vine-brook-road_0011 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 11 Vine Brook Rd. is one of a number of Federal houses in Lexington but has lost some integrity by having been moved; other moved Federals are at 16 Manley Ct. (MHC#666), 14 Sherman St. (MHC#675), and 137 Grant St. (MHC#678). This house is rectangular, 2'/2 stories, five-by-two bays, and side-gabled with two rear chimneys. It is set on a concrete foundation,clad with wood clapboards, and roofed with asphalt shingles. At the rear is a one-story two-by-one bay front-gabled addition also on a concrete foundation. The center entrance is under a full-width porch;windows are 2/2 double hung sash. There are two gabled dormers on the front slope of the roof,the west gable is pedimented and has a lunette with lancet panes,but the east gable is not pedimented. At the rear is a tiny, front-gabled one-car garage. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ❑see continuation sheet Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. This house was originally on the south side of Massachusetts Ave. in Lexington Center approximately where the large Lexington Square building is today. The house is known as the Chandler Richardson House but was actually built by Abigail Estabrook sometime between 1816 and 1820, long before Chandler Richardson occupied it. Abigail Estabrook was a widow who seems to have been wealthy enough to own property and lend money. In 1816 when she bought the parcel of land on which this house later stood, it had on it a"tan house and vats." In 1820 when she sold the same parcel,however, it was described as having"an house, thus indicating that this house had been built in the interim. Historical maps show that the house was set facing Vine Brook with what is now the west gable end toward Massachusetts Ave. In 1821 the house was purchased by Aaron Richardson (1791-1874), a blacksmith,who had moved to Lexington in 1820. After his death, the house was occupied by his son, Chandler R. (1825- 1897),who was a surveyor. The house was moved its present location on Vine Brook Rd. about 1919 in preparation for the construction of a garage on the site now occupied by the Lexington Square building. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 575-76. Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 218: 96; 232: 426; 237: 331. Whipple, S. Lawrence. Notes on Chandler Richardson House#11 Vine Brook Rd. In possession of S. Lawrence Whipple, Lexington, MA. Worthen, Edwin B. Notes on buildings burned,torn down,and moved. "Houses"file,Worthen Collection. Cary Library, Lexington, Mass. #45 . Letter to Mr. and Mrs. Francis S. Dane, 23 May 1964. In possession of S. Lawrence Whipple,Lexington, MA. ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.