HomeMy WebLinkAbouteast-street_0172 FORM B — BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Forth Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 10062000025 Boston N. 718
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Place (neighborhood or village)
j Address 172 East St.
,bel photo
film roll Historic Name Bailey Brothers House
foto to
I photos Uses: Present Multi-Family Residential
Original Multi-Family Residential
Date of Construction 1889
Source Lexington Valuation lists
Style/Form Queen Anne(altered)
F
Architect/Builder
Exterior Material:
f' ~` Foundation Fieldstone/Concrete Block
lation to Wall/Trim Wood Clapboard
tures.
nd Roof Asphalt Shingle
=; ets Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
er the
Major Alterations(with dates)
Renovated(1984)
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( Condition Good
EAST —� - - Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
1 Acreage 0.8 A.
Setting On a rise above a busy street in a neighborhood of
predominantly 20th-century houses
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year) March 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.
172 East St. was originally a Queen Anne with the same configuration as the present house but has lost all of its original finishes.
The original house was rectangular with a side ell,two stories,two-by-five bays, and front-gabled with a side chimney in the main
block and a ridge chimney in the gabled ell. The house is now set on a fieldstone and concrete block foundation, clad with wood
clapboards, and roofed with asphalt shingles. The main entry has been moved from the original facade to the south corner of the
east elevation,just as the entry at 151 East St. (MHC#716)has been relocated, and the door surround,with its dentil course,
fluted pilasters, and sidelights, is a recent replacement. An enclosed entry in the ell has a similar surround, and oriel windows
have also recently been added on the south and east gable ends of the main block and ell. Other windows are 6/6 double hung
sash.
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 built in 1889 by Edward C. and George H. Bailey on part of a four-acre parcel they had purchased from their
uncle Edward B. Bailey in 1884. The Baileys, who were house painters, lived in the house already on the parcel—the house now
at 168 East St. (MHC#717)—until they built this one. This house may have been occasioned by George's marriage in 1888, for
the house was reportedly designed as two identical domiciles. Historical photographs show that it was originally a front-gabled,
L-shaped Queen Anne with a full-width porch. Built on a slope, it was originally three stories high on the west(down slope) side,
and had a fieldstone foundation on only the east and back sides (the foundation on the front and west sides was of wood). In 1901
the older house next door was renovated and repaired after having been damaged by a falling branch;the Baileys then moved back
to live in that house and presumably rented this one. This house was completely renovated in 1984;at that time the original
foundations were replaced with the present one of concrete blocks, a berm was built up against the west side so that it is now only
two stories high,the main entry was moved around to the side, and oriel windows were installed on the south and east gable ends.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet
Guy and Elaine Doran,personal communication 1998.
Lexington Valuation Lists. 1884-1892, 1900-1902, 1905.
Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 1686: 46.
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.