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HomeMy WebLinkAboutpleasant-street_0005 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 10022000060 1Boston N. 637 MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town Lexington BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Place (neighborhood or village) East Lexington �I x < Address 5 Pleasant St. )to 11 Historic Name David Harrington House x+ )s Uses: Present Residential rh Original Residential Date of Construction ca. 1845 Source Stylistic analysis; Lexington Valuation lists Style/Form Greek Revival Architect/Builder ,q Exterior Material: Foundation Granite to Wall/Trim Wood Clapboard Roof Asphalt Shingle Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Major Alterations (with dates) t Front porch(before 1923) Front shed dormer(after 1923) .•� ' . Remodeled after 1925 fire Rear porch(date unknown) Condition Good Moved ® no ❑ yes Date PLE OW STREET / \ Acreage 0.4 A. Setting Near the intersection of two very busy streets and Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes across from a heavily-patronized farm stand Organization Lexington Historical Commission Date(month/year) April 1998 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. BUILDING FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 5 Pleasant St. is one of only 10 side-gabled Greek Revival cottages in Lexington. The house is rectangular with a rear ell, 1'/s stories, five-by-one bays, and has a steeply-pitched side-gabled roof with a chimney at the intersection of the main block and ell. The 1%Z-story one-by-one bay rear ell has a front-gabled roof that is also steeply pitched and a shed-roofed dormer in the reentrant angle. The house is set on a granite foundation, clad with wood clapboards,and roofed with asphalt shingles. There is a one-story flat-roofed screened porch in the west rear reentrant angle. The center entrance is flanked by full-length sidelights;windows are 6/6 double hung sash. A frieze board extends around the entire house, creating a pedimented attic. Additions on the facade include a three-bay shed-roofed dormer and a three-bay porch with slender Tuscan posts. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ❑see continuation sheet Discuss 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. Although the caption on a 1923 photograph identifies this house as Nathan Fessenden's, historical maps indicate that it really belonged to David Harrington (1790-1870). Harrington bought the land on which this house stands in 1840, but it is not clear exactly when the house was built. David Harrington was assessed for a house in 1841, but deeds and assessors' records indicate it was not on this land nor, apparently,was a second house for which he was assessed in 1844-1846. However, the similarity between this house and the one at 1 John Wilson Ln. (MHC#638), which was built in 1846, suggests that this house was also built in the 1840s. David Harrington had worked for many years dressing furs in the East Lexington fur industry, but in the early 1840s he began to cut and process peat on land he owned in the Great Meadow, a business he continued until 1858. The 1923 photograph shows the house with gable rather than a shed dormer; in 1925 the house reportedly partially burned and was remodeled. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet Church, Burr. Photograph Collection. Lexington Historical Society, Lexington, MA. Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 283. Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 394: 515; 384: 147. Sileo,Thomas P. Sileo. Historical Guide to Open Space in Lexington. Lexington, Mass.: Thomas P. Sileo, 1995. 266. ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.