HomeMy WebLinkAboutchandler-street_0003 AREA FORM NO. i
FORM B - BUILDING 39
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
- -awn Lexington
dress 3 Chandler Street
? - _ storic Name Edwin Francis Fobes House
— man _= -
— 3e: Present residential
= Original residential
IVA
DESCRIPTION:
,ate
~- 2-01 190 i
or geograpnical Source All 1' ✓►Ube--M.-4
Indicate north.
ow Style
o� o.B. Ma,rst�n
Q Architect Vn �owo
Exterior wall fabric shingles
c.�Y'4�,o Outbuildings garage
_ rT
Major alterations (with dates) swiranLing
pool (1955) ; alterations (1957)
f
O� O Moved Date
Approx. acreage 0.8 acre (34,1751)
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting At the very top of Meriam Hill;
Organization Lexington Historical Commission with panoramic view, except to the east.
Date March, 1984
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This is one of Lexington's best Queen Anne houses, and one of the few
which reveals the influence of the British Old English Style. lvoteworthy
features include the entry porch with carved bargeboard, the overhanc of the
second level of the facade gable supported by huge brackets, the half-tiro-bered
treatment of the gables, and the oriel window with arched tracery.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
The building was owned in 1906 b-,7Edwin Francis Fobes, a manufacturing
confectioner in Boston.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 223. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
1906 map
Personal communication from irs. Skolnikoff.
1OM - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 3 CHANDLER ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 394
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
A detailed interior description of this house appeared in the Lexington Minute-man on Feb. 22, 1902:
A Picturesque House
Mr. O.B. Marston,one of the oldest and most reliable carpenters and builders of Arlington,has just completed a
private residence in Lexington of which he may well be proud as an example of his work not only in the regular
line of building but for the fine, first class cabinet work which, is an important, feature of the interior finish. The
house is located on one of Lexington's several hill streets and has a superb outlook, unobstructed in every
direction and ever basking in the sunlight, so that it was desirable to plan the house with these features in view
and the architectural plan decided on was the Elizabethan style, arranged like so many English houses with the.
hallways and working departments on the front with the living rooms in the rear open to the far away southern
exposure. To the east one looks over on to Boston,with the Bunker Hill monument in the foreground; on the
west the view includes the mountains in the western part of the state and southern New Hampshire. A small
vestibuled entry-way leads into the reception hall which occupies the centre of the house on the ground floor.
Out of this a cozy den or study, a large living room, suggesting a library in its appointments, and a dining room.
All these apartments are in quartered oak, even to the floors, with the antique finish. In the hall there is a high
wainscot of gothic panels, while on the first landing of the stairway is a charming conservatory. There is much
paneling and cabinet work in the living room,notably about the broad open fire place and bookcases and in the
cross-beamed ceiling. The hall has a green tapestry paper, while the living room is papered in crimson. Oriel
windows,with their broad window ledges, convenient for flowers, are a picturesque feature of the house,with
their emblazoned, small, leaded panes of glass. In the dining room the cabinet work is especially elaborate and
decidedly handsome and unique in design. At what would be the lower edge of the frieze line on the walls there
is a wide molding available as a plate rest. This is joined by pilasters in oak,which divide the room into
sectional parts occupied by doors and windows which have carved framings of oak. One side of the room is
filled by a handsomely designed fireplace and over mantel with china cupboards on either side. There are the
usual number of chambers on the second floor where most of the finish is a beautifully toned and grained cypress
wood. One of the mantels is especially pleasing in its novel and picturesque design. We have used the word
picturesque several times,but the appointments of the house suggest it at every turn, so its use in description is
unavoidable. The bath room is most inviting with its mahogany wood, nicely toneing with green walls and a
beautiful white tiled floor, set in small cubes. The closet room is ideal,as is also the housekeeping department,
including as it does, linen,broom closets, large clothes presses, a butler's pantry with roomy china cabinets, a
kitchen dresser and pantry with many other features which add so much to the appointments of the highest class
of our modern homes. The cellars and space under the roof have been utilized in the most sensible manner and
will make a comfortable and artistic home for the lucky possessor. Mr. Marston has carried out the architects'
plan with unusual success and commendable skill and as example of his ability as a carpenter and building the
house is one he can point to with pride.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 3 CHANDLER ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 394
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The house was occupied by Edwin Fobes,his wife Jesse, son and daughter. Edwin died before 1942 but his widow
continued to live here with her son Frances H. Fobes,who was educated at Harvard and Oxford University and received
the first Massachusetts Rhodes scholarship. He was an instructor at Harvard and later a Greek professor at Amherst
College. The current owner, Winifred Skolnikoff, acquired the property from James and Claire Collier in 1968.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man,July 20, 1901; February 22, 1902.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge, Mass.
U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009