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BUILDING FORM <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. <br /> 51 Lowell St. is one of several L-shaped Italianate farmhouses in Lexington, but the only one with Queen Anne finishes. The <br /> cross-gabled house(MHC#655)has a rear ell, is 2'/2 stories, and has two ridge chimneys. It is set on a brick foundation,clad <br /> with wood clapboards and wood shingles, and roofed with slate. The main entry is now under a porte cochere on the south <br /> elevation,a secondary entry is located in the reentrant angle,and windows are 2/1 double hung sash. Some Italianate finishes still <br /> remain: the paired curved brackets at the cornice and single brackets at the corners,the shed-style window hoods roofed with <br /> fishscale slates,and a double former front door in the reentrant angle. More prominent are the Queen Anne finishes: diamond <br /> patterned shingles above the first story, second-story walls that flare outward at the base, a distinctive scroll design along with <br /> flowers and paterae on the barge boards, another distinctive design on the panels of the projecting bays,turned porch posts with <br /> cut-out brackets, a spindle balustrade, and a spindle frieze under the porte cochere. The attached barn(MHC#656)with a cupola <br /> vent is now a residence with a two-car garage. <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ® see continuation sheet <br /> Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the <br /> role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> This house was built in 1872 by Josiah H. Reed(1827-1890),who had grown up in the Reed homestead house at 72 Lowell St. <br /> (MHC#658). After his father's death in 1864, Josiah's brother, Reuben W.,apparently lived at the homestead farm and Josiah <br /> lived in Somerville before building this house. By 1881,however, Reuben W. had moved to Somerville and Josiah had acquired <br /> the Reed homestead farm; Josiah then sold this house in 1882 to a William Litchfield. It was undoubtedly Litchfield who made the <br /> Queen Anne additions to the house and he made many other changes as well. An August 1882 item in the Lexington Minute-man <br /> related : "Mr. Litchfield contemplates making quite extensive improvements and is now engaged in sinking a well,which will not <br /> be less than forty feet deep,through the ledge, and when this is finished he will erect a wind mill to pump water to the highest point <br /> of his land,where he will build a reservoir to contain it for domestic and other purposes. He will also have an artificial duck pond <br /> in front of his residence. A new barn has been built for him this last spring. When finished, this will be another beautiful estate." <br /> In 1893 Litchfield's estate included the house, barn,windmill (built in 1889), 3/, acre mowing and tillage, 8 acres pasture, 3 <br /> horses, 1 cow, 60 fowl, and 3 carriages. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet <br /> Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. <br /> Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 568. <br /> Lexington Minute-man, 26 August 1882. <br /> Lexington Valuation Lists. 1872-1873. <br /> Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 1582: 27; 1595: 55, 56. <br /> Sileo, Thomas P. Research on Monahan House, Lowell St. In possession of Thomas P. Sileo, Chelmsford, MA. <br /> Sullivan, Mark. "Family Feuds over Historic Home." Boston Globe, 26,March, 1995. <br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National <br /> Register Criteria Statement form. <br />