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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET COMMMity: Form No: <br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Lexington 516 <br /> Office of the Secretary, Boston <br /> Property Name• Museum of Our National <br /> Heritage <br /> Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. <br /> ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE <br /> building is designed around two courtyards, one open and one closed but <br /> skylighted. The auditorium, largest element in the complex, was nestled back <br /> into the hillside farther to minimize its scale. The building houses four <br /> exhibition galleries, a library, and administrative offices as well as the <br /> auditorium, all on one level so that all areas are as accessible to the handi- <br /> capped as to the sound visitor. A full basement provides maximum security and <br /> controlled climate storage for the permanent collection of the museum. <br /> Exhibits will be drawn from this collection as well as from traveling materials <br /> from other historical collections in the United States. <br /> The siting of the many units, their interconnections and juxtapositions, <br /> the dramatic shed roofs and the brick exterior finish are all drawn from <br /> traditional New England elements. In spite of the great sophistication of <br /> their handling they remind the visitor of the many rambling additions to <br /> eighteenth century famhouses, the pitch of a barn roof or an early gable, or <br /> the brick ended houses of the Federal period. On a more urban level the com- <br /> bination of red brick and copper sheathed roof is a variant of that used <br /> originally by Charles Bulfinch in the Boston State House, the gilded dome of <br /> which was originally covered with copper provided by Paul Revere and Son. <br /> Hugh Shepley was the partner in charge and Wagdy Anis was the project architect. <br /> The building won an A.I.A. award. <br /> At the west end of the property is the Richard Tower house built in 1905 <br /> and several outbuildings probably associated with the Tower estate. The house <br /> is an interesting Colonial Revival structure rendered in brick with decorative <br /> tiles set in the facade. A tall semicircular portico is the focal point of <br /> the facade. <br /> 7V <br /> '3 <br /> 31 <br /> Staple to Inventory form at bottom <br />