HomeMy WebLinkAboutstratham-road_0006 AREA FORA NO.
FORM B - BUILDING 418
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
Wn Lexington
1
dress 6 Stratham Road
storic Name George W. Robinson House
P
- e: Present residential
- ♦ -
- --
- = a Original� residential
DESCRIPTION:
.te 1846
Source Edwin B. Worthen
SKETCH MAP
Show property' s location in relation Style Mansard
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboards
Indicate north.
Q _,.� � . Outbuildings barn
Maj or alterations (with dates) remodeled
�j
from Gothic Revival to Mansard style
(1870s)
AV Moved Date
M�g3 Approx. acreage 16425 ft•2
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting A prominent site on the southern
Organization Lexington Historical Commission slope of Robinson Hill, overlooking the
Date April, 1984 town center.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
There were perhaps half-a-dozen estates with fairly elaborate Mansard
or Italianate style houses in Lexington by the 1870s. Many of them, although
not this one, were pictured in Hudson's 1868 History of the Town of Lexington.
They included the houses of F.B. Hayes, Wm. A. Tower, A.W. Crowninshield,
Chas. O. Whitmore, and this house, the George W. Robinson estate. Only the
Robinson and Crowninshield houses survive. This house preserves much of its
original setting and is Lexington's most elaborate extant Mansard style house.
(see Continuation Sheet)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
This was the first of five Robinson houses to be built on the southern
slope of Davis (later Robinson) Hill. George W. Robinson, a successful
provisions merchant in Boston, chose the 20 acre site partly for the excellent
spring which flowed higher up the hill. In later years the spring water
flowed into a marble basin behind each house (some of the basins have survived) .
George Jerry Osborne Washington Robinson was born in Stratham, New
Hampshire in 1808. He was first introduced to Lexington when his wife's
parents purchased a farm on Lincoln Street in 1836. A self-made man, Robinson
became a prominent citizen after settling here in 1846. C. 1852 he built the
Robinson Block still standing in Lexington center. He was president for many
years of the Lexington Savings Bank and was one of the largest taxpayers in
Lexington.
By the late nineteenth century Robinson's property became something of
a family compound with Robinson's son, Frederick, occupying this house;
unmarried daughters, Francis and Sarah, occupying 10 Stratham Road; and
daughter Edith and her husband, Frank Childs, living in 2 Stratham Road. The
houses at 14 and 18 were also built by the Robinson family. In fact, Stratham
Road was a private drive until the early twentieth century. The Misses
Robinson chose its name to commemorate their father's birthplace in New
Hampshire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 586. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Worthen, Edwin B. "George Slept -- Where?" Lexington Minute Man, November 13,
1969.
1889 atlas
1898 atlas
1906 atlas
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Lexington 418
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 6 Stratham Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Mansard features of the house actually represent a remodeling of the 1870s.
-- The house began as a "Gothic cottage" in 1846. Although the original appearance of
the house has not been documented, it is clear that the drip moldings on the doors
and windows and very likely the rectangular two-story -bay at the entrance were fea-
tures of the original design.
Added in the 1870s were: a bell-cast mansard roof finished with slate and em-
bellished with dormer windows with arched caps, a very elaborate bracketed door
hood,and a six-sided.porch at the right front corner. A piazza with balustrade
extends across the front of the building. The house is reputed to have had the
first bathroom in Lexington. The changes made by Robinson in the 1870s made. the
house similar in style to the summer residence of F.B. Hayes built by 1868. Per-
haps Robinson aspired to be as up-to-date as Hayes, an even more successful busi-
nessman than himself.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom