HomeMy WebLinkAboutshirley-street_0024 FORM B -BUILDING
Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
57-94 Boston N. 1120
Town Lexington
Place (neighborhood or village)
Address 24 Shirley Street
Historic Name Walter&Mary Spellman House
Uses: Present Residential
Original Residential
Date of Construction c.1900 (by 1906)
Source Directories, List of Persons
Style/Form Queen Anne
Architect/Builder unknown
Rain Exterior Material:
Foundation Rubble
Wall/Trim Wood Clapboards,Wood shingles
-' Roof Asphalt Shingle
IN� Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
5 ,•!lJ none
Major Alterations (with dates) date? -turned balustrade
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Condition good
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y� �V
Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
Acreage 7424 SF
Recorded by Lisa Mausolf Setting mixed 20th century residential neighborhood
Organization Lexington Historical Commission off Bedford Street
Date (month/year) January 2000
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM (24 Shirley Street)
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the
community.
Located at the southwest corner of Shirley and Sargent Street, 24 Shirley Street is a two-story, gablefront dwelling which
dates to the early 20th century. The clapboarded dwelling rests on a rubble foundation and is capped by an asphalt-shingled
roof with projecting eaves. The gablefront is spanned by a single-story,hipped roof porch supported by turned posts with
jigsawn brackets. The posts are spanned by a turned balustrade of recent construction. The sidehall entrance contains a
glass-and-panel door and the two adjacent 2/1 windows also sheltered by the porch. The upper level of the facade above the
porch is sheathed in wood shingles and punctuated by two 2/1 windows. Unlike those on the first floor facade,these two
windows are capped by entablature lintels and framed by louvered shutters.
The east elevation of the house, facing Sargent Street, is clapboarded and two bays deep with entablatured window openings
including the blind window near the front. At the rear of the elevation there is a gable wall dormer with a decorative jigsawn
raking over the entablature lintel. The dormer window contains a small 2/2 sash. Projecting from the west elevation is a 2
1/2-story addition with modern fenestration including 1/1 sash and casement units.
The house is located on a 7,424 square foot lot with a picket fence enclosing the small front yard.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Describe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building and
the�ole(s) the owners/occupants played within the community.
The early history of this house is not known with certainty. It appears that the house is depicted on the 1906 map as one of
four owned by George Tewksbury. The owner believes that the house was constructed c.1893 based in part on the discovery
of new 1891 Indian head pennies in the foundation although this seems doubtful as the building occupies Lot 14 of George
Tewksbury's subdivision which was not laid out until 1898.
Directories indicate that Spellman, a conductor,was living at 9 Shirley Street as early as 1913. By 1918 his address is listed
as 6 Shirley Street, which it remained until 1934. The house was renumbered#24 Shirley Street about 1935. Later members
of the family living in the house included Mary Spellman(until about 1975), her son James, and later Walter F. Spellman,Jr.
and his wife, Lau-a. The Spellman family continued to own it until 1983.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Lexington Directories, various years.
Lexington, Town of. List of Persons, various years.
Legton, Town of. Valuation Lists. Assessors' Office, Town Hall, Lexington, Massachusetts.
19( Atlas.
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Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attached a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form.