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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 735 Mass. Ave. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 216 ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. Front fagade gable end to street. Fluted Doric columns, elaborately carved door surround. First floor windows with framed "skirt"to give appearance of greater length,quarter round windows in gable,recessed panels in wide cornerboards,one tall chimney right, one later at rear,front line, granite foundation,brick floor to entrance portico with cement foundation. Architect and master builder Isaac Melvin was clearly inspired by the pattern books of Asher Benjamin, specifically The Practice of Architecture which was published in 1833. On the Stone Building four Doric columns support a broad pediment inset with quarter circle windows which flank a smaller lunette in the peak of the gable. Contrary to Benjamin's design,the soffit is adorned with mutules. The center entrance is based on Plate XXVIII of The Practice of Architecture. The paneled door is flanked by two-thirds length sidelights,defined by narrow,fluted moldings. A shallow fanlight extends above the sidelights and door. The fluted pilasters flanking the door are decorated at the top with a variation on the Greek fret. The pilasters support a cap ornamented on a central panel with an anthemion. As shown in Benjamin's design, stylized honeysuckle vines fill the spandrels on either side of the fanlight. The design of the Stone Building and its introduction of Asher Benjamin's patternbooks had a major influence on architecture of the period in Lexington. Other Asher Benjamin-inspired doorways which survive in East Lexington include 627, 715, 782, 870, 884, and 1106 Massachusetts Avenue. 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. Originally built by Eli Robbins to give East villagers a place to speak freely. Apparently many felt inhibited in the First Parish Meetinghouse in Lexington Green. When the Town refused to build a new meeting house in the East Village,parish split. The Christian Association,as the new society called itself,met in the Stone Building from 1834 to 1840. During these years,R.W. Emerson,Bronson Alcott,John S. Dwight and Theodore Parker among others,addressed the society. Dr. Charles Follen was alled by the congregation in 1835 to preach, so it was under his auspices that the Transcendentalist ministers came to speak. He had resigned his place with the Second Church of Boston in 1832. The congregation moved to its own building,the Follen Church, designed by Charles Follen in 1840 (see Follen Church,MHC#633). [Note: Nov. 11, 1833 the General Court of Massachusetts established equality of religious sects and ended the authority over churches,a fact clearly related to the 1833 split with the First Parish Congregation.] Architect Isaac Melvin of Concord designed the building with a public meeting hall on the second floor and a public meeting hall on the second floor. John Colby was the contractor and Curtis Capell was the carpenter. In 1851 the building was conveyed to Abner Stone who lived there with his family. In 1891 Eli Robbins' granddaughter, Ellen Stone,offered the town the building for$2,000 with the stipulation that the building was to remain a meeting hall, library or similar educational use. In 1946 the building was renovated and the ell at the rear was removed. The building served as the East Lexington Branch Library until August 2007 when a water pipe burst, causing the building to be closed to the public. In 2009 plans are currently underway to utilize the building as a Lexington Heritage Center. Continuation sheet 1