HomeMy WebLinkAboutpleasant-street_0087 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
8/20 Boston
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION North
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph East Lexington
Address: 87 Pleasant Street
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s .: Historic Name: Albert& Miriam Goldman House
t' Uses: Present: residential
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Original: residential
Date of Construction: 1952
Source: Harvard University archives
Style/Form: Contemporary
Architect/Builder: Hugh Stubbins, Jr.
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Exterior Material:
— - Foundation: concrete block
Wall/Trim: vertical boards
Topographic or Assessor's Map Roof: tar and gravel
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
none
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Major Alterations(with dates):
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F. 4-
Condition: good
Moved: no x yes Date
f Y Acreage: 2.30 acres
Setting: mixed 20th century neighborhood
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Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): January 2010
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 87 Pleasant Street
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
This house was constructed in 1952 by architect Hugh Stubbins, Jr. for Albert&Miriam Goldman,just a short distance from
two other Stubbins' designs at 3 & 6 Dover Lane and the Moon Hill development which was created by The Architects
Collaborative(TAC). Like the other contemporary houses,the Stubbins House exhibits the influence of the International Style
and was sited to blend in with the rural character of the property. The house is capped by a gable roof displaying a considerable
overhang. The structure rests on a cinder block foundation. Exterior walls are constructed of two by four studs and four by four
posts which are sheathed with vertical tongue and groove boarding. Windows include casements and large fixed glass windows
which are without trim.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
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.
This house was designed by architect Hugh Stubbins, Jr. (1912-2006)in 1952-3 for Albert&Miriam Goldman. Stubbins lived
nearby at 6 Dover Lane and also designed the house at 3 Dover Lane. Inside,the house at 87 Pleasant Street originally
contained the work of Japanese-American furniture maker George Nakashima. The house remained in the Goldman family until
2006 when it was sold to Isaac Silvera.
Hugh Stubbins graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1931 and was awarded the MArch by the Harvard
Graduate School of Design in 1935. In the late 1930s he worked briefly with Royal Barry Wills. At the invitation of Walter
Gropius, Stubbins taught for more than a decade during the 1940's and 1950's at the GSD; in 1954 he left teaching to devote
himself to his architectural firm,which was to become a highly successful international practice. Stubbins is perhaps best-known
as the architect of large-scale structures which have become recognizable landmarks in urban skylines: the Berlin Kongresshalle,
Manhattan's Citicorp Building and Boston's Federal Reserve Bank. Stubbins is also widely recognized for his education-related
designs,which range from a number of suburban schools to Harvard's Countway Library,Pusey Library and Loeb Drama
Center(Harvard University, Stubbins Collection).
The original owner,Albert L. Goldman(d. 2004),graduated from Harvard Law School in 1946.During his 56-year legal career,
he was an advocate for the labor movement and an authority on advising all phases of a union's activities. He joined the law firm
now known as Angoff, Goldman,Manning,Pyle,Wanger&Hiatt in Boston in 1948 and went on to become its president. He
advocated for the teachers'union during the Boston school busing controversy in the 1970s and pioneered the establishment of
employee health and welfare benefit funds in Massachusetts. He served in the Naval Aviation Service,where he flew on
dirigibles and worked as a cryptographer(Harvard Law Bulletin, Summer 2005).
Continuation sheet 1
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 87 Pleasant Street
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Brown,Neil Porter. "Living with Modern Furniture",Harvard Magazine,March-April 2006.
Harvard Law Bulletin. http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/2005/summer/memoriam_main.php
Hugh Stubbins Archive: The Early Years Collection, Special Collections Department,Frances Loeb Library,Harvard Design
School,Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. has the following drawings for the house:
Roll: A148 Project and Construction Drawings : Goldman House/Date(s): 1952-1953 /Quantity: 9 items in set+(5
items)/Dimensions: aprox. 25"x 37"/Medium: pencil/ Support: trace
Note: Job#201 and#5201. Original Tube#05.0 and#71.0.
Content: Architectural drawings: 1. First and Second Floor Plans; 2. Basement Plan and Sections; 3. Elevations; 4.
Elevations; 5. Framing Plans and Structural Details; 6. Roof Framing and Structural Details; 7. Window and Door
Details; S1-S2. Specifications.
Scale: 1/4"=F-0"; 3"=F-0".
Lexington Assessors Records.
Ludman,Dianne M.,Hugh Stubbins and his Associates: The First Fifty Years, 1986.
Middlesex County Registry of Deeds.
Continuation sheet 2