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HomeMy WebLinkAboutshirley-street_0012 FORM B -BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 57/92 Boston N. 1119 • 1j T • Town Lexington e Place (neighborhood or village) North Lexington f • Address 12 Shirley Street Historic Name Custance-Morse House Uses: Present Residential ' ' Original Residential `� Date of Construction 1917 Source Lexington Valuation List Style/Form Craftsman IArchitect/Builder Custance Brothers? D. Exterior Material: a Foundation rubble Wall/Trim wood shingles 1 �'°°` � '�, Roof asphalt shingle Outbuildings/Secondary Structures garage • '' I Major Alterations (with dates) none 3 Condition good i Moved ® no ❑ yes Date Acreage 7873 SF Recorded by Lisa Mausolf Setting mixed early 20th century residential Organization Lexington Historical Commission neighborhood Date (month/year) June 2000 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. BUILDING FORM (12 Shirley Street) ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the community. The house at 12 Shirley Street is an interesting example of the Craftsman style and bears some resemblance to the house at 118 Bedford Street. The building remains nearly totally unaltered from its original, 1917, appearance. Resting on a rubble foundation,the 2 1/2-story, side-gabled dwelling is sheathed in wood shingles with an asphalt-covered roof and a brick, off- ridge chimney. The roof displays overhanging eaves which are supported by triangular braces and flared ends on the gable ends. The lateral eaves have exposed rafters. The front facade is two-bays wide with a sidehall entrance containing a glass- and-panel door. The facade is fronted by a single-story porch which wraps around to the west elevation. The porch is supported by pairs of thin square posts with capitols and bases, and are infilled by geometric stickwork. The porch columns are in clusters of three at the corners of the porch. Between the supports stick balusters rest on a wooden deck above a latticed airspace. The windows contain 6/1 sash with molded surrounds, exterior storm windows and vertical board shutters. Centered on the front roof slope is a gable dormer with small triangular braces. Projecting from the rear of the east elevation is a two-story gable which projects slightly with two windows on the first floor of the east elevation and a single window above. On the west side of the house the porch terminates at an additional two-story projecting gable. The secondary entrance on the front face of the projection has a glass-and-panel door. Both of the side gables display the same triangular braces as the main gables. A driveway extends along the west side of the house,terminating at a gablefront garage with an overhead door. The building dis"lays exposed rafters on the side elevations. 1 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Describe 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 constructed in 1917 on Lot 12 of the subdivision laid out by George Tewksbury in 1898. The Town Valuation List indicates that in 1917 Theodore Custance was assessed for the lot only. The following year the assessment included a house valued at$4000. Theodore Custance was one of the principals of Custance Brothers, contractors and builders and it is assumed that the firm built the house. By 1925, Custance, who lived across the street at what is now 9-11 Shirley Street (MHC# 1118), had sold the house at 12 Shirley Street. It was owned by Eugene Partridge and his wife in the 1930s and 1940s. Francis and Margaret Morse purchased the house in 1948 and continue to live here today. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Lexington Assessors Records. L4xington Directories, various dates. Lexington Valuation Lists, various dates. Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.