HomeMy WebLinkAbouttower-road_0021 FORM B BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
0 0 2275
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 30/53
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town/City: Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Place: (neighborhood or village):
Photograph
Address: 21 Tower Road
Historic Name:
G 7
Present: residential
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PF
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Original: residential
Tenn Date of Construction: ca. 1910-30
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a°�eEJP Source: historic maps, town directories, style
: . Style/Form: Bungalow
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Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: fieldstone
East (facade) and north elevations
Wall/Trim: wood shingles and trim
Locus Map Roof: asphalt shingles
■ Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
1
one
Major Alterations (with dates):
Enclosed front porch and new front steps (L 20th - E 21St c);
{ new window sash (L 20th c)
Condition: good
° 1 Moved: no ❑ yes ❑ Date:
Acreage: 0.21
Setting: Set at the base of a hill on a small residential side
street with closely spaced houses of similar period, scale,
_g and style, mostly early to mid 20th century in construction.
1Z One block south of main thoroughfare of Massachusetts
Avenue; faces intersection of Tower Road and Plainfield St.
Recorded by: Wendy Frontiero
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): September 2015
12/12 Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 21 TOWER ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
0 2275
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
21 Tower Road occupies a small lot at the base of a hill with narrow front and side setbacks. The land slopes up gradually to the
back, with fieldstone retaining walls at the street edge, right side, and back. A paved driveway takes up most of the right side
yard; foundation plantings and ground cover occupy the front yard; and trees line the left lot line. A brick walk leads from the
driveway to the front entrance.
The rectangular building rises 1 '/2 stories from a fieldstone foundation with deep mortar joints to a broad side gable roof with a
plain flat fascia on the end gables, exposed purlin ends, and no gable returns. There is an interior chimney on the left end wall
of the house. Walls are sheathed with wood clapboards; windows are most commonly 6/6 double hung sash with narrow band
molding. A variety of casement windows is also present.
The fagade contains an offset entrance with a modern wood and glass panel door and plain flat casing. Its high, fieldstone-
veneer stairway has bluestone treads and a modern metal railing. A shallow, rectangular bay window is cantilevered off-center
in the fagade, comprising a multi-light picture window at the front and narrow multi-light sash on the sides. The foundation under
this portion of the building is poured concrete. The side elevations have irregular fenestration of varied sizes, shapes, and types.
The right side elevation has awning windows in the partially exposed basement; single and paired double-hung sash, single
awning windows, and paired casement windows at the main floor; and a triplet of double-hung windows in the attic story. Not
easily visible from the street, the left side elevation has fewer window types, including single, paired, and tri-partite windows at
the main floor and two single windows in the half-story. A short basement door is set near the front of the driveway side of the
house.
Although well maintained, 21 Tower Road has experienced significant alterations in the fenestration of its fagade and right side
elevations. An original front porch, which is typical of the bungalow style, appears to have been re-built to create the present
fagade. The building is notable for its unusually broad gable roof, distinctive bungalow massing, and exposed roof purlins.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
Discuss 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.
21 Tower Road represents the early period of suburbanization in Lexington, in which development near Massachusetts Avenue
was sparked by the arrival of street railway service here at the turn of the 20th century. In 1906, the land on which this house
stands was part of a large, mostly undeveloped parcel belonging to C. Fairchild, extending far west of a house located along
Massachusetts Avenue. At this time, Tower Road existed only south of Locust Avenue, although Plainfield Street was already
laid out for its present length—into Fairchild's property—and had one house built on it. Development along Plainfield Street
progressed steadily over the next two decades. By 1927, the street connected with Tower Road. By 1935, Tower Road is fully
illustrated between Locust Avenue and Massachusetts Ave, with five houses built along this stretch, including number 21.
The first known residents at this street address were Ralph W. E. Milliken, a plumber with Milliken &Co., his wife Minnie A., and
Ralph Milliken (probably their son), also a plumber, in 1934. (The Millikens lived at a different address on Tower Road in 1930.)
Subsequent occupants of this house included Frank A. Currier, Jr., a manager, and his wife Marjorie C. (1945) and Edward J.
Winter, a statistician, his wife Priscilla H., and their son Edward J. Winter Jr., who worked as an insurance underwriter(1955,
1965).
Continuation sheet I
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 21 TOWER ROAD
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
0 2275
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Historic maps and atlases: Walling 1853; Beers 1875; Walker 1889; Stadly 1898; Walker 1906; Sanborn 1908, 1918, 1927,
1935, 1935/1950.
Lexington Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey, Period Summaries. http://historicsurvey.lexingtonma.gov/index.htm
Accessed Jul 23, 2015.
Lexington Directories: 1899, 1906, 1908-09, 1922, 1928, 1930, 1934, 1936.
Lexington List of Persons: 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965.
Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Lexington." 1980.
U. S. Census, 1930.
Continuation sheet 2