HomeMy WebLinkAboutoakland-street_0029 FORM B - BUILDING Area Form no.
H 379
NIASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COM!IISSION
FN
Lexington
s ss 29 Oakland St. & Glen Road
r
1 t'o Wric Name Egen R. Ferguson House
- f
Residence
-- - Original
Present
Residence
s
-- - - -�— = ship:Q Private individual
Private organization
Public
_ -- - Original owner
Draw map showing property's DESCRIPTION:
location in relation to nearest
cross streets and other buildings Date 1895
or geographical features.
Indicate north. Source Lexington Minute Man, Nov. 23, 1894
Style utt,It`3t- �F keo kxl
Architect
G Exterior wall fabric aluminum siding
'Qo hip roof carriage house
'9p 'Qo,9 Outbuildings TnTf P�TEhrnx.7 Tai nrinT,;
O
Sov
Major alterations (with dates)
N
0
Y
o Moved Date
Approx. acreage .6 (26673')
Recorded by Audrey R. MacCarey; Anne Grady Setting Meriam Hill; residential street
Organization Lexington Historical Comm. of substantial late nineteenth century
Dare 4-16-76; March, 1984 houses.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (describe important architectural features and
- evaluate in terms of other buildings within community)
Fieldstone foundation, 8 over 2 windows, box porch w/flat roof supported by
10 columns 3 windowed bay w/balustrade top at right side, 2 story 5 sided
bay w/flat roof on left side, front roof overhang supported by brackets,
2 shingled dormers on front w/triangle roofs, 2 chimneys across ridge w/drip
- molding, 2 story gabled ell at rear w/dormer (triangle roof) each side,
chimney
(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 house and the house at 27 Oakland Street were built by Eben Rhoades
Ferguson of Charlestown. This house was for his family; the one next door was
for his mother-in-law Charlotte Elizabeth Smith. The local newspaper noted
that both houses cost $5,000-6,000 to build (Lexington Minute Man, August 11,
1895) . The local newspaper described the buildings as "of a large square style
of architecture with large entrance halls in the middle of the front with rooms
on either side with plain surfaces broken by bays and ornamental windows"
(Lexington Minute Man, August 11, 1895) .
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 201. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Lexington Minute Man, November 23, 1894, August 11, 1895, August 31, 1895.
1889 atlas
1906 atlas 20M-2/80
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCKIISSION Lexington 379
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 29 Oakland Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
This is one of the ample late nineteenth century houses which characterize
reriam Hill. Its striking features are the distinctive high pitch roof with
-- bell cast eaves and unusual dormers, and the half timbering in the gable. The
design may have been more cohesive before the application of aluminum siding.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 29 OAKLAND ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
7 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 379
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
As indicated in the previous inventory form,this house and its neighbor at 29 Oakland Street were both constructed in
1895. On August 2, 1895 the Lexington Minute-man included the following description of the construction of the two
houses and the development of this part of Oakland Street:
During the late spring the extension of upper Oakland street was opened up,which carries the street over the
summit of the hill to its limit which is reached at the extensive grounds of the Hayes estate. As yet the street is in
a rough state but in time will be graded and will make a beautiful street and the house lots now to be had will be
quickly snatched up by parties seeking a desirable building site on which to locate a new house . There are
already in the process of construction two houses worth from five to six thousand dollars each. These houses are
located on the right side of the street adjoining each other and will be completed about the same time. The first
one is being building for Mrs. Charlotte E. Smith, of Charlestown, and the second for Mrs. Mary W.Ferguson of
the same place. They are of the large, square style of architecture with large entrance halls in the middle of the
front with rooms either side,with the plain surface broken by bays and ornamental windows. The frames are
about completed and ready for the interior finish.
Eben Rhoades Ferguson,husband of Mary Ferguson, died in November 1897. Mary Ferguson continued to live here with
their two daughters until about 1915. In the 1930s and early 1940s the house was occupied by Guy Maynard and family.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man, August 2, 1895.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009