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BUILDING FORM (439 Waltham Street) ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the community. Set on a low hill and shaded by trees, 439 Waltham Street is a 1 1/2-story, side-gabled dwelling which is sheathed in wood shingles and set above a fieldstone foundation. The building is fronted by a single-story porch supported by large Roman Doric columns set above a latticed wall which fronts the side stairs leading from the driveway to the front door. The porch is continued across the driveway by a porte cochere-like extension which is supported by longer Roman Doric columns and displays exposed rafters. (This appears to be an original feature and is depicted on the 1927 Sanborn Map.) Underneath the porch,the center entrance contains a wooden two-panel door with the upper panel consisting of a large single-pane window. Both panels are outlined by egg and dart moldings. On either side of the entrance is a three-side bay window with an individual 4/1 window on each face. Centered on the front roof slope is a hip-roofed dormer with exposed rafters and three 6/1 windows. The south elevation of the house consists of a broad gable punctuated by a variety of windows including 6/1, 4/1 and modern bay windows. The north elevation consists of a less-wide, asymmetrical gable with a single first floor window and two pairs of windows on the second story. A stone retaining wall encloses the front yard and a concrete driveway extends to the south of the house,terminating at a wood-shingled, hip-roofed,two-car garage with two individual, overhead doors on the front face. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE De cribe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building and theole(s) the owners/occupants payed within the commu ity U ql o /mXY-rrel o- 7 This property comnrises Lotof Section 1 of the Farmhurst subdivision, laid out on land owned by Neil McIntosh in 1918 (Book of Plans 285, Plan 4). The earliest known owners of the house are William and Fannie Schwalm who are listed in the 1927 Valuation List as the owners of a house at 443 Waltham Street(as this was known until the mid 1930s)valued at $6000 and including a garage and 15,182 square feet of land. Directories indicate that this was a two-family residence, occupied by William and Helen Schwalm as well as Charles and Fannie Schwalm. William Schwalm was employed as an auto mechanic while Charles Schwalm was a printer. In the 1930s Mr. and Mrs. E.A. Roberts occupied the house. Annie and John Spencer purchased the house about 1940 and members of the Spencer family continued to occupy the house until 1979. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Lexington Assessors Records. Lexington Directories, various dates. Lexington Valuation Lists, various dates. Sanborn maps, 1927 and 1935. Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attached a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.