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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 95 MERIAM STREET
<br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
<br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
<br /> �H 2150
<br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
<br /> If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
<br /> Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.
<br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
<br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
<br /> 95 Meriam Street occupies a large, generally flat lot that is maintained chiefly in lawn. The U-shaped main block is set close to
<br /> the left side of the property, with a deep front setback that contains a semi-circular paved driveway. A detached garage stands
<br /> at the right front corner of the property.
<br /> The present appearance and configuration of the building dates to 2012, when the owners received a building permit to remove
<br /> and replace the garage, construct a rear addition, and renovate the existing building. The existing building is one story and
<br /> presents an array of hip and gable roofs; pedimented gable ends; and 2/2 and 6/6 double-hung windows, many of which are
<br /> grouped, with wood trim and paneled wood shutters. Walls are clad in stucco; roofs are sheathed with slate. Offset on the front
<br /> facade, the main entrance is composed of a gabled front portico with Ionic columns and a paneled single-leaf door with half-
<br /> height sidelights. The complementary garage has a steep hip roof, two individual vehicle garage bays, wood shingles, a slate
<br /> roof, and 6/6 windows.
<br /> The building at 95 Meriam Street represents a large-scale expansion and reconstruction of a modest but elegantly designed
<br /> suburban house of the early 20th century. Remnants of the original building may be present, but they no longer retain integrity or
<br /> significance. The property is notable for its historic associations with architect Charles Adams Platt.
<br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
<br /> Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the
<br /> owners/occupants played within the community.
<br /> In 1906, the northern slope of Meriam Hill was still part of the Hayes Estate, with buildings only along the perimeter roads
<br /> (Adams and Grant streets). In 1914, land in this area was surveyed and subdivided for house lots according to a plan made for
<br /> the owner, Henry L. Seaver. Shortly thereafter, Seaver, a professor at MIT, and his wife Susan built and occupied a house at 97
<br /> Meriam Street. According to the deeds, Minnie S. bought the land on which 95 Meriam stands in 1914. The town directory for
<br /> 1915 identifies Minnie S. Seaver, a designer, living at this address. Henry and Minnie were the children of Lattimer S. Seaver, a
<br /> chemist, and his wife, Minnie C. Seaver, who lived in the center of town on Massachsuetts Avenue. Directories continue to list
<br /> Minnie S. Seaver at this address through at least 1922, although the 1920 census has her living with her parents. According to
<br /> the 1920 census, Minnie S. Seaver was a designer of leaded glass.
<br /> By 1936, residents at 95 Meriam Street included Foster Osgood, in the business of advertising sales, and his wife Catherine S.
<br /> By 1945, and at least through 1965, the house was occupied by Kleber Hall, an artist. His wife Ilma accompanied him here in
<br /> 1945. Kleber Hall shared a studio with Aiden Lassell Ripley in Lexington center(over the Lexington Savings Bank). Deeds
<br /> show that Minnie S. Seaver sold the property to her brother Henry Seaver in 1955, and he sold it in 1967 to Julian K. and
<br /> Christine S. Knipp. Further research on the owners and occupants of 95 Meriam Street is recommended, to document and
<br /> evaluate the artistic community in Lexington in the 20th century.
<br /> Based in New York City, Charles Adams Platt(1861-1933)was highly accomplished and nationally recognized as an architect,
<br /> landscape architect, and painter. He trained as a fine artist with Stephen Parrish, studied architecture at the National Academy
<br /> of Design in New York, traveled and studied in Europe for many years, and was part of an artists' colony in Cornish, New
<br /> Hampshire that coalesced around the workshop of sculptor Augustus St. Gaudens. In 1894, Platt published a book called Italian
<br /> Gardens that promulgated a formal, Renaissance-influenced aesthetic. Together with Edith Wharton's Italian Villas and Their
<br /> Continuation sheet I
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