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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 /> 27-31 Vaille Ave. is one of the relatively few side-gabled Greek Revival/Italianate houses in Lexington that has pedimented
<br /> window and door surrounds. The house is rectangular with a side ell, 2'/:stories,five-by-two bays, and side-gabled with two rear
<br /> chimneys. The ell is two-stories, four-by-one bays,and side-gabled with a ridge chimney. The house is set on a brick foundation,
<br /> clad with wood clapboards, and roofed with asphalt shingles. At the west end of the ell is a 1'/2-story,two-by-one bay addition,
<br /> the front on a brick foundation and the back on concrete. On its roof is a small shed-roofed addition,perhaps for a staircase. At
<br /> the rear of the main block is a full-width one-story shed-roofed addition on a concrete foundation, and, at the rear of the ell,a
<br /> wider full-width one-story shed-roofed addition. There are center entrances on both the first and second stories of the main block,
<br /> both with pedimented surrounds and full-length sidelights;these entrances are flanked by french doors,which also have
<br /> pedimented surrounds. A secondary entrance on the facade of the ell has a pedimented surround,too. Windows,other than those
<br /> on the facade of the main block, are 6/6, 1/1,or 2/2 double hung sash. There are two gabled dormers on the front slope of the
<br /> roof. Full-width piazzas extend across both the first and second stories on the facade of the main block; both piazzas are
<br /> supported by square pilastered posts,though on the second story the posts are also chamfered and the railing has turned balusters.
<br /> On the east elevation of the main block is a one-story three-sided bay on a brick foundation; a similar bay at the east end of the ell
<br /> is partly covered by a bay at the west end of the main block.
<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 /> Lexington assessors' records indicate that this house was built in 1861 by a Hibbard Bowen. The house was on or near the site of
<br /> an earlier one that had once belonged to Joshua Reed(1756-1826), probably built in the 18th century. The old house and the
<br /> large farm associated with it, which extended from Hill St. on the south to north of present Vaille Ave.,was acquired in 1840 by
<br /> Augustus Wellington and in 1852 by Aaron Rice,a Cambridge merchant who presumably rented out the property. Rice
<br /> apparently took down the old house in 1858 or it may have burned, for it is not listed in the 1859 assessors' records. Rice died
<br /> soon thereafter, and in 1861 the property was sold to a Timothy Hibbard Bowen of Lexington. Bowen evidently immediately built
<br /> this house, for he was assessed for a"new house"in 1862. He did not own the property long,however, selling it in 1863 to
<br /> Sylvester Bowman,a Boston distiller who, in turn, sold it to Frederick O. Vaille in 1886.
<br /> Vaille named the property Beechwood Farm, raised sheep, and was interested in agricultural innovations. A notice in the April 6,
<br /> 1888,Lexington Minute-man invited all interested to come to his farm to view a"unique horse mower called the Eureka,"which
<br /> cut a wider swath, had larger power wheels, and simpler gearing than most mowers then in use, and also left the hay untrampled
<br /> so that it could cure quickly. Vaille was also very religious; in 1892 he conducted a meeting at Hancock Church for"recalling
<br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet
<br /> Direct Tax of 1798.
<br /> Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society.
<br /> Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 1: 396,499, 500.
<br /> Lexington Minute-man, 6 April 1888, 8 April 1892, 29 July 1892.
<br /> Lexington Valuation Lists. 1853-1869.
<br /> Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 265: 367; 394: 491; 638: 563; 864: 536; 989: 332; 3069:341.
<br /> Sileo, Thomas P. Notes on F. O. Vaille. In possession of Thomas P. Sileo, Chelmsford, MA.
<br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
<br /> Register Criteria Statement form.
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