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BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 344 Lowell St. is one of the nicest higher-style, side-gabled,three-bay, center entrance Italianates in Lexington, even though its architectural integrity has been somewhat compromised by its vinyl siding. The house(MHC#662) is rectangular, 2%Z stories, three-by-two bays, and side-gabled with two rear interior chimneys. It is set on a granite foundation, clad with vinyl siding, and roofed with asphalt shingles. At the rear is a one-by-three bay,two-story, front-gabled addition with a ridge chimney on a fieldstone foundation; attached to it is a two-story, front-gabled carriage shed with two mitered doors. The center entrance has full-length sidelights and is under a roof supported by square pilastered posts; windows are 6/6 double hung sash. Other Italianate finishes on the main block include wide paneled comerboards; decorative brackets under the eaves; roundhead windows in the gables; a frieze board around the entire house, creating pedimented gables; and long first floor windows. The 1'/2-story side- gabled barn (MHC#663)has its original clapboards. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ❑ see continuation sheet 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. This house was built in 1852 by George Munroe (1822-1887), as evidenced by the fact that in 1853 he was assessed for the first time for a house valued at$3300 (previous assessments had been for the seven houses inherited from his father, all but one of which were valued between $200 and$700). After George's death the property was inherited by his son, Howard M. Munroe(b. 1869). Howard called it"Maple Grove Farm"and in the late 19th century the farm was over 100 acres with a number of barns, including a large one built by his father in 1878, and a windmill. The farm raised dairy cows, poultry, market vegetables, and Howard bought and sold fancy horses. He was also very active in the town and a member of a number of organizations such as the Lexington Historical Society, Hancock Church, and the Old Belfry Club, and one of the three original trustees of the Winning Home for Orphans and Destitute Children, located on Woburn St. In 1915 Howard established the Minuteman Rifle Club on Webb St. and in 1938,with H. I. Currier, Countryside Inc.,which ran a restaurant at the corner of Lowell and Woburn streets. The large barn burned in 1940, later that decade Howard sold flowers wholesale to Carlson's florist shop on East St., and in the years after World War II the former farm land was sold and developed for residences and the Harrington School. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 472-73. Lexington Valuation Lists. 1846-1853. Sileo,Thomas P. "Then &Now: Munroe Farm." Lexington Minuteman, 21 December 1995. ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.