HomeMy WebLinkAboutadams-street_0017 FORM B — BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
0063000070 Boston N. 700
Town Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village)
<' Address 17 Adams St.
E•+ Historic Name Charles L. Pook House
-Uses: Present Residential
Original Residential
Date of Construction 1858
Source Tuttle list
Style/Form Greek Revival
3 - Architect/Builder David A. Tuttle
Exterior Material:
� I
Foundation Brick
Wall/Trim Wood Clapboard
Roof Asphalt Shingle
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
�r Major Alterations(with dates)
I i i N Enclosed front entry; side porch;two south additions; rear
attached garage(dates unknown)
STREET � �-----t-
Condition Good
ho Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
J
Acreage '/2A.
6
Setting On a heavily-trafficked residential street in a
neighborhood of 19th-and early 20th-century houses with
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes later 20th-century infill
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year) January 1998
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑ see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
17 Adams St. is one a number of front-gabled Greek Revival houses in Lexington,but, in spite of many additions, is quite well-
preserved and contributes to the group of 19th-and early 20th-century houses on lower Adams St. Furthermore, it was built by
one of Lexington's most prominent 19th-century builders. The original house is rectangular with a rear ell. The main block is 2'/Z
stories,three-by-four bays, and front-gabled with a side chimney;the rear ell is two stories and has a gabled roof with a small
ridge chimney. The house is on a brick foundation, clad with wood clapboards, and has an asphalt shingle roof. The front
entrance is now enclosed in a pedimented entry that has pilasters and a dentil course; a secondary entry on the side of the main
block has full-length sidelights; and a third entry on the north side of the ell has a hood supported by cut-out brackets. The house
has 6/6 double hung windows;the main block has cornerboards, side frieze boards, and gabled dormers on both slopes. On the
south side are two additions, both on brick foundations though they appear to be of early 20th-century construction. The larger is
two stories and hip-roofed with small-paned casement windows and a molded cornice;the smaller, abutting it on the east, is one-
story and shed-roofed. At the rear is a one-story,gabled-roofed attached 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 built in 1858 by David A. Tuttle, a prominent 19th-century Lexington builder, for Charles L. Pook, a cooper from
Charlestown. Pook had owned the farm at 43 Adams St. (MHC#706) since 1846, but had continued to reside in Charlestown
and presumably rented out the farm. In 1858, however, he sold the 43 Adams St. property in February,bought the land at 17
Adams St. in March, hired Tuttle to build this house,and moved to Lexington. In 1871 Pook's widow sold the house to Edward
W. Bettinson, a farmer, and the Bettinsons owned the house into the 1890s. It then became the home of William Hunt, a real
estate and insurance agent, who in 1903 built the Hunt Building, now at 1752 Massachusetts Ave. (MHC#24).
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet
Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 789: 598; 481: 557; 787: 391; 1154: 46.
Tuttle, David Ainsworth. List of buildings erected in Lexington. Presented to the Lexington Historical Society, April 4, 1904.
On file at Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA.
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.