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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 21 OAKLAND STREET <br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. <br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 <br /> �H 1176 <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 /> 21 Oakland Street occupies a relatively large, nearly square parcel between Oakland and Grant streets, on the steep southern <br /> slope of Merriam Hill. The lot is connected to Oakland Street by a narrow strip of land,just wide enough to accommodate an <br /> unpaved (gravel and grass) driveway. An adjacent, undeveloped parcel fronting on Grant Street is under the same ownership <br /> and contains another unpaved driveway. Visibility from public ways is extremely limited; field observations were substantially <br /> augmented by assessor's records and Bing bird's eye views for the following description. <br /> The rectangular building consists of a 35 by 40 foot main block rising 1 '/2 stories from a stone foundation to a front gable roof <br /> (facing Oakland Street)with exposed rafter ends. Due to the slope of the land, the basement level is fully exposed at the back of <br /> the house. Walls are clad with wood shingles; windows typically have double-hung sash with band molding. The main entrance <br /> is set slightly off the center line of the front (Oakland Street)fagade. The right side elevation (facing 19A Oakland Street) <br /> contains a wide, three-sided bay window that rises above the main eave line and is topped by a polygonal roof, creating a tower <br /> effect. Towards the rear of this elevation, a broad exterior chimney is flanked on the first floor by paired windows at the left and <br /> two single windows on the right, and two gabled dormers, each with a single window, at the roof. The rear elevation (facing <br /> Grant Street) has a wood porch and stairway spanning most of its length. <br /> 21 Oakland Street appears to be a substantial, distinctive, and little altered example of the Craftsman/Arts & Crafts style in <br /> Lexington. Access to the property for closer examination is merited. <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 /> Oakland Street was laid out and platted after 1873; most of the houses in this section were built in the 1880s. In 1906, this <br /> property was part of the Edward P. Bliss estate. Bliss's Queen Anne style house was built in 1884, with a major Craftsman style <br /> addition ca. 1906, designed by Lexington architect Willard Brown (LEX.373). The building now known as 21 Oakland Street was <br /> not illustrated on the 1906 map. A two-story building of roughly the same size, shape, and location (with an appendage at the <br /> back left[southeast] corner) appears on the 1927 Sanborn map, identified as Locke Hill Riding School. Parcel lines are <br /> unfortunately not completely drawn to indicate whether or not it was still part of the Bliss estate. In 1935, the building, now <br /> clearly on a separate parcel, is identified as a dwelling and numbered 21 Oakland Street. The narrow strip of land connecting <br /> the building and Oakland Street was in place at this time. <br /> No information is presently known of the Locke Hill Riding School. The first known residents at this address, in 1932, were <br /> Matthew Stevenson, then a cattle inspector, and his wife Minnie L. By 1935, they were accompanied by their son William H. <br /> Stevenson, and Matthew's sister, Irene C. Stevenson. In 1940, the family had a boarder, Althea Earley, who worked as a public <br /> school teacher. From at least 1945 through 1965, the house was occupied by Ernest F. Stokes and his wife Edith E. Mr. <br /> Stokes's occupation was described variously as accountant, purchasing agent, and manager. <br /> Further research is recommended to ascertain the construction date of this house, its affiliation with the Bliss estate, and early <br /> uses, including the history of the Locke Hill Riding School. <br /> Continuation sheet I <br />