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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 27 YORK STREET <br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. <br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 <br /> 2174 <br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. <br /> If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. <br /> Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. <br /> 27 York Street occupies a steeply sloped, heavily wooded lot between York and Grant streets on Merriam Hill. The building is <br /> set close to the street, with broad side setbacks. A substantial stone wall composed of large irregular cut stones and fieldstones <br /> lines the street edge; a gravel-covered parking area is located up the hill to the left of the house. Stone pavers compose a <br /> walkway from the street to the main door. The building consists of a 1 '/2 story main block with a small shed-roofed extension at <br /> the left side of the facade and a relatively large contemporary addition at the right rear corner. <br /> The main block rises from a fieldstone and poured concrete to a side gable roof with gable returns. A massive fieldstone <br /> chimney rises on the exterior of the left side of the fagade, tapering significantly at the top, while a small brick chimney rises from <br /> the outside of the right side of the fagade. Walls are sheathed with wood shingles and trimmed with a narrow fascia having a <br /> slender bed molding. Windows typically have 6/1 double hung sash, some with plain flat casings, some with band molding. <br /> They are irregularly placed across the building facades. The low, shed-roofed extension at the left of the front facade is <br /> anchored to the main block by the fieldstone chimney; it is articulated by a group of three contiguous 6/6 windows and <br /> surmounted by a gable dormer with a 6/1 window and cornice molding. The main doorway is off-center on the fagade, trimmed <br /> with simple band molding; it is flanked by a three-part picture window to the left and a single window to the right. <br /> The left side elevation of the main block is symmetrically composed, with two small six-light windows on the first floor and a 6/1 <br /> double hung window in the half-story. The right side elevation is roughly symmetrical, with a fully-exposed basement behind its <br /> fieldstone foundation. The central basement door has a shed-roofed hood with plain braces and a six-light window to each side. <br /> The first floor contains a large 12/12 window flanked by smaller 6/1 sash; an 8/8 window is centered in the gable peak. <br /> The right rear addition is one-story with a flat roof, supported by exposed steel I-beams over a poured concrete foundation. <br /> Visible fenestration comprises two contiguous pairs of tall casement windows with large transoms above. A low shed-roofed <br /> dormer appears to span most of the rear elevation. <br /> 27 York Street is an informally and eclectically evolved cottage, distinguished by its over-scaled fieldstone exterior chimney and <br /> the substantial masonry wall along the street edge. The house's survival on Merriam Hill as a very modest, picturesque cottage <br /> is notable. <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE <br /> Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the <br /> owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> The assessors' records for 27 York Street show a construction date of 1850, which has not been confirmed. In 1906, this area <br /> was still part of the Hayes estate, which encompassed the 1883-84 mansion, 400 acres of land, and numerous outbuildings. <br /> The 1898 map shows an informal loop road to the east of the mansion that accessed a variety of barns and outbuildings. It is <br /> thought that the house at 27 York Street may have been one of the auxiliary buildings or outbuildings for the Hayes estate. This <br /> provenance also has not yet been confirmed, although one of the unnamed buildings shown on the 1898 map appears to be a <br /> possible match in size, shape, orientation, and location. The siting of the house and its massive stone wall strongly suggest a <br /> connection with the Hayes estate. The style, forms, and materials of other exterior features of the building, however, indicate an <br /> early 20th century construction (or renovation) period, which is consistent with the subdivision and later development of Merriam <br /> Hill. <br /> Continuation sheet I <br />