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BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 241 Grove St. (MHC#748)is one of three side-gabled Greek Revival cottages with wall dormers in Lexington(the other two are at 185 Burlington St. [MHC#7451 and 79 North St. [MHC#723])and has the most elaborate finishes. Its setting and associated large barn(MHC#749)also preserve a sense of Lexington's agricultural past. The house is rectangular with a rear ell, 1'/2 stories, five-by-one bays, and is side-gabled with two rear chimneys,one of them in the ell,which is on the west side of the house. The original house is set on a granite foundation, clad with wood clapboards,and roofed with asphalt shingles. The roof of the ell has been extended east from the ridge line until it is almost flat, covering a second-story extension with an exterior chimney over a screened porch on the first floor. The center entrance-in the main block has a surround with a molded cornice,an unusual raised block and groove design on the architrave, a Greek fret design on the side pilasters,and half-length sidelights; windows are 2/2 double hung sash. There are paired gabled wail dormers on the facade and a similar wall dormer on the west elevation of the ell. A one-story bowed bay topped by a balustrade has been added on the east elevation. The large 2'/2-story front-gabled barn is in two sections, both on fieldstone foundations. There is a ridge chimney in the front section,a cupola vent in the rear one, and a shed-roofed side addition with an exterior chimney. The walls of the barn are broken by many windows, installed when it was converted to a poultry barn. The 1%2-story garage is on a concrete foundation as is the one-story shed-roofed hen house. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ® see continuation sheet 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. Although the style of this house suggests that it might have been built in the early 1830s when the other two similar houses in Lexington were constructed, Lexington assessors' records indicate that the house was actually not built until 1843. In 1826 when Daniel Cummings, a Lexington tanner, bought 58 acres in Lexington, Bedford, and Burlington that included the land on which this house is located,there already was a house on the property. According to the terms of the deed, Ruth Trask,the widow of Jonathan Trask, retained her widow's one-third dower rights in that house,which was located on the opposite side of Grove St. from this one. This division of property is reflected in Daniel Cummings' real estate assessments, for from 1826 through 1842 he is assessed for 2/3 of a house. In 1843, however, Daniel was assessed an additional amount for a"house unfinished"and in 1844 for 12/3 houses, indicating that this house was built in 1843. The property remained in the Cummings family until 1890 and,by then a farm of 68 acres, was acquired in 1916 by Alexandra Carlisle Pfeiffer,a British actress,and her husband Albert. The Pfeiffers raised sheep and it was probably they who put the BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet Hales, John G. Plan of the Town of Lexington in the County of Middlesex., Boston: Pendleton's Lithography, 1830. Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 706-07. Lexington Valuation Lists. 1826-1845. Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 265: 212; 1979: 86; 4064: 267; 6076: 2. Title research on the Daniel Cummings Farm. In possession of Kathleen Wright, Lexington, MA. Kathleen Wright. Personal communication 1998. ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.