lowell-street_0477 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 477 Lowell St. is one of only 10 side-gabled Greek Revival cottages in Lexington and is very well-preserved; its architectural integrity is compromised only by the additions and the fact that it was recently moved to this location. The house is rectangular, 1'/a stories, five-by-two bays,and has a side-gabled roof and rear metal chimney pipe. It is set on a concrete foundation, clad with wood clapboards,and roofed with asphalt shingles. The shed dormers in front and back,pedimented entry with Tuscan posts,and one-story side-gabled side addition are later additions. The center entrance has full-length sidelights;other Greek Revival finishes include the comerboards and the frieze boards across the front and rear. 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. Until 1976 this house was located in Woburn on the south side of Lexington St. approximately where Strawberry Lane is now. The house was probably built about 1839 after Oliver C. Rogers,a farmer, bought the 20-acre parcel on which it seems to have been located, although in 1837 Rogers had also bought 136'/. acres in the same area, so the date of construction is not entirely clear. Rogers, who moved to Woburn from Tewksbury, did not live in this house very long,however, for in 1851, by then described as a"gentleman,"he sold it to a trader from Salem,who, in turn, moved to Woburn and sold the house the next year to a "gentleman"from Beverly. That owner also moved to Woburn, selling this house in 1854 to a"gentleman"from Wayland,who sold it in 1857 to a Samuel Barnes, a farmer from Sandwich, Massachusetts. In 1873 Barnes' heirs sold the farm to an Origen B. Darling, who owned it until the end of the century. For much of the 20th century the house and farm were reportedly owned by the Walker family. In the mid-1970s the land around the house was about to be developed and the house demolished, but a member of the Porter family,who had grown up in the house across the street, acquired the house and moved it to Porter land in Lexington (see 455 Lowell St. f MHC#664] form). BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 409: 465; 361: 226; 618: 198; 638: 453; 703: 77; 767: 257; 1263: 258. Vi Pike, personal communication 1998. ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.