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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS Lexington 5 Berwick Rd. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 2106 ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement.form. Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. The house that Willard Brown designed for Bertha Hutchinson in the Colonial Revival style is one of his most accurate versions of a "Colonial" dwelling. The 2 1/2 story, five bay, side gable massing; the center entrance; the facade's symmetrical fenestration; and the dentil course at the eave are frequent components of 18th-century houses in New England. The broad corner boards with moldings suggesting pilasters, in contrast, seem to have been drawn from the Greek Revival style. The design of the porch where the openings are curved at the top adds a note of originality to the building. The house is set on a cement foundation. Exterior walls are clapboarded and the roof is covered with asphalt shingles. A single chimney is placed near the center of the roof at the ridge. On the facade two pairs of 6/6 windows with simple frames flank a three-part window on the second level and the doorway on the first level. The half-height sidelights and the two gazed upper panels of the door contain an unusual pattern of leaded glass. Slim fluted pilasters with dentils at their caps and a minimal cornice complete the doorway. A garage and deck are appended to the two-story rear ell. The front of the house is surrounded by shrubbery. Trees cover the rear of the lot. The Hutchinson House is part of a group of houses, many architect-designed and generally in Colonial Revival or Craftsman styles, that were built parts of Lexington, such as Merriam Hill, Munroe Hill and Winthrop Road, that saw upscale development in the early 20th century. Local architect, Willard Brown (1871-1943), was responsible for the design of a number of these residences (including 19 documented by his daughter), as well as a few well-regarded public buildings (the Munroe and Parker Schools, and Cary Memorial Library). His buildings are among the most creative and interesting structures of the period in Lexington. They often combine allusions to several styles at once and might include features of the Shingle, Queen Anne, Italian Villa, Arts and Crafts, of even the Prairie style, though they are most frequently categorized as Craftsman or Colonial Revival. Many are characterized by low hip roofs with broad eaves and exposed rafter feet. Exterior finish materials used included stucco, brick, shingles, or clapboards. Brown's buildings invariably feature horizontal massing. Sixteen houses designed by Brown are included in the immediate Merriam Hill area. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. Bertha Hutchinson's house was built in 1932 on part of Lot 62 shown on the Plan of Oakmount Park Subdivision of 1903. She acquired the property from Dora W. Sawyer in 1931. According to Willard Brown's daughter, Sarah Emily Brown Schoenhut, Brown "designed [the house] for the wants and needs and of a single lady. A very modest little house tucked in between two larger houses in the early '30s." In 1940, Bertha Hutchinson sold the house to Ruth A. Stone, who owned it until 1989, when it was sold to Charstine O'Shea. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Grady, Anne. "The Architecture of Willard Brown." Course paper, Boston University Graduate School, 1978. Lexington Assessors Records. Sarah Emily Brown Schoenhut. Letter to Anne Grady. March 13, 1984. South Middlesex County Registry of Deeds. Bk. 5594, Pg. 315; Bk. 7777, Pg. 528; Bk. 20258, Pg. 528. Continuation sheet I