HomeMy WebLinkAboutmarrett-road_0212 AREA F01M N0. -1
FORM B - BUILDING
585
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MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
WA
Town Lexington
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Address ;1,6?1"6 riarrett Road
} = Historic Name Patch-Nelligan-Swenson
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Farm
- - -
F - Use: Present residence
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Original residence and farm
- DESCRIPTION:
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s Date c. 1850
_ Source stylistic analysis, map research
SKETCH MAP
Show property' s location in relation Style Greek Revival
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboards
Indicate north.
Outbuildings barn, cottage, shed
Major alterations (with dates)
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CIO❑❑ o
D Qom
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❑ ° ❑ O ❑ Moved Date
Approx. acreage 2.76 A.
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting Surrounded on three sides by
Organization Lexington Historical Commission open conservation land, the building
Date April, 1984 retains a setting which must approximate
the original.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
Greek Revival features of this building include the closed pediment,
broad frieze, panelled corner pilaster, and fluted columns on the porch
(columns have no entasis) . This is one of two substantial but simply finished
dwellings in the style near each other on Marrett Road.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
The house was owned in 1853 by Abel Eliab Bridge, a descendant of
Matthew Bridge who owned the farm at 271 Marrett Road in the eighteenth century.
A.E. Bridge moved back to Lexington from Vermont c. 1850, and must have then
built this house on the family's property.
By 1875 the house was owned by Franklin Patch. His son, Oscar Llewellyn
Patch inherited the property. Oscar was first a machinist and then an engineer
at the Bedford Springs Hotel. He sold the house before 1899 and by 1906 he was
living at 16 Winthrop Road.
The next owner was John P. Nelligan, a provisions dealer, who lived in
Cambridge at first and must have purchased the property as a market garden farm.
In the early twentieth century the farm was bought by Henning Swenson and
his brother who were dairy farmers. The Swensons started farming in 1908 at
29 Allen Street nearby. After moving to Marrett Road, they had 100 cows,
employed 18 laborers and sold milk to the community.
The house is still owned by the Swenson family, but the acreage of the
farm is now conservation land.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, pp. 56, 60, 519.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Research notes by Yvonne Schwemmer, 1976.
1830 map
1853 map
1875 atlas 1887 Directory
1889 atlas 1894 Directory
1898 atlas 1899 Directory
1906 atlas 1906 Directory
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