HomeMy WebLinkAboutsomerset-road_0013-0015 FORM B -BUILDING
Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
56/103 Boston N. 1121
Town Lexington
`x Place (neighborhood or village) Upper Meriam Hill
1
Address 13-15 Somerset Road
If
Historic Name Hayes Estate Barn
� �� i'1♦
�= Uses: Present Multi-family Residential
Original Barn
Date of Construction late 19th c.
Source Lexington Valuation Lists
Style/Form No Style
Architect/Builder unknown
Exterior Material:
ALS 4,
Foundation rubble
44 _ Wall/Trim wood clapboards
Roof asphalt shingle
� ? •, . 1 ; �.,:, ,���� Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
two garages
VEN
Major Alterations (with dates) date? -converted to
':"%' ?" residential use including new sidm' windows orches
g g, , p
,, T ♦5
Condition good
o
Moved ® no ❑ yes Date
Acreage 19, 143 SF
Recorded by Lisa Mausolf Setting early 20th century residential neighborhood
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date (month/year) May 2000
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM (13-15 Somerset Road)
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the
community.
Originally constructed as a large barn on the Hayes property,this building was converted into a two-family house in the early
20th century; its original form is no longer discernible. Resting on a rubble foundation,the side-gabled building is
clapboarded with simple cornerboards, a plain watertable and overhanging, bracketed eaves which end in returns on the gable
ends. Two brick chimneys emerge from the front slope of the asphalt-shingled roof.
The building presents its broad elevation to the street, facing east. An offcenter gable wall dormer breaks through the
bracketed cornice and is finished with the same brackets. The sidewalls of the dormer are clad in board and batten siding and
there is a pair of small 6/6 windows in the gable. On either side of the larger dormer is a smaller wood-shingled gable
dormer. The first floor of the facade is partially fronted by a single-story porch supported by squared posts resting on a
wooden deck with stick balusters and knobbed newel posts above a latticed airspace. Under the porch the entrance contains a
glass-and-panel door, flanked by two partial sidelight strips, four lights each, which are set into the wall. Also sheltered by
the porch is a large tripartite window. To the north of the porch is a three-sided bay window with a dentil molding. On the
second floor of the facade, four small 2/2 windows with molded surrounds were inserted under the eaves after the barn was
converted to residential use.
The north elevation is spanned by an identical square-posted porch and contains a second entrance. Adjacent to this entrance
them'is a diamond-paned sash. The rear(south)gable is punctuated by 1/1 windows with a three-sided bay window and a
rearyeck and small gabled enclosed porch.
To the south of the house is a small, gablefront garage with a single offcenter overhead garage door. To the north there is a
concrete block garage, capped by a hip roof with exposed rafters and two individual garage openings.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Describe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (o state) history. Include uses of the building a
the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. (bye, 60 Wley-i a444 c!'f� N�r)C
This land was originally part of the 400-acre Francis B. Hayes estate which extended from Adams andancock Streets to
Woburn Street(the house known as Oakmount or The Castle was built in 1884 and demolished in 1941 . This portion of the
Hayes estate was laid out in houselots in 1909. This building was originally the large barn on the property. It is not known
exactly when it was converted into a two-family dwelling.
The property appears to have been owned by Henry Pratt in the 1920s. It was owned by Franklin and Nancy Coleman from
about 1930 until 1951 and by Rebecca Adams from 1951 to 1978.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Lexington Assessors Records.
Le)ington Directories, various dates.
Lexington Valuation Lists, various dates.
Worthen, Edwin B. List of Moved Buildings, 9133. [Courtesy of Nancy Seasholes].
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attached a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form.