HomeMy WebLinkAboutfern-street_0015 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
14/125A Boston
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION North
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph East Lexington
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Address: 15 Fern Street
Historic Name: Buttrick House
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- Uses: Present: residential
- Original: residential
' Date of Construction: c.1880
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Source: maps
Style/Form: Queen Anne
'{ Architect/Builder: unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation: rubble
Wall/Trim: wood clapboard
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Roof: asphalt shingles
-�, Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
6) ria shed
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Major Alterations(with dates):
Date?—addition to north
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° Condition: good
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66
Moved: no I x I yes Date
j 4:894 Acreage: 0.49 acre
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o Setting: mixed residential on hill above Pleasant Street
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): Feb. 2010
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 15 FERN STREET
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
Setback on a low hill, 15 Fern Street is a 2 %2-story, clapboarded dwelling dating to the late 19th century and displaying minimal
Queen Anne style decorative details. It is oriented with its long elevation facing Fern Street and its gable front facing Pleasant
Street to the east. It is set on a rubble foundation with a rectangular plan and an addition extending to the rear(north). The
shed-roofed frpmt porch on the east end has a decorative raking,turned posts and a spindle frieze. The same decorative raking
also decorates a gable dormer on the south side and the rear porch(not original?). Most of the windows contain 2/2 sash set into
molded surrounds. There is an angled oriel on the south wall,toward the front.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
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 constructed between 1875 and 1889. F. Buttrick is shown as the owner on the 1889 and 1898 maps. By 1907
the house had been acquired by William B. Foster who lived next door at 7 Fern Street. Foster was in the real estate business
and was a Mason. He held various town offices—selectman, fire engineer,board of health, constable and chief of police—and
was also a trustee of the Lexington Savings Bank. He also owned 3 Fern Street.
Over the years the house (known as#11)was rented to number of tenants. The property was later acquired by Joseph Stoney
who sold it to Albert&Alice Coyle in 1955. The Coyles owned the property for 20 years before selling it to Robert and Mary
Sweet who sold it in 1995.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge, Mass.
Town Directories
U.S. Census,various years.
Continuation sheet 1
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 15 FERN STREET
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
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Continuation sheet 2