HomeMy WebLinkAboutadams-street_0020 FORM B - BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 10063000082 1Boston N. 702
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Place (neighborhood or village)
r
to Address 20 Adams St.
11 Historic Name Freeman J. Doe House
)s -Uses: Present Residential
Original Residential
Date of Construction 1903
Source Minute-man; Schoenhut letter
Style/Form Craftsman
Architect/Builder Willard D. Brown
Exterior Material:
Foundation Fieldstone
I
to WalUTrim Wood Clapboard
Roof Asphalt Shingle
1
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Garage
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Major Alterations (with dates)
�0 N
I I _ Condition Good
I Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
❑ no i 7 ®�
Acreage 0.75 A.
1y�M STREET Setting On a heavily-trafficked residential street in a
neighborhood of 19th-and early 20th-century houses with
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes some 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.
20 Adams St. is one of the earliest examples of Willard Brown's work as well as one of Lexington's well-preserved high-style
Craftsman houses. The house is basically rectangular with a rear ell and many projecting bays, 2`/2 stories in height, and has a
side-gabled roof with an end ridge and a side chimney. It is on a fieldstone foundation, clad with wood clapboards, and has an
asphalt shingle roof. The main entry is on the south side and the windows are small-paned casement and 6/1 double hung sash. In
addition to its massing,this house has many details that emphasize its relationship to 18 Adams St. (MHC#701), most notably
the modillions under a pent roof in the front gable, a similar feature in both houses. Other similarities are the facing side
entrances, the numerous cross-gabled bays,the curved exposed rafter ends, and the curved fascia boards. The molded rafters
under the front entry roof and oriel at this house are similar to, but slightly different from,those under the front entry roof at 18
Adams St. In addition, the arched cut-out with square shoulders between the paired porch posts at this house echoes the shape of
the lights in the front door at 18 Adams St. Distinctive features of this house include the flattened Tudor arches and paired posts
on both the front and side porches, the front oriel with a similar flattened Tudor arch window head and walls that flare outward at
the base,the hip-roofed oriel with a dentil course at the cornice and small-paned windows facing 18 Adams St., shed-roofed
dormers, and a gable-roofed rear ell. This house has a front-gabled, shingled three-car garage with flattened-arch doors with key
blocks similar to those in the garage at 56 Hancock St. (MHC#733).
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 designed in 1902-1903 by Lexington architect Willard D. Brown (see 8 Adams St., MHC#697) for Freeman J.
Doe. Doe and his brother, Charles (see 18 Adams St., MHC#701), wanted similar houses facing each other on Adams St. but
with separate driveways and a fence between them. Brown reportedly tried to dissuade them from building so close together,
facing each other and the fence, but they prevailed and the result is this house and the one at 18 Adams St.
Freeman J. Doe (1829-1913)was born in South Newbury, Vt. and came to Boston in 1847 when he was 18. For three years he
worked for the firm of Chamberlain &Hall in the Faneuil Hall Market district and then, in 1850, became a partner in the firm,
which was renamed Chamberlain, Kimball &Doe. In 1868, after Kimball died, a new firm—Gass, Doe& Chapin—was formed,
and it,after Chapin's retirement, became Gass, Doe & Co. After Gass' death in 1899, Doe and John J. Sullivan, another member
of the former firm, established Doe, Sullivan & Co. This firm, a dealer in cheese,was still operating in the Quincy Market
building in the 1970s and continued there for several years after the market was renovated in 1976.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet
Lexington Minute-man, 6 December 1902.
Schoenhut, Sarah Emily Brown to Anne A. Grady, 13 March 1984. In possession of Anne A. Grady, Lexington, MA.
Woburn Daily Times, 16 July 1913.
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
Lexington 20 Adams St,
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 702
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
Lexington 20 Adams St.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 702
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
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