HomeMy WebLinkAboutlowell-street_0344 FORM B - BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 1004600101A IBoston N. L662, 663
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Place (neighborhood or village)
1F
a Address 344 Lowell St.
oto
Historic Name George Munroe House
rs -Uses: Present Residential
. �.
Original Residential
Date of Construction 1852
Source Lexington Valuation lists
Style/Form Italianate
Architect/Builder
Exterior Material:
Foundation Granite
to Wall/Trim Vinyl Siding
' Roof Asphalt Shingle
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Barn
Major Alterations (with dates)
/I Rear addition (1880)
b - Condition Good
C
' [`( Moved ® no El yes Date
`\L0 kJ_F� `
__ Acreage 1.4 A.
Ipl Setting On a street with constant traffic lined with 20th-
1-� J I I I < century ranch houses
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year) February 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.
344 Lowell St. is one of the nicest higher-style, side-gabled,three-bay, center entrance Italianates in Lexington, even though its
architectural integrity has been somewhat compromised by its vinyl siding. The house(MHC#662) is rectangular, 2%Z stories,
three-by-two bays, and side-gabled with two rear interior chimneys. It is set on a granite foundation, clad with vinyl siding, and
roofed with asphalt shingles. At the rear is a one-by-three bay,two-story, front-gabled addition with a ridge chimney on a
fieldstone foundation; attached to it is a two-story, front-gabled carriage shed with two mitered doors. The center entrance has
full-length sidelights and is under a roof supported by square pilastered posts; windows are 6/6 double hung sash. Other Italianate
finishes on the main block include wide paneled comerboards; decorative brackets under the eaves; roundhead windows in the
gables; a frieze board around the entire house, creating pedimented gables; and long first floor windows. The 1'/2-story side-
gabled barn (MHC#663)has its original clapboards.
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 1852 by George Munroe (1822-1887), as evidenced by the fact that in 1853 he was assessed for the first
time for a house valued at$3300 (previous assessments had been for the seven houses inherited from his father, all but one of
which were valued between $200 and$700). After George's death the property was inherited by his son, Howard M. Munroe(b.
1869). Howard called it"Maple Grove Farm"and in the late 19th century the farm was over 100 acres with a number of barns,
including a large one built by his father in 1878, and a windmill. The farm raised dairy cows, poultry, market vegetables, and
Howard bought and sold fancy horses. He was also very active in the town and a member of a number of organizations such as
the Lexington Historical Society, Hancock Church, and the Old Belfry Club, and one of the three original trustees of the Winning
Home for Orphans and Destitute Children, located on Woburn St. In 1915 Howard established the Minuteman Rifle Club on
Webb St. and in 1938,with H. I. Currier, Countryside Inc.,which ran a restaurant at the corner of Lowell and Woburn streets.
The large barn burned in 1940, later that decade Howard sold flowers wholesale to Carlson's florist shop on East St., and in the
years after World War II the former farm land was sold and developed for residences and the Harrington School.
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: 472-73.
Lexington Valuation Lists. 1846-1853.
Sileo,Thomas P. "Then &Now: Munroe Farm." Lexington Minuteman, 21 December 1995.
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.
INVENTORY ' M CONTINUATION SHEET Town PropertyAddress
Lexington . . Lowell St.
HISTORICALMASSACHUSETTS
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON,
I
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