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BUILDING FORM <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑ see continuation sheet <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. <br /> 66 North St. is one of a number of Federal houses in Lexington though is less intact than many due to its many additions and its <br /> artificial siding. The original part of the house is rectangular with a side ell, 2'Y2 stories, five-by-two bays, and side-gabled with <br /> two tall rear chimneys in the main block and one in the ell. The side-gabled ell is two stories in height,has a bow window on the <br /> front, and is attached to a two-car garage. The foundation of the main block is not visible but is probably granite;the entire house <br /> is clad with vinyl siding and roofed with asphalt shingles. At the rear of the ell are several small, shed-roofed additions on <br /> fieldstone foundations, and at the rear of the main block is a shed-roofed,two-story bay surrounded on two sides by a one-story <br /> shed-roofed addition adjoining the ell. The center entrance in the main block has a paneled surround with half-length sidelights; <br /> windows are 6/6 double hung sash. On the facade of the main block are gabled dormers and a gabled projecting center bay whose <br /> second story overhangs the entry, meeting the line of a wraparound porch that has square pilastered posts. <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ❑see continuation sheet <br /> Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the <br /> role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> This house was not built by Stephen Locke (1778-1839) as has previously been thought, but was built in 1837 by Stephen's son <br /> Nichols Locke(1810-1887), for Lexington assessors' records indicate that Stephen Locke was not taxed for land until 1830 and <br /> never for a house. Nichols, on the other hand,was first taxed for land in 1835 and in 1838 his assessment was raised because he <br /> had a"new house,"undoubtedly this one. Since the assessments were made in June of each year,the house had probably been <br /> built in 1837. In 1841 Nichols Locke was assessed for a house,barn, and 64'/2 acres and, with his brother Stephen, for three <br /> horses,two oxen, six cows,three swine, and one chaise. Nichols Locke was a milkman—someone who delivered the milk <br /> produced on his farm to customers on a regular route—and moved to Charlestown about 1850, selling this property in 1853. In <br /> 1870 the house,which was on an eight-acre lot east of North St.,and its associated 77-acre farm west of North St. was purchased <br /> by a George B. Pierce of Dorchester. Pierce named the property Elmwood Farm, used it as a summer residence before moving to <br /> Lexington, and sold it in 1880 to John H. Willard. Willard was actively involved in the town, becoming a member of the <br /> Historical Society and the Belfry Club, and improved the farm. An 1890 description of Lexington noted that"the Willard place <br /> bears evidence of skillful and profitable farming,with its well-managed dairy and its enormous brood of 2000 chickens." The part <br /> of the farm west of North St. is now the town-owned Willard's Woods conservation land. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet <br /> Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. <br /> Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 369, 372, 375. <br /> Hurd, D. Hamilton, ed. History of Middlesex County,Massachusetts. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis &Co., 1890. 606. <br /> Lexington Valuation Lists. 1820-1845. <br /> Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 667: 324; 1128: 67; 1532: 452. <br /> Sileo,Thomas P. Sileo.Historical Guide to Open Space in Lexington. Lexington, Mass.: Thomas P. Sileo, 1995. 106-09. <br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National <br /> Register Criteria Statement form. <br />