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ARCIiITECI'URAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and <br /> evaluate in terms of ,other buildings within the community.) <br /> The Garrity House is a transitional Federal/Greek Revival vernacular <br /> structure . A simplified Greek Revival frontispiece is the only exterior <br /> ornamentation. Picturesque massing, the use of skived clapboards , and <br /> the survival of old sash, shutters, and a substantial amount of early <br /> hand-blown glass contribute to the historical character of the building. <br /> The reduced scale of the building as compared to other structures , <br /> historical and contemporary, in the vicinity and its proximity to the <br /> street (unusual for Lexington) , are other factors, in its visual appeal. <br /> HISTORICAL, SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state (e ont. ) <br /> history and how the building relates to the development of.the community.) <br /> The Garrity House was constructed in the 1830s by Col. John Parkhurst <br /> Merriam who incorporated one of more earlier outbuildings into the <br /> structure . The Garrity House , the adjacent carriage house (built c.1810) , <br /> and the Buckman Tavern are the last surviving structures of what was <br /> in the 19th century a prosperous twelve-building farm complex known as <br /> the Meriam Farm. Purchased with the tavern and the land comprising <br /> Buckman Park in 1913 from the Meriam Family by the Town of Lexington, <br /> the Garrity House was , until 1957, the home of Mr. Jack Garrity, <br /> Lexington;'s Park Commissioner. From 1958 until 1978 , the building <br /> housed the local chapter of the American Red Cross . <br /> The Garrity House is , in its simplicity and picturesque massing, <br /> r=-= �__n _give of many farm buildings constructed in Lexington i n the <br /> 18t-h and 19th centuries . Few of such modest scale survive today. <br /> Because of its prominent location next to the Battle Green, the Garrity <br /> House is an effective reminder of Lexington' s past as a simple farming <br /> c o=unity. <br /> During the time that the Normal School was operating across the street after 1939 <br /> four female students kept house here while attending classes. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) <br /> Anbinder, Eleanor, et al. . Renort on the Garrity House , Lexington, <br /> Mass . Architectural and Social History, Existing Conditions , <br /> and Recommendations for Restoration and Reuse, 1981 . Boston <br /> University course paper. <br /> Brown, Willard D. The Story of Buckman Tavern. Lexington Historical <br /> Society, Lexington, MA , 1967 . <br /> Carroll, Orville W. . The Garrity House , An Architectural Analysis , <br /> July 27, 1981 . ReAort to Garrity House Committee . <br /> Kinch, William B. . Memorandum of June 2, 1981 to the Garrity House <br /> Committee on Examination of the Garrity House , May 2, 1981 . <br /> Lriffing, Abbie Stetson. Letters to Dr. Tilton, December 19, 1913, <br /> December 28 , 191 and January 5 , 1914, (Lexington Historical <br /> Society Archives. <br /> Hudson, Charles . History of the Town of Lexington. Middlesex County, <br /> Massachusetts , from its First Settlement to 1868, Vol. I . <br /> The Riverside Press , Cambridge , MA , 1913- (cont. ) <br /> 10t - i/82 <br />