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HomeMy WebLinkAboutconcord-avenue_0321 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM NO. T 558 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108 x y 14 n Lexington cess 321 Concord Avenue _ - toric Name Condon House $a^ Present residential Original residential )ESCRIPTION: �. j ..�` _ � ' '� x ��- `" �': L�"'�� �....- �,Y� to c. 1830 Source deed research SKETCH MAP Show property's location in relation Style Federal " to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate Architect all buildings between inventoried property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboard Indicate north. t (] Outbuildings shed 0 N ❑ 3 Major alterations (with dates) Dom-•`` ❑ projecting two-story entry; two-story ell co nr © 1 \ east end (dates unknown) Moved Date D Approx. acreage 20500 ft>2 Recorded 4)y Nancy S. Seasholes Setting Close to street with continual Organization Lexington Historical Commission traffic; near a similar Federal farmhouse Date March, 1984 and across from 1950s and 1960s houses. (Staple additional sheets here) - ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) This house has been so altered in recent years that very little is evident of the original besides its high narrow Federal Vernacular profile and its position very close to the street. The fact that the older section is three bays wide rather than the customary five gives credence to the present owners' belief that it was originally a barn or shed rather than a house. The mortared fieldstone foundation is probably an anomaly rather than an indication that the house was moved from somewhere else. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community.) Although the former archivist of the Lexington Historical Society claimed this house was built in 1805 by Thomas Smith, he apparently had it confused with a house immediately to the west no longer standing. Deed research does indicate, _ however, that this house was built before 1830, because when this property was sold that year to John Ellis it included a "dwelling house." In 1845 it was sold by Grace Ellis to John Earle, Jr. , who in 1844 had married a daughter of Josiah Smith, the shoemaker and fifer who lived in the house at 272 Concord Avenue (see. form) . In 1868 Earle, having moved to Jamaica Plain, sold the property to Elizabeth Condon and it then remained in the Condon family for the next 90 years. The Condons were farmers, at least until 1901 when they sold most of their 13 acres and the lot was reduced to its present half-acre size. The house was extensively renovated three years ago and, as a result of the work, the present owners have made the following observations: the older section (the three bays on the west end) was crudely framed and finished, suggesting it may have been a barn or other outbuilding; the original building was one-and-a half stories and the roof has subsequently been raised; the original structure - appeared to have been built without a chimney but instead with stovepipe holes; the entry gable, which contains a bathroom on the second story, was evidently added in the 1940s when interior plumbing was put into the house; and the two- story ell on the east has been widened and some rear ells removed since a 1945 plan of the property (seedocuments on file with Lexington Historical Commission) . The bay windows were added during the recent renovation. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) Worthen Collection, photographs, "Kite End." Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, Massachusetts. 1830 map Deed research on file with Lexington Historical Commission 10M - 7/82