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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 424 MARRETT ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 2248 ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 424 Marrett Road occupies a compact corner lot overlooking a busy crossroads intersection, where Marrett Road makes a sharp bend. The lot is generally flat at the front and sides and slopes down gently from right to left at the back; the building is surrounded by pavement on all sides. The building consists of a roughly rectangular main block and two perpendicular side ells, all 2 '/2 stories in height. Walls are sheathed with wood clapboards and trimmed with wood sill boards and corner boards (plastic corner boards at the back corners), and a flat wood fascia with bed molding. Windows typically have 6/6 double-hung replacement sash with flat casings; no molding. All four end-gables of the building have glazed lunette windows centered in the half story. The front fagade of the building has a full-length porch with a hip roof, four Tuscan columns, and a concrete floor. Double-leaf French doors form the front entry, with a storefront window to the left. Three windows are set symmetrically across the second floor, and a lunette window in the half-story. The right side elevation of the main block is continuous, with a side entrance set in the end bay towards the front, sheltered by a gabled shed roof on simple sawn brackets. Four windows are regularly spaced across the second floor. The back elevation of the main block features a poured concrete foundation and three window bays, displaying horizontal awning windows high on the first floor, 6/6 double hung windows on the second story, and a lunette window in the half story. On the left side of the main block, the back portion is several feet wider than the front section and extends to a large perpendicular wing near the back of the main block. This rear wing has three windows symmetrically set in the second story of the end gable, a lunette in the half-story. Its wall facing the front of the property contains a single leaf door with a window centered above. The side of this ell that faces the back of the property contains one horizontal awning window high on the first floor and an offset window on the second floor. A one-story, shed-roofed appendage connects the rear wing to a smaller front wing, which is recessed slightly beyond the front face of the main block. The front wing has two windows centered in the second story on the end gable, and one at the second story facing the front of the property. Although well maintained, 494 Marrett Road has experienced extensive alterations since it was photographed in the 1930s (see image in Lexington;A Century of Photographs: 15). The present main block appears to retain the early massing, and the front wing on the left side, up to the roofline, may also be early. The building in the 1930s view has wood shingle siding, no gable returns, no front porch, 2/2 sash, a completely different storefront and fagade fenestration on the main block, and a two-story, shed-roofed addition near the front of the left side of the building. In its 21 st century incarnation, the building at 424 Marrett Road is notable as a vestigial reminder of early 20th century commercial development in an outlying area of town. 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. Marrett Road and Spring Street were established by the early 18th century as secondary radial highways from the center of Lexington to surrounding towns. Present-day Marrett Road between Massachusetts Avenue and Spring Street was known as Middle Street until at least the early 20th century, and the area was primarily agricultural up until that time. New transportation systems established in the early 20th century opened up large areas of rural land in Lexington for residential and commercial development. Street railway service began in Lexington in 1900 (including a railway line down Waltham Street Continuation sheet I