HomeMy WebLinkAboutmarrett-road_0271 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM N0.586
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MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
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Lexington
cess 271 Marrett Road
toric Name Matthew Bridge House
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- = - Present residential
-_ Original residential
EMS! -- IESCRIPTION:
T s-
e between c. 1668 and c. 1740
town records research,
Source stylistic analysis
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Second Period/Federal
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
D�
Q� Major alterations (with dates)
Moved Date
All Approx. acreage 33710 ft.2
Recorded by Anne Crady Setting In residential area on state
Organization Lexington Historical Commission highway; amid houses of primarily early
Date April, 1984 twentieth-century construction date.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
Local tradition states that part of this house dates from before 1668.
Certainly the owners had a house on this property by that date (see Historical
Significance below) . Currently the house exhibits both Second Period and
Federal features, and no definitive evidence of seventeenth century construction
has been uncovered. (Because of the importance of the Bridge family in Lexington,
this house is an excellent candidate for an Historic Structures report which
might clarify its original construction date.)
(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.)
This property is significant for its association with the Bridge family,
one of Lexington's foremost seventeenth and eighteenth century families. By
1643 the site was owned by John Bridge. Bridge (d. 1665) , a prominent citizen
of Cambridge, was one of the original proprietors of Lexington, then known as
"Cambridge Farms. " Bridge, who served as selectman in Cambridge for 12 years
and was Representative to the General Court for four years, was a large landowner
in several parts of the colony. His statue stands on Cambridge Common.
.Although John Bridge never lived here, his son, Matthew (b. 1615, d. 1700) ,
settled here probably by the early 1660s. He enhanced and extended his father's
holdings. Matthew, Cambridge records make clear, had a house here by 1668 when
he received permission "to cut timber to repair his house at the Farms" (Worthen
to Heywood, 1937) . Matthew was one of the wealthiest early residents of
Lexington and his farm of approximately 600 acres extended from Lincoln Street
beyond 271 Marrett Road to the east.
Matthew's son, Matthew (b. 1650, d. 1738) , inherited the property.
Matthew, Jr. had fought in King Philip's War, was active in obtaining permission
for the Farms to become a separate parish in 1691 and a separate town in 1713.
He became the first selectman after the incorporation of the town and served at
the same time as Town Clerk, Town Treasurer, and Assessor.
Matthew Bridge, Jr. had before his death provided each of his four sons
with a house and 100 acres of farmland. Joseph received the house built c. 1722
(see Continuation Sheet)
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. 53-60. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington, A Century of Photographs, p. 13. Boston:
Lexington Historical Society, 1980.
Letter from Edwin B. Worthen to Mrs. Sidney B. Heywood, April 9, 1937. Worthen
Collection, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, Massachusetts.
Notes made by Roland Gabisch. Lexington Historical Commission files.
Scigliano, Anne R. "The Old House -- Memorial to the Past." Lexington Minute
Man, October 16, 1969.
Worthen, Edwin B. , Jr. "The Bridge Family and Lexington." Written for the use
of the Lexington School Committee, 1964. Worthen Collection, Cary Memorial
Library, Lexington, Massachusetts.
1OM - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET [Property
unity: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCtri�ffSSION Lexington 586
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Name: 271 Marrett
Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The oldest part of the house is apparently the ell, to the left. Here the
clapboards have a narrower weather than on the rest of the house. The interior of
this part was restored in the 1920s and the current fireplace there was built then.
The next portion of the house to have been built is the five-bay-wide, one-
room-deep section which stands closer to the street than the original ell.
Evidence suggests that this part was built in the Second period. Beaded beams are
seen in a closet and in one bedroom, and there is nogging in the walls. SPNEA is
said to have uncovered evidence in the 1960s that this part originally had a
central chimney and that the chimney was replaced during the Federal period with
rear chimneys. The house received a thorough remodeling in the Federal period. A
through-stairhall with straight run stairs was put in, new mantels installed, and
floors stenciled.
In the 1970s a two-story addition with low pitch roof was built across the
rear of the house to accommodate a restaurant. At one time there was a porch
across the front. It has now been removed.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
- now standing at 419 Marrett Road; John received the property centering on 170-172
Middleby Road (whether the original house of c. 1730 is incorporated into the
present structure is uncertain) ; Matthew received property on Trapelo Road in
Waltham (the house is no longer standing) ; and Samuel received the homestead at
271 Marrett Road.
Samuel Bridge (b. 1705, d. 1791) served as selectman from 1758 to 1760 and
helped to draft instructions for the town's representative in the years before the
Revolution. During the Revolution Samuel Bridge served in campaigns in New Jersey,
Bennington, Vermont, and Cambridge even though he was 70 years of age when the war
started.
The property descended in the Bridge family until sold in 1847 to Jonas C.
Wellington. Wellington sold in 1854 to Robert and Morris Copeland who were land-
scape gardeners. The property passed in 1860 to Bradley Clarke, and in 1872 to
the Osborne family. Next owner was Francis Kendall who operated a farm here. In
the early 1900s Harry Kelsey owned it. In 1917 Neil McIntosh acquired the
property and began to divide up the land. "He set up a corporation, took in
shareholders, and developed the area into the present house lots" (Scigliano 1969) .
In the 1920s the house served as the Proving Kitchen for recipes printed in
Priscilla magazine and the house itself was featured in many issues in articles
written by Della T. Lutes.
In the late 1920s the house became a highly successful restaurant called
"The Old House," operated by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Heywood. In 1966 the house was
acquired by Dr. and Mrs. David Smith who restored it.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Foran No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CUSSION Lexington 586
MI
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name:271 Marrett Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
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AIN
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Staple to Inventory form at bottom