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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 2377 MASS. AVENUE MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 1607 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. 2377 Massachusetts Avenue is a well-preserved 2 %2-story, 3 x 2-bay, side-gabled dwelling dating to the mid 19th century. Set on a granite foundation,the house is sheathed in wood clapboards and capped by a gable roof with projecting eaves that end in returns on the gable ends. The house is fronted by a single-story porch supported by Doric columns that appears to date to the early 20th century. The Colonial Revival entrance is a more recent alteration. Windows contain 6/6 wooden sash and are capped by projecting shed lintels. A modern deck is located to the rear and an exterior brick chimney has been added on the west end. Behind the house is a side-hill English barn which is sheathed primarily in wood clapboards with vertical boards on the gable ends. The barn is set on a rubble foundation. The large vertical board barn door on the fagade is fronted by a grassy ramp with a stone retaining wall along the east side allowing for access to the lower level. Other fenestration includes 6/6 windows. 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. Based on inspection of historic maps and Census data, it appears that this house was constructed between 1853 and 1870. The 1876 map indicates it was then owned by D. McNamara. Dennis McNamara was born in Ireland in 1826 and married Catherine Cosgrove. The couple lived in Waltham in 1860 but by 1870 was living here. Several of their children also settled in the neighborhood(Dennis Jr. at 2243 Mass. Ave. and Nellie(married to Thomas Breslin) at 2219 Mass. Ave.) In 1880 McNamara, a stone mason,was living here with his wife, four daughters and two sons. He died May 3, 1907. The house was later occupied by son, Dennis McNamara,Jr., also a stone mason, and his wife Catherine. It is still owned by members of the McNamara family today. 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