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MW <br /> I <br /> ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and <br /> Ievaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) <br /> This house is all that remains of. Lexington's most splendid estate, the <br /> Hayes property, also called The Castle or Oakmont. As the carriage house, it <br /> Istood east of the 32-room main house (demolished in 1941) in the 400-acre <br /> estate which was landscaped with exotic and costly plants (some of the rhodo- <br /> dendronsare still evident on this lot) . Constructed, like the mansion, of <br /> multi-colored granite including stones with pink and orange tones as well as <br /> grey, some of which were imported from maine, the carriage house echoes <br /> (see Continuation Sheet) <br /> I HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state <br /> history and how the building relates to the development of the community.) <br /> Francis B. Hayes was a lawyer who was particularly successful in advising <br /> railroad companies and was instrumental in the construction of several railroad <br /> lines in the west. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives <br /> in 1873 and the State Senate the next year. He was responsible for the passage <br /> of a bill "reducing the hours of labor in the factories and shops for women and <br /> children to ten hours per day, and other legislation to _protect them in <br /> manufacturing establishments. from overwork and abuse" -(Hurd 1890 , Volume 1:636) . <br /> .Haves came to Lexington in 1861 as a summer resident. He gradually <br /> amassed acreage until he owned all of Granny Hill' and land extending from it <br /> to Hancock and Grant streets. In 1883-1884 he built the largest dwelling ever <br /> to be built in Lexington for his permanent residence (the architect has not <br /> been identified) . <br /> Haves was an avid horticulturist and embellished his estate with rare <br /> plants. Many of the rhododendrons he planted are still seen from Vieriam Street, <br /> Oakmont Circle, and Castle Road. Haves was president of the Alassachusetts <br /> Horticultural Society for several years before his death in 1884 and the roses, <br /> azaleas and such that he exhibited regularly won prizes. Hayes and his <br /> descendants opened the grounds of his estate to the public and there are many <br /> references in the local paper to what was blooming there. <br /> Most of the estate was divided up for house lots by 1900. Hallie Blake, <br /> who was prominent in town affairs, was the last resident of The Castle before <br /> its demolition en 1q41- <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY <br /> q41.BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) <br /> Hurd, D. Hamilton, ed., History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Vol. I (Phila- <br /> delphia: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1890) <br /> Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington, A Century of Photographs, p. 37. Boston: <br /> Lexington Historical Society, 1980. <br /> "Scenes from Old Lexington." Lexington Minute Iran, August 6, 1953. <br /> I MT _ '7 Ye <br />