HomeMy WebLinkAboutfern-street_0049 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Boston
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 14/117 North 1565
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph East Lexington
'..; Address: 49 Fern Street
Historic Name: John Felt House
-- _ Uses: Present: residential
Original: residential
Date of Construction: 1902?
Source:
Style/Form: Queen Anne/Shingle
Architect/Builder: unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation:
Wall/Trim: wood shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
shed
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Major Alterations(with dates):
Date?— rear addition, new windows
2
�s
� Condition: good
117 Moved: no I x yes Date
19,390 Acreage: 0.45 acre
Setting: mixed 19th century residential on narrow road off
49 Pleasant Street
FERN S, 47
50
77 7
10,275 7X00 07,5 ,74
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): Feb. 2010
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 49 FERN STREET
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
1565
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
The house at 49 Fern Street is a 2 '/2-story gablefront dwelling constructed in the late 19'h century or early 20th century. It is
sheathed in wood shingles with decorative shingles filling the front gable. A single-story porch spanning the fagade is partially
enclosed and there is a lesser gable projection with clipped corners resting on the east end of the porch roof. Windows contain a
mix of 6/1 and 1/1 sash. A deck spans the west elevation and there is a single-story addition at the northwest corner.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s)the
owners/occupants played within the community.
This house appears to have been constructed at the turn of the 20th century for the Felt family. John Felt is described in the 1899
directory as a poultry fancier. John Felt married Charlotte Avery on August 5, 1898. The couple appears to have lived on
Pleasant Street. It was sold by Charlotte Felt's estate in 1902 to George Parsons of Cambridge. The deed indicates that the land
with buildings sold for$1,385.
George Parsons sold the property to Florence Sanborn,wife of Frederick Sanborn in 1907. Florence Sanborn Millan sold it to
John Whitney in 1915. It remained in the Whitney family until about 1940. The current owner has owned the house since 1977.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge, Mass.
Minute-man, April 26, 1902; Oct. 5, 1907.
Town Directories
U.S. Census,various years.
Continuation sheet 1