maple-street_0162 - 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. 162 Maple St. is one of several modest early Federal houses in Lexington(another example is at 48-52 Lowell St. [MHC#657]) but has lost most of its original exterior finishes. The house is rectangular with a rear ell, 2'/s stories, five-by-two bays, and side- gabled with a rear chimney. The front-gabled,two-story ell has a side chimney. The house is set on a fieldstone foundation,clad with wood shingles, and roofed with asphalt shingles. At the rear is a small one-story shed-roofed addition. A hood over the center entrance that was there in 1996 (see photograph)had been removed by 1998; windows are 6/6 double hung sash. There are exposed rafter ends on both the main block and the ell. 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 by Nathan Fessenden(1772-1866)probably in 1804, for he does not appear in Lexington assessors' records before that date but in 1805 is assessed for real estate valued at$586. (The house belonging to Nathan Fessenden that is listed in the Direct Tax of 1798 was probably his father's.) After Nathan Jr.'s death the property was inherited by his son Nathan(1808- 1888),who for many years was a Lexington assessor. A published 1885 photograph of Nathan and his "wife"Caroline is probably mislabeled, since Nathan never married;the photo must be of Nathan and his sister Caroline, who also was unmarried. A 1923 photograph of the house shows it with a door with transom lights, a simple Federal door surround, and no exposed rafter ends. The house was later found to be infested with termites and has been extensively rebuilt and renovated. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet Direct Tax of 1798. Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 207. Jones, Sarah P. "Aged to Perfection in Lexington." Boston Herald, 30 November 1996. Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington:A Century of Photographs. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Historical Society, 1980. 5. Lexington Valuation Lists. 1802-1808. S. Lawrence Whipple. 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.