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BUILDING FORM (12 Shirley Street) <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the <br /> community. <br /> The house at 12 Shirley Street is an interesting example of the Craftsman style and bears some resemblance to the house at <br /> 118 Bedford Street. The building remains nearly totally unaltered from its original, 1917, appearance. Resting on a rubble <br /> foundation,the 2 1/2-story, side-gabled dwelling is sheathed in wood shingles with an asphalt-covered roof and a brick, off- <br /> ridge chimney. The roof displays overhanging eaves which are supported by triangular braces and flared ends on the gable <br /> ends. The lateral eaves have exposed rafters. The front facade is two-bays wide with a sidehall entrance containing a glass- <br /> and-panel door. The facade is fronted by a single-story porch which wraps around to the west elevation. The porch is <br /> supported by pairs of thin square posts with capitols and bases, and are infilled by geometric stickwork. The porch columns <br /> are in clusters of three at the corners of the porch. Between the supports stick balusters rest on a wooden deck above a <br /> latticed airspace. The windows contain 6/1 sash with molded surrounds, exterior storm windows and vertical board shutters. <br /> Centered on the front roof slope is a gable dormer with small triangular braces. Projecting from the rear of the east elevation <br /> is a two-story gable which projects slightly with two windows on the first floor of the east elevation and a single window <br /> above. On the west side of the house the porch terminates at an additional two-story projecting gable. The secondary <br /> entrance on the front face of the projection has a glass-and-panel door. Both of the side gables display the same triangular <br /> braces as the main gables. <br /> A driveway extends along the west side of the house,terminating at a gablefront garage with an overhead door. The building <br /> dis"lays exposed rafters on the side elevations. <br /> 1 <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE <br /> Describe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building and <br /> the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> This house was constructed in 1917 on Lot 12 of the subdivision laid out by George Tewksbury in 1898. The Town <br /> Valuation List indicates that in 1917 Theodore Custance was assessed for the lot only. The following year the assessment <br /> included a house valued at$4000. Theodore Custance was one of the principals of Custance Brothers, contractors and <br /> builders and it is assumed that the firm built the house. By 1925, Custance, who lived across the street at what is now 9-11 <br /> Shirley Street (MHC# 1118), had sold the house at 12 Shirley Street. It was owned by Eugene Partridge and his wife in the <br /> 1930s and 1940s. Francis and Margaret Morse purchased the house in 1948 and continue to live here today. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES <br /> Lexington Assessors Records. <br /> L4xington Directories, various dates. <br /> Lexington Valuation Lists, various dates. <br /> Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed <br /> National Register Criteria Statement form. <br />