HomeMy WebLinkAboutgoodwin-road_0005 FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
56/60 Boston H 2119
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION North
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town/City: Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Place: (neighborhood or village):
Photo ra h Merriam Hill Area
Address: 5 Goodwin Rd
J Historic Name: John Calder House
Uses: Present: Residential
a � Original: Residential
Date of Construction: 1921
Source: Assessors record
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
= I Architect/Builder: Willard D. Brown/Custance Bros.
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Brick faced
Wall/Trim: Brick/Wood
Roof: Slate
Locus Map
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage
m o b 56-59
Major Alterations(with dates):
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F 000 •a
77�s,. ` c°� '•, '` ' Condition: Good
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Moved: no ® yes ❑ Date:
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Acreage: 0.45 acres
►�e ' Setting: Residential area of 19th and early 20th century
,a 1 houses
as,
Recorded by: Anne Grady
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): June 2015
12/12 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
LEXINGTON 5 GOODWIN RD.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
H� 2119
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement.form.
Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
This substantial house of 1921, two stories in height under a hip roof, is a quintessential Willard Brown Colonial Revival design.
The windows, sized and placed to accommodate the use of rooms within, often without regard to symmetry; the low hip roof; the
broad eaves with exposed and shaped rafter feet (derived, apparently, from Japanese architecture); the portico; the single-story
side appendages often including a porch as here; and the horizontal massing of the building are frequently repeated in Brown's
houses. The Howard and Bertha Nichols House at 29 Hayes Avenue and the Robert Hold House at 11 Bennington Rd. are
particularly close in design to the Calder House.
The Calder House sits on a foundation faced with brick. The brick veneer of the house is laid in English bond, with a soldier
course below the first floor. Window lintels are composed of stretcher bricks. Windows on the facade, six panes over one,
include a triple window at the left of the entry, with a double window above, a double window over the portico, a large compass
headed window placed between the floors at the right of the entry, no doubt lighting a stairway, and single windows at the
southwest end of the building. A three-sided, single story bay window is placed in front of the porch the southwest side of the
building. The low hip roof is gently flared at the eaves. The rafter feet are shaped into a curve at their ends. Unusual dormers
with arched heads and casement windows are found on the roof, two on the facade and one on the southwest side. There is a
single-story entry on the northeast side with a three-sided end bay under a hip roof and an open porch on the southwest side.
Two chimneys pierce the slate roof, one servicing the northeast range of rooms, and the other near the southwest end wall.
On the portico slim Tuscan columns and pilasters next to house support side entablatures above. The entablatures, in turn, are
surmounted by a pedimented roof with modillions at the eaves. Above the paneled door is a semi circular louvered fan.
A garage approached by a paved driveway, built after 1935, is found on the west rear side of the building. The lot, which slopes
up toward the house, includes a semicircular brick walk across the facade.
The Calder House is one of a group of houses, many architect-designed and generally in Colonial Revival or Craftsman styles,
that were built in parts of Lexington, such as Merriam Hill, Munroe Hill and Winthrop Road, that saw upscale development in the
early 20th century. Local architect, Willard Brown (1871-1943), was responsible for the design of a number of these residences
in the early 20th century (including 19 documented by his daughter), as well as a few well-regarded public buildings (the Munroe
and Parker Schools, and Cary Memorial Library). His buildings are among the most creative and interesting structures of the
period in Lexington. They often combine allusions to several styles at once and may include features of the Shingle, Queen
Anne, Italian Villa, Arts and Crafts, or even the Prairie style, though they are most frequently categorized as Craftsman or
Colonial Revival. Many are characterized by low hip roofs with broad eaves. Exterior finish materials used included stucco, brick,
shingles, or clapboards. Sixteen houses designed by Brown are included in the immediate Merriam Hill area
The firm of Custance Bros., prolific local builders in Lexington throughout most of the 20th century, built this house, according to
Robert Custance.
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.
John Calder, a consulting engineer and widower, acquired the land, Lot 2 of the Colonial Park subdivision originally laid out in
1897 for the estate of Matthew H. Merriam, from Alice H. Locke in 1920. The house was completed the following year. Prior to
Continuation sheet I
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET TOWN ADDRESS
LEXINGTON 5 GOODWIN RD.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
H�1 2119
1938, the address was 11 Goodwin Rd. By 1942 Daniel A Lynch, a lawyer, and his wife, Charlotte, lived here. Subsequent
owners included Harold and Barbara Sukeforth, who acquired the house in 1966.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Custance, Robert. Personal communication to Anne Grady, 1984.
Grady, Anne. "The Architecture of Willard Brown." Course paper, Boston University Graduate School, 1978.
Lexington Assessors Records.
Lexington Directories, various dates.
South Middlesex County Registry of Deeds: Plan Book 107, Pg. 13; Bk. 4703, Pg. 553.
Willard Brown Collection, Lexington Historical Society Archives.
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Residence of John Calder, Willard Brown Collection photo c. 1930. Courtesy of the Lexington Historical Society.
Continuation sheet 2