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BUILDING FORM (29 Tower Road) ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the community. Formerly part of the Tower Estate, 29 Tower Road is a 2 1/2-story dwelling which was built in two stages. The older part of the structure is the section to the south which probably dates to the 1870s or 1880s;the section to the north was apparently added after the house was moved to its present location in 1902. The house is set on a fieldstone foundation and is sheathed in asbestos shingles. The original part of the cottage is a rectangular block set with its narrow pedimented end to the street and an additional pediment on the south elevation. Projecting from the facade is a c.1902 single-story, rectangular bay window set on a stone foundation. The remaining windows consist of 2/2 sash, including both individual windows and pairs. Small 2 x 2 windows light the pediments. The northern elevation of the c.1902 addition displays an asymmetrical gable which extends to shelter the front porch. The north elevation is punctuated by a variety of windows. The front porch is supported by turned posts with a geometric railing and latticed airspace. The main entrance, under the porch, consists of a glass-and-panel wooden door with an adjacent 2/2 window. A single-story, 20th century wing extends behind the original house with a multi-paned sun porch on the south side. To the northwest of the house is a small,gablefront clapboarded shed. At the end of the driveway is a clapboarded garage with two overhead doors and a metal roof. The front yard is overgrown with vegetation. HIS)'fORICAL NARRATIVE Depribe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building and thelole(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. Together with Tower Park, an ornamental gate at Pelham Road (MHC#512) and the stone wall along Massachusetts Avenue and Pelham Road,this building is a last remnant of the William Augustus Tower estate which occupied much of the acreage along Mass. Ave. between Pelham Road and Middle Street(later Marrett Road). (ttv,e5-1(a,FP- C D aGhYV11 This house was originally located on Marrett Road(according to Edwin Worther's notes it st on the "site of Sherburne- Carter house"). It was reportedly originally built at Mr. Tower's expense for Mr. Batchelde who occupied it for 13 years before it was moved to its present location and constructed a large addition. A brief mention in the Lexington Minute-man in 1902 confirms that Col. William A. Tower purchased this lot of land from Frank Pierce and began excavation of a cellar. The house,then occup.'-d by Mr. Batchelder, was moved to the site for use by the Batchelder family. In 1906 Richard Tower sold the house and land on Tower Road to Fred Earle, a conductor on the Boston&Maine Railroad (Lexington branch). The 1906 map indicates that the surrounding acreage had already been lotted. The house was occupied for many years by Fred Earle and his wife, Caroline(Carrie). The Earles continued to own the house into the 1950s. It was known as 14 Tower until the mid 1930s. William Augustus Tower(1824-1904)was a very successful banker and businessman who moved to Lexington in the 1850s. In addition to banking interests in Chicago and Boston, he served as president of the Concord Railroad in New Hampshire from 1870-1873 and later president of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. He was a member of the first board of trustees of RLexington Savings Bank and a founder of the Lexington Historical Society. He served as a member of the House of resentatives and the Governor's Council and was chief marshal at the Lexington Centennial celebration in 1875. Tower's resdence south of Main Street was described as the finest in town in the 1868 Town History; a new house was built for Tower by a Mr. Ball in 1873. This mansion wasT down in the late 1930s or early 1940s. M ass Ale. Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.