HomeMy WebLinkAboutdexter-road_0007 FORM B -BUILDING
Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
78-73 Boston N. 1047
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Town Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village)
Address 7 Dexter Road
d
Historic Name Albert&Helen Emmons House
Uses: Present Residential
1
Original Residential
Date of Construction 1926
Source Directories, List of Persons
Style/Form Tudor Revival
r
Architect/Builder unknown
i
Exterior Material:
I
Foundation undetermined
Wall/Trim brick
Roof asphalt shingle
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
none
Major Alterations (with dates) date? -enclosure of open
porch at south end of facade
Condition good
�\ Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
Acreage 9450 SF
Recorded by Lisa Mausolf Setting early 20th century residential neighborhood
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month/year) January 2000
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM (7 Dexter Road)
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the
community.
This two-story brick Tudor Revival house is unusual for its symmetry and for its roof form which can be described as a
broad clipped gable or hip-on-gable. The tapestry brick veneer incorporates decorative patterns including a herringbone
pattern adjacent to the entrance, decorative squares centered between the first and second floor openings, brick sills and a
brick water table. The center five-sided, projecting open entry porch with arched entry resembles a guardhouse and is flanked
on each side by a set of three 6/6 windows. The second floor facade windows consist of pairs of 6/6 sash with a smaller
window centered over the entrance. The garage door on the north end of the facade is capped by transom lights and is
balanced on the other end of the facade by what appears to have been an open porch, now filled with clapboards and a pair of
windows. Punctuating the side slopes of the steeply-pitched, asphalt roof are wood-shingled hip dormers, one containing a
single window while the other contains four 3/3 windows with vertical panes.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Describe 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.
Dc�ter Road was laid out in the early 1920s by a developer known as the Lexington Building Trust(the plan is dated 1923).
By 1926 there were four houses on the street. The house at 7 Dexter Road was constructed in 1926 for Albert W. and Helen
Emmons. The Town Valuation List published April 1, 1926 indicates that the house was then unfinished and the Emmons
were living in Watertown. Directories list Albert Emmons' occupation as credit manager and later lawyer. The Emmons
continued to live here until about 1938 when they moved to Kennebunk, Maine. It appears that the Emmons rented the house
out for several years but had sold it by 1945. Later occupants included Alvin and Maynard Fernald and Edna Skelton in
1950. Peter Oppenheim purchased the property in 1963 and remained here until 1971. The present owners, Jane and Peter
Franks, purchased the property in 1974.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Lexington Directories, various years.
Lexington, Town of. List of Persons, various years.
Lexington, Town of. Valuation Lists. Assessors' Office, Town Hall, Lexington, Massachusetts.
S*born Map Co. Lexington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. New York: Sanborn Map Co., 1887, 1892, 1897, 1903,
1908, 1918, 1927, 1935. Microfilm.
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form.