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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmarrett-road_0033 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM N0.516 i MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108 '. - n Lexinctton ,.' ress 33 Marrett Road toric Name Museum of Our National - eritage f t museum Original nuseum source architects SKETCH MAP Show property's location in relation Style Contemporary to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate Architect Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and all buildings between inventoried Abbott property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric brick Indicate north. Outbuildings n O 7A_ O Major alterations (with dates) to 1% RO A D SS V b� �o Moved Date Approx. acreage 10.28 A. Recorded by Elizabeth Reinhardt; Anne Grady Setting In a landscaped nark which was Organization Lexington Historical Commission the forrner Nunn estate. Date 1975; March, 1984 (Staple additional sheets here) ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.) The design of this handsome addition to Lexington's architecture successfully overcomes several difficulties of site, location and pros?ram. The primary concern of the architects was to fit what is actually a veru large and complex building harmoniously into a residential neighborhood. In order to minimize the sense of the building's size it was broken un into small, interconnected units. In this way the residential scale could be` maintained without jeopardizing the requirements of the museum. Essentially, the (see Continuation Sheet) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community.) The museum was built by the Masonic Order as a gift to the nation at the time of the Bicentennial. The property combines the land of the former Charles Nunn estate adjacent to ':assachusetts Avenue and the Richard G. Tower estate along !•Iarrett Road. The substantial Italianate house of Charles :Nunn, a wool broker, occupied until the early 1970s a prominent site on the rise of land between 1:assachusetts Avenue and :Iarrett Road. The house of Richard Tower, partner in his father's brokerage firm, is now used as a :-:asonic headquarters. The estate of the father, 'villiam A. Tower, was inmediatell� north of the museum site. The Richard Tower house was designed by Fehmer and Page of Boston. The carriage house was moved by horses from the estate of William Augustus Tower, the site of which is now occupied by the Grey Nuns. 21Lrs. Dailey at 114 Marrett Road who was employed by the Towers, is the source of information. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher) riudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington. Historical Society, Volume II, p. 703. Boston: Houghton =Mifflin Company, 1913. 1689 atlas 1906 atlas 1867 Directory 1694 Directory 1899 Directory 1906 Directory Personal conmm ,unication from Larry P;hiyple. Plans in the possession of the owners. 10NI - 7/82 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET COMMMity: Form No: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Lexington 516 Office of the Secretary, Boston Property Name• Museum of Our National Heritage Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE building is designed around two courtyards, one open and one closed but skylighted. The auditorium, largest element in the complex, was nestled back into the hillside farther to minimize its scale. The building houses four exhibition galleries, a library, and administrative offices as well as the auditorium, all on one level so that all areas are as accessible to the handi- capped as to the sound visitor. A full basement provides maximum security and controlled climate storage for the permanent collection of the museum. Exhibits will be drawn from this collection as well as from traveling materials from other historical collections in the United States. The siting of the many units, their interconnections and juxtapositions, the dramatic shed roofs and the brick exterior finish are all drawn from traditional New England elements. In spite of the great sophistication of their handling they remind the visitor of the many rambling additions to eighteenth century famhouses, the pitch of a barn roof or an early gable, or the brick ended houses of the Federal period. On a more urban level the com- bination of red brick and copper sheathed roof is a variant of that used originally by Charles Bulfinch in the Boston State House, the gilded dome of which was originally covered with copper provided by Paul Revere and Son. Hugh Shepley was the partner in charge and Wagdy Anis was the project architect. The building won an A.I.A. award. At the west end of the property is the Richard Tower house built in 1905 and several outbuildings probably associated with the Tower estate. The house is an interesting Colonial Revival structure rendered in brick with decorative tiles set in the facade. A tall semicircular portico is the focal point of the facade. 7V '3 31 Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Lexington 516 Office of the Secretary, Boston Property Name: 33 Marrett Road Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. to 9 IMI WINE-a Masonic Headquarters Building, Fehmer and Page, Architects div - $.® '- y�`��'X _,Y-a.3 �- •��s _-.� l�`�`\ `6i � 'y�g.��� sal bid sli iF �I _. _ - Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address LEXINGTON 33 MARRETT RD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 610 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The brick building now used as a Masonic headquarters was constructed in 1905 for Richard Gleason Tower(1857- 1921),youngest child of William Augustus Tower(1824-1904). On August 19, 1905,the Lexington Minute-Man reported that"Mr. Richard Tower's new house, on Middle street,not far from his old home, is commenced, inasmuch as Mr. Bartlett Harrington will build the cellar and John Daley,with men, is making the necessary excavation". Tower's previous home was destroyed by fire. A few months later,Richard Tower married Henrietta Lockwood(Minute-Man, Oct. 7, 1905). The Richard Tower House was designed by Boston architects Fehmer and Page(Carl Fehmer and Samuel F. Page). Carl Fehmer was born in Germany in 1835. He immigrated to the U.S.with his mother and siblings in 1852 and attended public school in Boston. He received training in the office of prominent Boston architect George Snell for eight years before beginning an architectural practice some time during the 1860s. He performed all of the architectural work for the Massachusetts General Hospital for 25 years and later designed a number of buildings for the McLean Hospital as well as a number of Back Bay houses and lesser numbers of residences in Brookline, Easton, and Weston. Fehmer was a charter member of the Boston Society of Architects. The firm of Fehmer and Page formed about 1890. Fehmer died in Boston in 1917. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lexington Minute-Man,Aug. 19, 1905; Oct. 7, 1905. Massachusetts Historical Commission,MACRIS database. www.bosarchitecture.com http://en.wikipedia.org Supplement prepared by: Lisa Mausolf Feb.2009