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<br />BUILDING FORM
<br />ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION • see continuation sheet
<br />Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
<br />51 Lowell St. is one of several L-shaped Italianate farmhouses in Lexington, but the only one with Queen Anne finishes. The
<br />cross-gabled house (MHC #655) has a rear ell, is 2Vt stories, and has two ridge chimneys. It is set on a brick foundation, clad
<br />with wood clapboards and wood shingles, and roofed with slate. The main entry is now under a porte cochere on the south
<br />elevation, a secondary entry is located in the reentrant angle, and windows are 2/1 double hung sash. Some Italianate finishes still
<br />remain: the paired curved brackets at the cornice and single brackets at the comers, the shed-style window hoods roofed with
<br />fishscale slates, and a double former front door in the reentrant angle. More prominent are the Queen Anne finishes: diamond
<br />patterned shingles above the first story, second-story walls that flare outward at the base, a distinctive scroll design along with
<br />flowers and paterae on the barge boards, another distinctive design on the panels of the projecting bays, turned porch posts with
<br />cut-out brackets, a spindle balustrade, and a spindle frieze under the porte cochere. The attached bam (MHC #656) with a cupola
<br />vent is now a residence with a two-car garage.
<br />HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ^ see continuation sheet
<br />DiscUss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the
<br />rolef^) the owners/occupants played within the community.
<br />This house was built in 1872 by Josiah H. Reed (1827-1890), who had grown up in the Reed homestead house at 72 Lowell St.
<br />(MHC # 658). After his father's death in 1864, Josiah's brother, Reuben W., apparently lived at the homestead farm and Josiah
<br />lived in Somerville before building this house. By 1881, however, Reuben W. had moved to Somerville and Josiah had acquired
<br />the Reed homestead farm; Josiah then sold this house in 1882 to a William Litchfield. It was undoubtedly Litchfield who made the
<br />Queen Anne additions to the house and he made many other changes as well. An August 1882 item in the Lexington Minute-man
<br />related : "Mr. Litchfield contemplates making quite extensive improvements and is now engaged in sinking a well, which will not
<br />be less than forty feet deep, through the ledge, and when this is finished he will erect a wind mill to pump water to the highest point
<br />of his land, where he will build a reservoir to contain it for domestic and other purposes. He will also have an artificial duck pond
<br />in front of his residence. A new bam has been built for him this last spring. When finished, this will be another beautiful estate."
<br />In 1893 Litchfield's estate included the house, bam, windmill (built in 1889), 3A acre mowing and tillage, 8 acres pasture, 3
<br />horses, 1 cow, 60 fowl, and 3 carriages.
<br />BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES • see continuation sheet
<br />Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society.
<br />Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 568.
<br />Lepngton Minute-man, 26 August 1882.
<br />Lexington Valuation Lists. 1872-1873.
<br />M(ddlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 1582: 27; 1595: 55, 56.
<br />Sileo, Thomas P. Research on Monahan House, Lowell St. In possession of Thomas P. Sileo, Chelmsford, MA.
<br />Sullivan, Mark. "Family Feuds over Historic Home." Boston Globe, 26, March, 1995.
<br />[j Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National
<br />Register Criteria Statement form.
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