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HomeMy WebLinkAboutmassachusetts-avenue_0214 FORM B -BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 13/276 Boston N. 1089 Massachusetts Historical Commission Town Lexington r t! Place(neighborhood or village) East Lexington Address 214 Massachusetts Avenue 1 - Historic Name j Uses: Present Residential Original Residential Date of Construction c.1915 I Source Lexington Assessors Records Style/Form Bungalow Architect/Builder unknown Exterior Material: Foundation concrete block Wall/Trim wood shingle Roof asphalt shingle Outbuildings/Secondary Structures garage Major Alterations (with dates) Condition good Moved ® no ❑ yes Date Acreage 6765 SF Recorded by Lisa Mausolf Setting mixed residential on busy main road near Organization Lexington Historical Commission Arlington town line Date (monthlyear) April 2000 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. BUILDING FORM (214 Mass Ave.) ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the community. A good example of a side-gabled bungalow, 214 Mass. Ave. is a 1 1/2-story, wood-shingled dwelling set on a rusticated concrete block foundation. Projecting from the facade is a wide, low gable which shelters the open front porch spanning the facade. The porch is supported by two wood-shingled battered piers which extend to the ground. Smaller shingled posts flank the curved concrete stoop walls. The overhanging eaves of both the front and side gables are supported by knee braces. The sidehall entrance contains a replacement wooden door and is flanked by full sidelights. Adjacent to the entrance is a set of three doublehung windows with four lights at the top of each upper sash. The front gable is lit by a horizontal window with four vertical lights. The west side of the building is punctuated by two three-part windows with four vertical panes in the upper sash over a single-pane lower sash. In addition to a pair of the same windows there is a new bow window in the attic. A smaller gable projects from the east elevation. A paved driveway extends along the west side of the house terminating at a novelty-sided garage with exposed rafters on the lateral eaves and double doors on the gablefront. The house is set on a low hill above Mass. Ave. with a stone retaining wall along the street. HIST6RICAL NARRATIVE Descibe 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. The exact date of construction of this house is not known. Local assessor's records suggest it was constructed in 1915 although this could not be verified. Assessor's records describe this property as containing lot 13 and part of lot 14 of the "O'Hara Plan". Only lots 1-10 had been lotted by the time of the 1906 Atlas. The property was known as 58 Mass. Ave. until about 1930. The earliest assessment information found for the property indicates that in 1925 Alice Sylvester was assessed for a house valued at$6000 and a garage valued at$300 on the 6765 square foot lot. Directories indicate that Anthony and Alice Sylvester were living here from about 1926 to 1928. He worked as a chauffeur. By 1930 the house was occupied by John Harwood,the manager of a gas station, and his wife Isabel. Harry and Ida Tepper were living here about 1940 and from c.1950 to c.1960 the house was occupied by Dora Shapiro and Ida Tepper. Martin and Helen Henneberry were in residence in the 1970s. The house was owned for many years by Florence and Richard Luongo who lived at 47 Pleasant Street. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Lexington Assessors Records. Lexi gton Directories, various dates. Lex,�gton Valuation Lists,various dates. San' m Maps, 1927 and 1935. 1906 Atlas. Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.