HomeMy WebLinkAboutmarrett-road_0118 FORM B BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 31/52A 0 0 2245
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town/City: Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Place: (neighborhood or village):
Photograph
Address: 118 Marrett Road
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: residential
Original: residential
Date of Construction: ca. 1996 (radical remodeling of a
= reportedly earlier building)
Source: building permits
Style/Form: Neo-Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Left side (east) and front (Marrett Road fagade)elevations Foundation: brick (front wing); rest of building not
visible
Wall/Trim: wood shingles and trim
Locus Map
Roof. asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
none
iMajor Alterations (with dates):
Rear additions middle and rear wings) and remodeling of
9 front wing (L 20 h— E 21St c)
kd a'f � Condition: excellent
"np
02A ,
Moved: no ❑ yes ❑ Date:
� Y
Acreage: 0.99
711 0
i a - Setting: Located on main thoroughfare of Marrett Road
(Route 2A), adjacent to Dunback Meadow Conservation
Land and Dailey Farm. Heterogeneous residential
streetscape, with buildings of varied periods, scale, and
siting.
Recorded by: Wendy Frontiero
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month/year): September 2015
12/12 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 118 MARRETT ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
2245
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
ff 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.
118 Marrett Road occupies an unusual, U-shaped lot containing nearly an acre of land, most of which is located behind the
house. The parcel wraps around 122 Marrett Road; both parcels were probably subdivided from what is now 114 Marrett Road,
the 15-acre Dailey Farm. The house stands in the wider, eastern leg of the U, with a moderate front setback and modest side
backs. Generally flat, this portion of the property is lined with a low fieldstone wall at the street edge. A semi-circular paved
driveway occupies most of the front setback here, with an extension leading back to the garage. Shrubbery lines most of the
right side of the house. The building is roughly H-shaped, with its front wing parallel to the street and a garage in the rear wing,
also parallel to the street. Behind the house, the land slopes gently down to the south.
The building rises 2 stories from a brick foundation (at the front wing; others not visible)to an array of gabled roofs with gable
returns. One interior chimney projects from the back slope of the rear wing. Walls are sheathed with wood clapboards and
trimmed with a sill board (with cap) and narrow fascia board with a heavily molded cornice. Windows typically have 6/1 double-
hung replacement sash with plain flat casings. At the first floor, the wall surface directly above the window sash is flared out
slightly.
The 4 by 2 bay front wing has a side gable roof; its rightmost bay steps back slightly. Facing north, the front (Marrett Road)
fagade has four regularly arrayed windows on each floor. The left side gable end has two windows at the first floor and one
centered at the second floor. The right side gable end is asymmetrical, with one set of paired windows and one single window
on the first floor and an offset window at the second floor. A formal entrance may be located in the corner between the front and
middle wings, but is not visible from the public way.
The middle (connector wing), perpendicular to the street, has on its left(east) side elevation a cladding of stone veneer and a
segmentally arched window on its first floor, a slightly overhanging second story, and a small four-pane window visible at the
second floor. On the middle wing's right (west) side, a large arched window on the second floor projects above the roofline,
surmounted by a correspondingly curved roof supported on decoratively sawn brackets.
The rear wing has a gable roof parallel to the street, but is dominated by a large, asymmetrical cross gable facing Marrett Road.
The street-facing fagade includes two individual garage bays with segmentally-arched openings, a slightly-recessed offset
doorway, and a pair of windows centered in under the ridgeline in the half-story. A small bay window with one small four-light
sash projects from the right end of the half-story, as well. The left (east)side of the rear wing has a shed-roofed dormer across
most of its length and two windows on each floor. The right(west) side of the rear wing contains a variety of single, paired,
double-hung, and casement windows, along with a polygonal bay that wraps around the back corner of the first floor.
118 Marrett Road has experienced extensive remodeling and/or rebuilding, and the nature of the original design is not clear at
this time. In 1996, a two-story addition with a garage, valued at$200,000, was constructed. Building permit records suggest
that everything behind the front wing may date to this period. Additional renovations of unknown scale and character were made
early in 2015. The present house is a handsome building in an historically-informed design, but appears to be a thoroughly
modern metamorphosis.
Continuation sheet I
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 118 MARRETT ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
2245
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.
Originally known as Middle Street, Marrett Road is an important cross-highway though Lexington that dates to the early 18th
century. Scattered development occurred along the street through the 19th and turn of the 20th centuries: Only five houses were
located between Mass. Ave. and Waltham Street in 1853, and ten in 1875 and through 1906. By 1922, there were 32
households along the whole of Middle Street, which extended westward to Lincoln Street. Early to late 20th century residential
infill on relatively large lots (especially along the southern side of the road) contributes to the current, heterogeneous
streetscape.
Ambiguous historic maps and a changed street numbering system make the history of 118 Marrett Road difficult to trace for
purposes of this project. The three houses along the street at 114, 118, and 122 Marrett Road appear to be subdivided from the
larger Dailey Farm property, which abuts these residential buildings on the south and east. The Dailey Farm is said to have
been established in 1861. The flanking buildings at 114 and 122 Marrett Road are Dutch Colonial Revival houses (built ca.
1920-30), and#118 may originally have been constructed at the same time. (The present front wing may stand on an early 20tH
century foundation.)
The first known occupant specifically identified at#118 is Mary E. Dailey, widow of John P. Dailey, in 1935. In that year, William
C. Dailey, who raised and sold livestock (possibly Mary's son), lived next door at#114 with his wife Sarah and two young
children. Dr. Thomas K. Norton, a dentist, lived with his wife Catherine at#122. The 1930 census enumerated Mary E. L.
Dailey, widow, living alone at an unnumbered house on Marrett Road. Her husband John P. Dailey, commonly described as a
farmer, is identified at this part of Middle Street as early as 1894, when his occupation was listed as milk dealer.
Later residents of 118 Marrett Road included Horace G. Dearborn, a painter, his wife Helen C., and Helen's father, Murray T.
Tooker, retired (1945; see also building inventory form for 8 Locust Ave.). They were followed by George A. Clemow, an
engineer, and his wife Cherry(1955); and William H. Bowen, a manager, and his wife Barbara A. (1965).
Further research is recommended to establish the history of the house at 118 Marrett Road, its early appearance, and the
property's associations with the Dailey Farm.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Historic maps and atlases: Walling 1853; Beers 1875; Walker 1889; Stadly 1898; Walker 1906; Sanborn 1908, 1918, 1927,
1935, 1935/1950.
Lexington Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey, Period and Area Summaries.
http://historicsurveV.Iexingtonma.gov/index.htm Accessed Jul 23, 2015.
Lexington Directories: 1894, 1899, 1902, 1908-09, 1913, 1922, 1924, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1936.
Lexington List of Persons: 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965.
Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Lexington." 1980.
U.S. Census: 1920, 1930, 1940.
Continuation sheet 2
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 118 MARRETT ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
2245
SUPPLEMENTARY IMAGES
Left (east) side and front (north) elevations: detail Front wing: left (east)side and front (north) elevations: Detail
Right(west) side elevation
Continuation sheet 3