The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink Aboutmeriam-street_0028 FORM B - BUILDING Area Form no. H 385 ,_ Lexington ` �-ess 28 Meriam St. 111-4 mail 41 ,'1 a boric Name ogeedankee Originalresidence _ Present residence AMj'� .tel - - r `` T_ rship:[M Private individual Private organization , � = yA, a Public hi Original owner Fred Brown SKETCH MAP N Draw map showing property's DESCRIPTION: location in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings Date 1906 or geographical features. Indicate north. Source Lexington Linute Mian, July 13, 1907 Style too Architect Willard Brown T (�.D�Co✓1/)0ri Gb n 1Ya�Fc✓_ Oo i Exterior wall fabric white wood shingles O Outbuildings large ?o � yMajor alterations (with dates) new dormer & 3rd floor remodeling, 1978. carriage house remodeled for dwelling (1982) OMoved Date Approx. acreage ,7S�GtG►� Recorded by Henry V. Taves ; Anne Grady Setting corner site, well elevated. Organization Lexington Historical Comm. Date 6/25/80 ; March, 1984 (Staple additional sheets here) ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within community) Complex form 4 plan (irregular) . Overhang w/exposed eaves. One of Willard Brown's earliest and most original houses, this building incorporates many of the architect's favorite features including the low hovering roof with "eyebrow" feature, broad eave overhang with exposed rafters, and emphasis on the building's horizontality through devices such as -- the linear division of shingles every third row on the lower story. (see Continuation Sheet) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICPuNCE (explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community) - F. Brown = older brother of architect W. Brown. The building was designed for Fred K. Brown, cashier of the Bunker Hill National Bank in Boston, by his younger brother, architect Willard Brown. Land of their father's estate had been recently subdivided and both brothers built homes there (Willard's is at 20 Meriam Street) . OV - _ !1 it•111 !rl - BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCLS Album of works by Willard Brown, Lexington Historical Society. Boston Globe, October 22, 1982. Hudson,• Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 71. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. (see Continuation SheeMM-2/80 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Commo±lity: Form Nc: WSSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL, CaMSSION Lexington 385 Office of the Secretary, Boston Property Name: 28 Meriam Street Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE A contemporary newspaper account addresses the problem of the building's style and gives a hint of the terms under which it was conceived. "Like many of our new houses, this one can not be classified as any particular style of architecture. The strongest suggestion it makes . . . is that it represents what the 'Arts and Crafts' movement stands for" (Lexington Minute Man, July 13, 1907) . The name of the building, "Ogeedankee," an Indian word for home, is inscribed in a leaded glass panel in the front door. The newspaper continues, "The name seems to fit the place for its wooded environment and the out-of- doors suggestiveness which the light and airy house conveys seems in keeping with the Indian's idea of living in the open and as near nature as possible." In designing a house fitting the above description, Brown must have been responding to the wishes of his brother as implied in his choice of an Indian name for his home. The architect's own house, several lots away and built a year earlier, is a much more formal structure on a level lot. Brown's daughter verifies that the architect was always very attentive to the wishes of his clients. The carriage house with quarters for a groom was remodeled into a dwelling in 1982 by Richard Hardway Associates, architects of 128 Derby Street, Newton. One of two carriage houses on Meriam Street to be very effectively remodeled (the other is the Hayes Estate carriage house at 60 Meriam Street) , the building is unchanged on the exterior except for the introduction of a large area of glass with elliptical fanlight above which replaces the original carriage house doors. In the interior, some of the original finish of narrow vertical (cedar?) boards has been preserved, and a patented oats cleaner was left in place. The renovation was featured in the Boston Globe, October 22, 1982. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Lexington Minute Man, July 13, 1907. Plans by Richard Hardway, December 1981, in possession of current owner. Plans by Willard Brown, 1906, in possession of current owner. Personal communication from Sarah Emily Brown Shoenhut. Boston Globe, October 22, 1982. Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address LEXINGTON 28 MERIAM ST. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 385 BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: An interesting description of the house at 28 Menam Street was printed in the Lexington Minute-man on April 30, 1907, just after its completion: Ogeedankee The Indian name which heads this sketch means"home"and has been chosen by Mr. and Mrs. Fred K. Brown to designate their new home on Merriam street,Lexington. The name seems to fit the place, for its wooded environment and the out-of-doors suggestiveness which the light and airy house conveys seems in keeping with the Indian's idea of living in the open and as near to nature as possible. We may have expressed the thought but poorly, but after friends of the owners of this new home have visited it,they may feel more definitely that which we fail to express. Mr. Willard D. Brown,the architect, has adapted the building to the wooded hillside on which it stands and the soft grey and browns of its shingled sides,with its trim of Indian red, blends harmoniously with the walnut and oak trees, amid which it stands forth in an inviting and picturesque way,with the broad side and entrance front facing the wood, reached by a graceful,winding driveway. A row of stepping stones, imbedded in the grassed hillside give a more direct approach to the house. An enclosed loggia protects the main entrance(screened in summer and glassed in winter), which ushers one into the entrance hall,with its staircase to the right, and the rooms opening into it from all sides, giving a spacious, hospitable air. Comfort, convenience and sanitation have been strictly adhered to in planning the interior. Most of the rooms have a south or southeastern exposure and they are flooded with light and air. There is no white paint, excepting in the living room,where some white paneling contrasts pleasantly with a Japanese texture wall covering in a beautiful tone of blue. The dining room has a green-gold finish and the wood in cypress,with an oil finish. The clustered windows and handsome china closet are features of this room. The den is a corner room and has a black oak finish,the mantel and fireplace design being especially noticeable. A glass door opens from this room on to a piazza that has pergola suggestions. The upper hall is square and roomy and the sleeping apartments give the idea of space and airiness. Here the natural wood finish prevails, making a handsome contrast with carefully chosen papers. The bath is a model and the dressing room is of unusual proportions. A loggia out of the main room provides for an out-of-doors sleeping apartment and is protected by casement windows. The halls and the passage ways all have the rough plaster finish,tinted in water colors. A fern window,with leaded glass casement windows, gives a charming touch to the second landing on the staircase. The domestic department is unusual for its many convenient devices. The ashes from the kitchen go into a bricked receptacle outside the house;the kitchen refuse goes into an enclosure reached by a chute;there are chutes for soiled clothing,concealed dumb waiters, and in fact too many details of this sort to note here. The butler's pantry,kitchen pantry, linen closet are all models, and as for closet room, storage cabinets and drawers,- we never saw so many before. Even the cellar is equipped with its closets for special uses,besides a laundry, carpenter's work room,cold closet, storage closets and the usual compartments for furnace supplies. The kitchen,together with the back staircase and halls,have the walls tinted a pale green and the wood work is stained dark green. This shows how much thought has been given to the working part of the house and that everything has been done for practical purposes and to observe the comforts of life,rather than to aim at display and shall we say discomfort? In the third story is a servant's room and bath,a large recreation room,besides large store closets, cabinets for drawers built into the walls, so that there is a place for everything and everything in its place. INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address LEXINGTON 28 MERIAM ST. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 385 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Like many of our new houses,this one cannot be classified as any particular style of architecture. The strongest suggestion it makes in this line is that it represents what the"Arts and Crafts"movement stands for. The contractor was T. H. O'Connor and the house is a compliment to his skill and ingenuity in carrying out the clever plans of the architect. The fire places(and there are a number of them), are simple,yet dignified in design. Gruby tiling has been used in part as facings. The leaded glass work is likewise commendable. Space has been utilized to the best advantage, as is instanced by a finely equipped toilette room, also a room for disposing of outside wraps,both of which occupy space under the staircase. The entrance to these rooms is reached by two sunken steps,which gives picturesqueness and yet secures a certain privacy which is desirable. One ought to be happy and comfortable at"Ogeedankee". HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE: The property was still owned by Fred and Sylvia Brown in 1942. It was sold by Lauriston MacKenzie to Kenneth and Dorothy Bolles in 1950. Kenneth Bolles sold the house to the present owners, Henry and Carol Reiling, in 1977. In 1982 the carriage house historically associated with this property was renovated and subdivided from the original property. It is now 32 Edgewood Road(MHC#608). BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lexington Directories,various dates. Lexington Minute-Man,April 30, 1907. Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass. U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930. Supplement prepared by: Lisa Mausolf June 2009