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BUILDING FORM (11 Locust Avenue) ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the community. The house at 11 Locust Avenue is a simple, 2 1/2-story vernacular Queen Anne-style dwelling which displays a three-bay wide gablefront. Set above a rubble foundation,the house is sheathed in clapboards with decorative wood shingles in the front gable alternating staggered butt and regular patterns with a similar band extending along the side elevations between the first and second stories. Extending behind the main house is a 1 1/2-story wing aligned with the north wall and also set on a stone foundation with shingle trim. The raking molding on both the gablefront and the south shed dormer are decorated by pairs of raised circular medallions separated by lines. The ends of the raking are notched and are supported by decorative brackets with incised foliate designs and pendants. The sidehall entrance contains a varnished wooden door separated into five raised panels with the two upper panels containing etched glass. Adjacent to the front door is a single 2/2 window. The gablefront is fronted by a single-story,hip- roofed entrance porch although the north half has been enclosed. The remaining open porch is supported by two turned posts with jigsawn brackets and a spindle frieze. The second floor of the facade is punctuated by three 2/2 windows with a single new 1/1 metal window in the attic. Fenestration on the rear wing includes individual and paired 2/1 sash with a shed dormer. On the south side of the house there is an example of Queen Anne sash;the remaining windows contain 2/1 sash. The wing is fronted on the south side by a wood,,-,n deck. C HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Describe 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. According to a brief mention in the Lexington Minute-man on May 18, 1888, Rev. Thompson had just purchased this lot from the heirs of Pelatiah P. Pierce (who died June 15, 1878). Rev. Thompson had already hired a Mr. Fitch of Billerica to build the house. The town history indicates that Rev. Thompson(1850-1907)was pastor of the Follen Church from 1887 until 1890 at which time he moved from town. He later returned and died in Lexington in 1907. Rev. Thompson's widow, Kate, continued to live in the house into the 1940s. It was later occupied by their daughter, Grace Mildred Thompson (b.1884)until about 1960. In 1970 the property was owned by Dennis and Joan Garant. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913. Lexington Assessors Records. Lexington Directories, various dates. Lexington Minute-man, 5/18/1888. LexTgton Valuation Lists, various dates. 1/ 1 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attached a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.