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Home My WebLink Aboutmassachusetts-avenue_1303 ��- ind, ✓. F O R X1 B - BUILDING In Area no. Form no. MASSACHUSETTS 1USTOIIiCAL COMMISSION Di A6 129 Office of the Secretary RtsitP Unn.P Rnctnn { n Lexington cess _1303 Mass Ave Mason House Y Sent use Na Dwelling r. - - -- >ent owner James ?Weber _RM 1,ription: 1698 - - source Colonial- 5 bay center entrance- 4. Map. Draw sketch of building location Architect in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings. Indicate north. Exterior wall fabric White Clapboard 7 'raGreen shutters "`� ` Outbuildings (describe) Garage on s. side y� Other features W ud ws 3 o er -Window panes f` 8 over 12>11.Lu s sir s center door C , 2 cen±=al chimneys (. ) �- Altered yes Date Moved Date t� 5. Lot size: (3.75A) -� Less than one acre Over one acre X j N&Pt4 LE Approximate frontage 95ft Approximate distance of building from street 26ft DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE 6. Recorded by Connie Bachman USGS Quadrant Organization MHC Photo no. _ Date July 22,1975 (over) 7. O--'iginal owner (if Known) c 1698 - John Mason Original use farmhouse Subsequent uses (if any) and dates 8. Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Conservation Recreation Agricultural Education Religion Architectural Exploration/ Science/ The Arts settlement invention Commerce Industry Social/ Communication Military Humanitarian Community development political Transportation 9. Historical Significance (include explanation of themes checked above) John Mason, tanner, assessor in Lexington, one of eleven subscribers in purchase of the Green from Benjamin Muz zey 1711 when town was incorporated, constable (1714) , Town Clerk (1729) & later lates & selectman. Area around house became known as Mason's Hollow. Grandsons Joseph & Daniel Mason fought in Capt. Parker's company of Minutemen in 1775, Joseph became Town Clerk (1770-1790). Daniel, more accentric became town character. Sarah Mason (aunt to Joseph & Daniel) Wm. Munroe., -Mother of Col. Wm. Munroe ( df Munroe Tavern, D-Z� . In 1789 house passed out of Mason family to Samuel Henley (1780-1791) to James Winthrop ( 1791-1822)), Harvard graduate, noted astronomer, Registrar of Probate for Middlesex Co. Librarian of Harvard, Judge of Court of Common, Pleas, & excessive drinker. He raised mulberry trees for- his -silkworms, d. 1821. House then passed to James Munroe, owner of Munroe Tavern. In Munroe family to 1920 . 10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) Canavan Papers - Lexington Library Hudson, Charles - History of Lexington Proceedings, Lexington Historical Society Unpublished paper by Joan Weber-(Mrs. James Webers for Lexington Bicentennial Photographic Exhibit, 19 75, .in Lex. Library, & Lex. Hist. Soc. FORM B - E!j T I rl G r_f<1 I U U 0UKV t I �.� ) FORM NO. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Photos Town 13 : 3 east chamber Address 1303 Mas sachu set ts Ave 13 : 7 detail , summer beam and end girt , west chamber Historic Name John Mason House 13 : 9 south facade 14 26 attic 7 4 Use: Present —Residence Original Residence DESCRIPTION Date ca . 1715 Source visual analvsis Style Ist Period core/Federal vernac- ular exterior Architect Unknown Sketch Map: K Exterior Wall Fabric Clapboards Outbuildings None Major Alterations (With dates) Lean-to added , its -roof raised , ell addition to the richt side , e-xtended several times , Gates unknown Condition Good Moved No Date N/A Acreace 3.7 acres Setting Suburban setting of well- spaced houses : open land of Seasons Four greenhouse and great meadow to the rear condos to the west jTjM REFERENCE 19 317-830 4700-930 Recorded by Anne Gradv ISGS QUAD-Rr",NGLE - Lexin2ton Organization Boston University CALF L 1 • 25,000 Date October 1985 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET commz.aiity: Form No: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION LEXINGTON �29 Office of the Secretary, Boston Property Name: John Mason House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. SIGNIFICANCE The John Mason House has integrity of location, design, materials, and workmanship in its later First Period frame which embodies distinctive characteristics of form and construction eligible under Criterion C. The Mason House is one of four early 18th century houses in Lexington with quirk-beaded frames . In this house and in the Buckman Tavern ( c . 1709 ) , the bead is exceptionally wide at one inch. The Mason house may be part of a transitional pattern noted in other houses surveyed, where horizontal beams are quirk-beaded, but vertical posts are meagrely chamfered, or plain, perhaps because the posts were intended to be boxed from the beginning. The Mason house has an all principal rafter roof , a late First Period framing variant found primarily in Middlesex County. At least one other house surveyed with principal rafter roof also has the relatively rare longitudinal summer beams on the second floor . Further study of framing techniques in these Middlesex County houses with principal rafter roofs is likely to yield important information about the origins and rationale behind these rare framing alternatives . EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION The John Mason house is a two and one half story structure with two story lean-to in the rear and a long ell , added in several building campaigns to the right-hand end. The original house, (the front left-hand portion of the current house, ) is a structure of modest scale, three bays wide and one bay deep, asymmetrical in plan. The clapboarded structure has Greek Revival vernacular exterior trim, a 20th century open porch at the center entrance, and two chimneys on the rear slope . The chimneys replaced an earlier central chimney in the early 19th century. MAJOR FIRST PERIOD FEATURES Evidence of First Period construction is found in the southeast room and in the southeast and southwest chambers . In the southeast room, only the east end girt is exposed. It has an inch-wide quirked bead. In the southeast and southwest chambers , the front and rear plates , the end and chimney girts and the longitudinal summer beams are all decorated with an inch wide quirked bead. Posts exposed in the rooms are boxed, but in a closet , one flared post displays a flat chamfer. -1- St- le to Inventory form at 1 :tom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET connur ity: Form No: MASSAC HME'ITS HI STORI CAL CCt+Q SS ION LEXINGTON Office of the Secretary, Boston operty Name• John Plason House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. In the attic , the roof framing is composed of thirteen sawn principal rafters approximately 3 1/2 inches square , spaced 32 to 35 inches apart . The rafters are bridle jointed and pegged at the ridge . There is no ridge piece, and no purlins . The feet of the rafters above the four tie beams ( two end tie beams and only two intermediate tie beams flanking the central bay) are framed into the tie beams . How other rafters are attached to the plates was not determined. Rafters at the center of the rear slope are slightly different in character, suggesting that they may have been installed after the central chimney was removed and replaced by rear chimneys . HISTORICAL INFORMATION John Mason owned the site of this house by 1706 , but the deed was not recorded until 1714 , a likely time , on the basis of style , for this house to have been built . John Mason was a prominent early citizen of Lexington, which until 1713 was called Cambridge Farms . He served as constable , town clerk and selectman at various times in the early years of the town ' s history. REFERENCES Joan Webber, Study of the John Mason House, unpublished paper, Lexington Historical Society. -2- Sta-le to Inventory form at I `ton