HomeMy WebLinkAboutchandler-street_0004 FORM B - BUILDING Area Form no.
H 395
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CON II SSION
Lexington
- s 4 Chandler Street
z. is °lame Arthur Howe house
r _ riginal Residence
resent Residence
` hi Private individual
- Private organization
j
Public
_ - riginal owner Llp%x✓/ , r
_ Draw map showing property's ut5CR1PTION:
N location in relation to nearest
cross streets and other buildings Date 1895
or geographical features.
Indicate north. _ Source Family member
vStyle Queen Anne
�C' O Architect Abram C. Washburn, bu._i_' 'c -
h
Exterior wall fabric Clapboards, shinales
� Outbuildings Attached 1 car garage
s
Major alterations (with dates)
Garage 1959
Moved Date
Approx. acreage .2 (10000)
J. Webber
Recorded by Audrey R. MacCarey; Anne Grady Setting Meriam Hill; residential
Organization Lexington Historical Ccmm.. street of substantial late nineteenth
Date 4-16-76; March, 1984 century houses.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICkNCE (describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within community)
10 room - originally painted dark red. Center front door. Wrap around
porch from front to left side with front balustrade left side 3 story
4 sided tower w/peaked roof. Off white clapboard, black blinds
shingles - 3 floor side eaves - rear second floor porch. 2 chimneys at ridge
from second floor & rear second floor porch w/win finials
(See Continuation Sheet)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Cexplain the role owners played in local or state history
and how the building relates to the development of the community)
Arthur Howe b. 1875, m. Marion Goodings in 1900. tR1?
Charles E. Morey purchased the house from Washburn. C. 1,,Pt7 Arthur Howe
became the owner. The Howe family
*A4 ha Ctk uw h' I 99L)•
BIBLIOGR.aPHY and/or REFERENCES
Hudson's History of Lexington - Vol. II - pg. 311
Family Member
.Lexington Minute Man, August 2, 1895, January 3, 1896.
20M-2/80
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Lexington 395
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 4 Chandler Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
This is a well-preserved example of the substantial, primarily Queen Anne
style houses which typify Meriam Hill. Features include a hexagonal turret
with polygonal peaked roof and finial, overhanging gable finished with a row
of sawtooth shingles, and balustrades with patterned stick work. The house is
the largest and perhaps the most elegant of the houses built speculatively by
Abram C. Washburn, prolific local builder. V47here Washburn got his house plans
has not been determined. He may have purchased plans from available sources,
or he may have made his own designs. His buildings usually include standard
features, such -as cross gables, overhanging gable ends, bay windows, and
patterned shingling. As with many of the houses on Meriam Hill, this house's
progress was chronicled in the local newspaper. References included:
A.C. ; ashburn is building a new house near the junction
of Meriam and Chandler Streets. The frame is already
up and the work in progress on the interior. The house
is of pleasing design with a roomy tower on the western
corner, from which there is a fine outlook and the
rooms include a good sized hall, reception room, parlor,
dining room and kitchen with four good sized sleeping
rooms on the second floor and nicely furnished rooms in
the roof. The house will be completed by fall, when
its many advantages will find a ready purchaser.
(Lexington Minute Marr, August 2, 1895)
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 4 CHANDLER ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 395
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The original owner of this house was Charles E. Morey who purchased the house from builder A.C. Washburn in 1896.
According to a listing in the 1899 directory, he was one of the many residents of Meriam Hill who commuted each day by
train to work in Boston. In 1906 the house was sold to Rev.Herman DeForest, a retired Congregational pastor who had
previously worked in Detroit, Westboro and Taunton. Rev. DeForest lived here until at least 1913.
About 1918 the house was purchased by Arthur Howe. He was employed as a financial manager of a dry goods store and
lived here with his wife Marion and two daughters. The Howe family continued to own the house until 1990 when
Elizabeth Howe sold it to Robert Martuza.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man,February 2, 1894; June 1, 1894; October 13, 1906.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009