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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 26 BLOSSOM ST. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 LEX.555 buried within walls or ceilings, much of the framing of the superstructure of the house is presently exposed, also the result of alterations undertaken by the current owners. Posts at the second-floor level are splayed (aka “gunstock”) at their tops and join to the top plate with what is presumed to be the standard English tying joint, although the visible portions of these joints are presently insufficient to confirm this. An unusual feature of the framing that is visible is the lack of intermediary tie beams into which the base of rafters are typically tenoned; instead, the bases of the rafters are pegged into the upper surface of the top plate, possibly using a step-lap. Another example of this variant has been documented by Jack Sobon, in a Goshen, Massachusetts, barn that predated 1812 (Sobon, Historic American Timber Joinery, 2004: 11). Both second floor rooms within the front portion of the house formerly had ceilings supported by a total of five bents. The interior beam in the north room has been removed. The sides of the beams, or ties, retain evidence for the secondary beams that once framed into them, and which were oriented north-south. All of these secondary beams have been removed. Large diagonal up-braces are a visible feature of the second-floor exterior walls of the oldest portion of the house. Up-braces are located in both the exterior walls and within the central east-west partition, although some have been removed to accommodate new doors and changes to the fenestration. Builder’s marks on the frame are visible on the outside face of the west wall of the oldest portion of the house, within the lean-to. These consist of marriage marks of a large size, scribed with a race knife. Broad compass marks accompany some of the scribed marks. The frame appears to have been filled with brick nogging; however little of this currently remains, and it is not possible to determine its original extent. A small area of nogging survives in the west wall of the first period frame; it is visible within the enclosure for the stairs to the basement. Brick nogging measures 8” x 4” x 1 ½”, with some variation; these dimensions are similar to those of the brick used for the construction of the upper portions of the chimney in the north rooms of the house, as well as at the basement level of the same feature. At the second-floor level, a stair enclosure is located in the southwest corner of the southern room. It may have extended to the first floor, but no definitive evidence for this was found. At any rate, this cannot be the original location of a stair leading to the attic; the interior of the second-floor stair enclosure retains whitewashed beams and a post, and an indication of the former location of beams that were removed to install the stairs to the attic and which lack whitewashing in their remaining pockets. The stairs remain in place, although the attic floor—and the beams that once supported it—have all been removed. That the structural elements in the southwest corner of the southern room were all whitewashed—including a corner post, diagonal bracing and wall studs—is evidence that they were left exposed at an early period, before the installation of the stair. This is either an indication that the southern chamber remained unfinished initially, was used for storage, or that the original level of interior of finish was quite modest. The original roof consists of principal rafters and common purlins; rafters are forked at their apexes and pegged. There is no ridge pole proper, rather a purlin attached to the top of the west range of rafters serves this purpose. Portions of original or early straight-run stair stringers are preserved on the walls of the enclosure of the stairs leading to the basement. These could not have been installed in this location previous to the construction of the lean-to. The stair rail, newel and balusters of the main staircase are of a recent date and were installed by the present owners. Few examples of early hardware survive in the house at present. Exceptions are the two pintled strap hinges with spade ends that support the molded board door connecting the two second floor rooms. A present owner indicated the former location of a cupboard in the west wall of the south side of the main block of the house, which she removed. This was located in the wall between the main block and the lean-to. She also indicated the former location of a door in the south end of that same wall. The locations of both are indicated in the sketch plan by dashed lines. A previous owner, Vilunya Diskin, detailed work undertaken during her ownership when the house was offered for sale. This included remodeling of the second-floor bathroom (1977), the master bedroom (1980), and the kitchen (1991-92). The house was purchased by the present owner in 1999. In addition to the alterations noted previously, exterior alterations undertaken since that time include changes to the fenestration on the south wall of the house and removal of a one-story enclosed porch on that side of the dwelling. Alterations to what may have originally been a carriage barn, located immediately to the south and connected to the house by a hyphen have also been undertaken. Additional structures have also been constructed on the property.