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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address LEXINGTON 36 HANCOCK ST. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 119 BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION continued The exterior features of the design of the south part of the house mirror the simple elegance of the interior rooms where paneled fireplace walls, cornice moldings,beam cases, staircase decoration, and paneled doors of Georgian design remain virtually unchanged for the original construction. Three of the four rooms remained unpainted until 1897,when they received a single coat of a translucent finish. The ell,modest in treatment in keeping with its utilitarian functions,is also well preserved,though the kitchen fireplace was rebuilt in the mid nineteenth century. The ell retains walls of feather-edged sheathing, an original secondary staircase,and many original doors and other fittings. Though there are several earlier houses in Lexington,two of which,the Munroe and Buckman Taverns, are also owned by the Lexington Historical Society, all, except the Hancock-Clarke House,have been modified over time. The Hancock-Clarke House, when built as the house of the Town's minister,Rev. John Hancock,was undoubtedly the finest and most sophisticated dwelling in Lexington. Rev. Hancock is thought to have received financial support and design advice from his son,Thomas, a wealthy Boston merchant who was building his own celebrated mansion on Beacon Hill at the time. The house compares favorably with other house of the 1730s, like the Durant-Kendrick House in Newton,that were built by men whose urban connections gave them access to the new Georgian architectural ideals at a time when those ideals were just beginning to spread to rural areas. What distinguishes the Hancock-Clarke House among surviving eighteenth century houses in Massachusetts is the fact that it survived without significant change over time.