HomeMy WebLinkAboutsummit-road_0012 AREA FORM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING
521
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
Wn Lexington
dress 12 Summit Road
storic Name Dudley Murphy House
a
--_ e: Present residence
Original residence and studio
-- -
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This property is perhaps the finest example of early twentieth century
landscape architecture in Lexington. The almost-three-acre site with extensive
views to the east occupies the crest of Mt. Independence and incorporates the
location of the nineteenth century observation tower. Retaining walls, many of
which are curved, are used extensively to provide a level portion on the rear
(view) side of the house and to landscape the high points to the east and west.
The street side of the property has been fashioned into a formal Italian sunken
(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.)
The house was built in 1919 by Herman Dudley Murphy, an American
impressionist painter. Murphy had lived and worked in Italy. According to
tradition he asked architect, Harold Hathaway, to recreate the Italian Villa
where he had lived in Florence for himself and his second wife.
The property incorporates the site of the observatory on Mt. Independence,
and part of the original carriage road to the summit borders the eastern edge
of the property. About 1834-1835, Eli Robbins, successful East Lexington fur
processor and owner of the site, erected a three-story observatory on Mt.
Independence, laid out drives to and walks around the summit, and connected the
two driveways to the summit by a walk an eighth of a mile long. This walk was
built of two solid stone walls, filled in with gravel, the side toward the
summit had a trellis the whole distance covered with Isabella grapevines
(Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society, II, p. 179) . This was the
first instance in Lexington of an owner opening his private property for public
use. (The other prominent example is the B.F. Hayes estate, opened to the
public in the late nineteenth century.) The observatory was a popular site,
well used by citizens and strangers. Views in all directions were extensive
and ships could be seen in Boston Harbor. The observatory was the site of a
three day fair in 1839 which raised money for the erection of the Follen Church.
Meals were served on the lower level during the fair, and the Brigade Band
played on the second floor.
According to Dorothy Foster, there was a stand pipe on the site in the
late nineteenth century.
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 I, pp. 297, 471. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Newspaper clipping, source unidentified.
Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II. Lexington: Lexington
Historical Society, 1900.
Personal communication from Dorothy Foster.
Personal communication from Mrs. K. Corcoran.
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Lexington 521
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 12 Summit Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
garden enclosed by retaining walls. There are several arbors and many of the
walls terminate in urn-shaped posts. The many scotch pines on the property were,
according to the present owner, the only trees which the sheep which formerly
grazed there did not molest. At the site of the observatory are remnants of
stone walls and some shaped paving stones, but it is difficult to determine the
the original layout. Below the retaining walls on the eastern edge of the
property is part of the original carriage road to the summit. (Bridle Path and
Gibson Road are the lower portions of the original carriage way.)
The substantial U-shaped house was designed to be reminiscent of a
- Florentine villa. The large artist's studio to the left and the kitchen wing
to the right form a three-sided entrance courtyard which includes an arcade of
typical Italian design. The carved capitals, roundels and columns were probably
originally covered with a pink/red glaze, perhaps to simulate marble. A
subsequent owner added reproductions of the Parthenon frieze to the wall behind
the arcade. A small fountain on the rear wall is finished with decorative
ceramic tiles.
The rest of the house reflects a Craftsman/Prairie feeling compatible with
its construction date. Inside are simple finishes of cyprus wood and rough
plaster. There are a few small-scale Arts and Crafts Style carvings around the
doors.
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Staple to Inventory form at bottom