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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 2287 MASS. AVENUE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 1604 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. This house may date to the early 19th century but has seen many alterations since that time. The two-story, side-gabled structure presents a first floor which is three bays wide. The center entrance consists of an exterior vestibule with modern door sheltered by a gable door hood with shiplap siding resting on jigsawn brackets. It is flanked by two window openings that now contain modern casements and are capped by window hoods set on small brackets. The two upper story windows are oddly placed and contain 1/1 sash. The exposed rafters suggest that the second story could be a later, early 20th century addition and the shinglework on the side gables show that the rear roofline was later raised. To the northeast of the house is a garage constructed of shiplap siding with two modern overhead garage doors on its gablefront. 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. This house and its neighbor at 2295 Massachusetts Avenue were in common ownership for many years and it is not clear which of the two houses is older. Deeds suggest that one of the two houses dates back at least to the early 19th century. The original owner may well have been Michael Ryan who is shown as the owner on the 1853 map and sold it to Simon Robinson in 1854 (Book 674,Page 263). This transaction began over fifty years of ownership by the Robinson family, although it is not clear whether the family actually occupied the house. Simon W. Robinson(1792-1868)was a selectman, a state rephresentative and was very prominent in Masonic matters. The local lodge was later named after Robinson. During the late 19t century the house was owned by John B. Robinson, Simon's son,who lived in Boston. The 1875, 1898 and 1906 maps show two houses owned by J. Robinson(2295 and 2287 Massachusetts Avenue). The house was later inherited by Francis Robinson who sold it to Bengt Petterson in 1915. Petterson owned the property for just four years, selling the house and three acres of land to Joseph Valliere in 1919. Valliere was a conductor on the street railway. In 1930 the occupants of the house were Joseph,his wife Helen,two daughters,three sons and two sisters-in-law. The house next door at 2295 was also owned by Valliere but was rented out. The two were subdivided in 1932. Helen Valliere sold this house with a smaller parcel of land to George and Sonja Stone in 1953. The present owners purchased the house in 1964. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 1853, 1876, 1889, 1898, 1906 maps Middlesex South Registry of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass. Town Directories U.S. Census,various years. Continuation sheet 1