnpike built that year (the present Concord Avenue) , mention "the new house of <br /> Joseph Underwood, Jr." (Burgess 1965:84-85) . This house was apparently a <br /> two-story Federal farmhouse, five bays wide, one room deep, with brick ends, two <br /> end chimneys, either a hip or a gable roof, and perhaps an attached shed at the <br /> east end of the back (John F. Cole to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore J. Nussdorfer, March <br /> 20, 1969) . <br /> The part of Ebenezer White's estate south of present Concord Avenue was <br /> sold in 1790 to Thomas Cutler who, in turn, sold it in 1802 to his son Nathaniel. <br /> The latter lived in the old White farmhouse (south of the present 502 Concord <br /> Avenue) until 1822 when he purchased Joseph Underwood Jr. 's house from Underwood <br /> relatives. Nathaniel Cutler (1773-1849) was a prosperous farmer, raising and <br /> - selling large quantities of herbs and dealing in lumber. He was also an <br /> important figure in town affairs, serving as moderator, selectman, district <br /> school committeeman, surveyor of highways, overseer of the poor, surveyor of <br /> lumber, and a member of various special town committees. In 1837 the west ell <br /> was apparently added to the house, for the assessors' records mention "sheds and <br /> (see Continuation Sheet <br /> ;t <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) <br /> Burgess, Marjorie Cutler. 1965. A Genealogy of the Cutler Family of Lexington, <br /> Massachusetts, 1634-1964. Concord, New Hampshire: Evans Printing Company. <br /> Burgess, Marjorie Cutler. Cutler Farm, 503 Concord Avenue, Lexington, Massachusetts. <br /> Typescript, June 1964. On file at Lexington Historical Commission. <br /> John F. Cole to Mr. and Mrs. Theodore J. Nussdorfer. Letter, March 20, 1969. <br /> On file at Lexington Historical Commission. <br /> 10M - 7/82 <br />