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Home My WebLink Aboutpleasant-street_0069 (new address-linc cole-lane_0011-0017)Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.12/12 FORM B  BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Locus Map (north at top) Parcel prior to subdivision; see continuation sheet for current Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf for the Organization: Lexington Historical Commission Date (month / year): October 2022; May 2023 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 14-57H Boston North LEX.2512 Town/City: Lexington Place:(neighborhood or village): East Lexington Address:11-15-17 Linc Cole Lane (was 69 Pleasant Street) Historic Name: Wellington House Uses:Present: single family dwelling Original: single family dwelling Date of Construction: 1896 Source:Lexington Minute-Man Style/Form: Colonial Revival Architect/Builder: attributed to Hartwell & Richardson (see text)Exterior Material: Foundation: fieldstone Wall/Trim: wood clapboard/wood Roof:asphalt shingles, rubber Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Barn (demolished 2022) Major Alterations (with dates): First half 20th c. – loss of balustrades on roof, porch and front patio Condition:good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage:0.57 acres Setting: Located on arterial thoroughfare, set back from the road on the slopes leading to Moon Hill. Near Wilson Farms and entrance to Route 2. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 LEX.2512 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. Tax Parcel after 2022 subdivision INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 LEX.2512 Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. Dating to 1895, the Wellington House is a two-story, 3 x 2-bay, hip-roofed dwelling that looks to the Colonial Revival for inspiration while freely mixing in elements of the Queen Anne style. Sheathed in clapboards, the house is set on a mortared fieldstone foundation and capped by an asphalt-shingled roof with two hip-roofed dormers punctuating the front roof slope. A two-story, fluted pilaster set on a paneled base is located at each end of the façade. The cornice is decorated by modillions and originally the roof was crowned by a balustrade. Centered on the three-bay façade, the center entrance contains double doors flanked by partial sidelights. The entrance is sheltered by a flat-roofed porch displaying pilasters and pairs of fluted columns set on brick bases. Historic photos indicate that originally there was an ornate balustrade on the porch roof and the front appears to have been enclosed by conservatory glass. The stone patio platform fronting the façade appears to have originally been enclosed by a balustrade. The variety of windows on the building reflects the concurrent Queen Anne style. The first floor windows on either side of the entrance porch are double-hung 18/2 with entablature lintels; originally they were flanked by blinds. Centered above the porch is an ornate multi-pane Palladian window which is flanked on each side by a smaller 24/4 sash that is without an entablature lintel. The secondary entrance on the southwest elevation displays an entablature surround with Ionic pilasters and partial sidelights; the adjacent window is an angled bay window while upstairs there are 24/4 windows. The northeast (side) elevation has a six- sided, single-story projection with 2/1 windows toward the façade and a two-sided bay window on brackets toward the rear. Behind the main house block, the two-story hip-roofed ell is simpler in its detailing, lacking the modillion cornice and punctuated by simple 12/2 and 2/2 windows. The foundation is brick. A small single-story wing is located beyond the ell. Until recently (2022) a single-story detached barn with back shed was located to the west of the house. Along Pleasant Street there were two distinctive pillars constructed of mortared fieldstone. Each consisted of a taller post with a curving section linking to a shorter outside post. The stone pillars were removed in 2023. There were also at one time a windmill (not extant), chicken coop (removed 1960), a Colonial Revival well house (removed about 2017).1 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE 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 built about 1895 for Cornelius Wellington and his three sisters after they sold the historic Wellington farm on the old Concord turnpike that had been in the family since 1707 (177 Concord Avenue, LEX.553). Cornelius Wellington (1828-1909) was one of thirteen children of Peter and Hepzibah Wellington. He was a dry goods merchant and farmer and also served as tree warden for many years. Late in life, Cornelius lived here with his three sisters, Mrs. Louisa Peaslee, Miss Eliza Wellington and Miss Caroline Wellington.2 Caroline Wellington (1820-1916) and Louisa Peaslee (1834-1924) were early members of the Woman Suffrage League of East Lexington, formed in 1887.3 In July 1895 the Lexington Minute-Man reported that the Wellington siblings would “move nearer the village and build a house on a lot of land which they own on Pleasant Street”.4 1 Information from Ann Storer, 2023. 2 Lexington Minute-Man, 4 Sept. 1909 3 Lexington Minute-Man, 7 Dec. 1912 and 6 Nov. 1915. 4 Lexington Minute-Man, 14 July 1895. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 3 LEX.2512 The Wellingtons only lived here for a few years. In April 1901 Cornelius Wellington took out an advertisement in the Sunday Herald to sell the property:5 (Note: The dimensions of the house and ell in the ad, exactly match the dimensions in the Lexington assessors records.) Deed records confirm that in November 1901 the Wellingtons sold the six-year old property to Mrs. Rebecca C. Scudder of Boston.6 The Wellingtons moved to 12 Clarke Street (not extant). Rebecca Coit Scudder (1818-1915) was the widow of Boston businessman Marshall Sears Scudder, whom she had married in 1841 and who died in 1875. In 1902 Mrs. Scudder reportedly made “great alterations and improvements” (unspecified) to the Wellington property including having the well deepened.7 In 1904 a new and convenient cottage was also built on the estate.8 In 1906, Rebecca Scudder sold the property including three parcels of land with buildings to Mary Boinay (1839-1927), widow of Vendelin Boinay.9 Mary Boinay’s son, Joseph Vendelin Boinay (1871-1938) lived at 69 Pleasant Street (now renamed 11-15-17 Linc Cole Lane) for many years. He was educated in the Natick, Massachusetts schools and at the age of almost 17 graduated from the Bryant Stratton Business School in Boston. Upon graduation he became a carriage salesman at Ferd F. French & Co. He later owned the company which sold automobiles and manufactured carriages until 1915. In 1917 he went into business selling Moon Touring Cars at 1037 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. J.V. Boinay retired from business in 1925. The Moon Motor Car Company (1905-1930) was founded by carriage maker Joseph W. Moon and was located in St. Louis, Missouri. The company had a venerable reputation among the buying public, as it was known for fully assembled, easily affordable mid-level cars using high-quality parts. Often this meant the manufacturing process required more human intervention, leading to operating losses. Moon Motor's peak production year was 1925 when the company produced 10,271 vehicles. Moon Motor Car went out of business at the start of the Great Depression. Boinay was caught with a considerable inventory of cars which he swore he would not sell for less than the sticker price. After retiring from the car business in 1925, Joseph Boinay became a farmer, raising crops, horses, cattle, goats, chickens and exotic birds. He died in 1938 after a fall from an apple tree while picking apples.10 After his death, the property at 69 Pleasant Street (11-15-17 Linc Cole Lane)was owned by Harry F. Boinay. In 1947 Harry Boinay sold 20 acres of the property to Six 5 Sunday Herald, 14 April 1901, p. 24. 6 Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Book 2933, Page 265. 7 Lexington Minute-Man, 26 July 1902. 8 Lexington Minute-Man, 15 Oct. 1904. 9 Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Book 3266, Page 148. 10 Paul F. Gauvreau, “Ferd. F. French & Co., Limited”, The Carriage Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, May 2002, pp. 111-112/ INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 4 LEX.2512 Moon Hill, Inc.11 The development took its name from the six Moon cars that were in the barn at the original property in 1947 when TAC (The Architects Collaborative) formed Six Moon Hill.12 After Harry Boinay’s death, the property at 69 Pleasant Street (11-15-17 Linc Cole Lane) was sold by family members Louise Gauthier and Elise Palis to James and Viola Storer in 1960.13 Over the next fifty years the Storers carefully rehabilitated and restored the historic features of the property. In the early 1970s a Harvard student doing a research project stopped in to inform the Storers that the design of the house was attributed to the Boston architectural firm of Hartwell & Richardson. The partnership was established in 1881 by Henry Walker Hartwell (1833- 1919) and William Cummings Richardson (1854-1935). The attribution has not been verified. James Storer (1927-2016) was the director of the Sylvania Research Lab. He died in 2016 and Viola Storer (1927-2017) the following year. The property was purchased by Thomas Cataldo in 2022. The land and house have been subdivided into ten lots on a new street named Linc Cole Lane. Lincoln P. Cole (1918-1999) was a Lexington town selectman, moderator and served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Boston Globe, various dates. Findagrave.com Gauvreau, Paul F. “Ferd. F. French & Co., Limited”, The Carriage Journal, Vol. 40, No. 3, May 2002. Lexington Directories, various dates. Lexington Minute-Man, various dates. Middlesex County Registry of Deeds “69 Pleasant Street”, SpaceCraftArch.com, May 2022. Storer, Ann (daughter of James and Viola Storer). Historic photographs and information about house, 2023 Sunday Herald, 14 April 1901. 50th Anniversary of Moon Hill, 1997 U.S. Census, 1850-1950. [Ancestry.com] Maps 1875 J.B. Beers & Co. 1906 Atlas George H. Walker & Co. 11 Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Book 7133, Page 126. 12 See Six Moon Hill Historic District (LEX.R) 13 Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Book 9694, Page 241 INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 5 LEX.2512 INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 6 LEX.2512 INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 7 LEX.2512 Existing Conditions, May 2022 Source: SpaceCraftArch.com INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 8 LEX.2512 Existing Conditions, May 2022 Source: SpaceCraftArch.com INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 9 LEX.2512 Existing Conditions, May 2022 Source: SpaceCraftArch.com INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 10 LEX.2512 Existing Conditions, May 2022 Source: SpaceCraftArch.com INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 11 LEX.2512 May 2023 photo (stone pillars have been removed) INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 12 LEX.2512 Undated historic photos Source: Ann Storer INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 13 LEX.2512 Undated historic photos Source: Ann Storer INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 14 LEX.2512 Undated historic photos Source: Ann Storer INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 69 PLEASANT ST. (11-15-17 LINC COLE LANE) MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 15 LEX.2512 Barn (demolished 2022) Source: Ann Storer