HomeMy WebLinkAbouthancock-street_0054 FORM B — BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
0064000132 Boston N. 731
% Town Lexington
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Place (neighborhood or village)
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Address 54 Hancock St.
Historic Name Albert Fletcher Spaulding House
-Uses: Present Residential
Original Residential
Date of Construction 1874
Source Lexington Minute-man
Style/Form Italianate
Architect/Builder
{ Exterior Material:
s _
Foundation Brick
Wall/Trim Wood Clapboard
Roof Asphalt Shingle
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Garage
Major Alterations(with dates)
One-story addition on north side; connector between front
jdormers; rear porch (dates unknown)
had 31 33 / Condition Good
�ia3rais --
Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
1 b -g Acreage 0.7 A.
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Setting On a heavily-trafficked residential street in a
neighborhood of large, high-style 19th-and early 20th-
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes century houses
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year) January 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.
54 Hancock St. is one of several higher-style, side-gabled,three-bay, center entrance Italianates in Lexington and is a well-
preserved example of the type. This house is rectangular with a rear ell, 2'/z stories,three-by-one bays, and side-gabled with a
small off-center rear chimney. The two-story rear ell is front-gabled. The house is set on a brick foundation, clad with wood
clapboards, and roofed with asphalt shingles. The center entance has side pilasters and both transom and sidelights;windows are
2/2 double hung sash. Italianate finishes include cornerboards,a broad frieze board across the facade,paired brackets and dentils
under the cornice, and window surrounds that have a projecting cornice and plain frieze. A connector has been added between the
gabled dormers on the facade. Off the north elevation is a one-story side-gabled addition which is also on a brick foundation and
has wide cornerboards and a dentil course under the cornice,but the cornerboards are wider than and the dentils a different style
from those on the original house, so this addition is probably later, though sympathetic. A porch extends across the back of the
original ell;the small two-car garage has a hip roof and wood drop siding.
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 1874 by Albert Fletcher Spaulding (1841-1895), who that year had married Catherine Johnson,the widow
of Charles E. Johnson(1833-1871), who was the son of Charles W. Johnson in the house now at 9 Burlington St. (MHC#742).
After Spaulding's death, Mrs. Spaulding sold this house in 1902 to George O. Whiting, who lived at what is now 8 Adams St.
(MHC#697) and also owned the houses at 52,56, and 58 Hancock(MHC#729, 733,and 734).
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑ see continuation sheet
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 327.
Lexington Minute-man, 19 Sept. 1874.
Lexington Valuation Lists. 1872-1875.
Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 3003: 481.
Worthen, Edwin B.to Mrs. Bruce Currie, 16 February 1951. Worthen Collection. Cary Library, Lexington, MA.
❑ Reconunended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.