stratham-road_0006 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) There were perhaps half-a-dozen estates with fairly elaborate Mansard or Italianate style houses in Lexington by the 1870s. Many of them, although not this one, were pictured in Hudson's 1868 History of the Town of Lexington. They included the houses of F.B. Hayes, Wm. A. Tower, A.W. Crowninshield, Chas. O. Whitmore, and this house, the George W. Robinson estate. Only the Robinson and Crowninshield houses survive. This house preserves much of its original setting and is Lexington's most elaborate extant Mansard style house. (see Continuation Sheet) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community.) This was the first of five Robinson houses to be built on the southern slope of Davis (later Robinson) Hill. George W. Robinson, a successful provisions merchant in Boston, chose the 20 acre site partly for the excellent spring which flowed higher up the hill. In later years the spring water flowed into a marble basin behind each house (some of the basins have survived) . George Jerry Osborne Washington Robinson was born in Stratham, New Hampshire in 1808. He was first introduced to Lexington when his wife's parents purchased a farm on Lincoln Street in 1836. A self-made man, Robinson became a prominent citizen after settling here in 1846. C. 1852 he built the Robinson Block still standing in Lexington center. He was president for many years of the Lexington Savings Bank and was one of the largest taxpayers in Lexington. By the late nineteenth century Robinson's property became something of a family compound with Robinson's son, Frederick, occupying this house; unmarried daughters, Francis and Sarah, occupying 10 Stratham Road; and daughter Edith and her husband, Frank Childs, living in 2 Stratham Road. The houses at 14 and 18 were also built by the Robinson family. In fact, Stratham Road was a private drive until the early twentieth century. The Misses Robinson chose its name to commemorate their father's birthplace in New Hampshire. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 586. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913. Worthen, Edwin B. "George Slept -- Where?" Lexington Minute Man, November 13, 1969. 1889 atlas 1898 atlas 1906 atlas 10M - 7/82