HomeMy WebLinkAboutvine-street_0022 FORM B BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 48/222 0 0 2276
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town/City: Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Place: (neighborhood or village):
Photograph
Address: 22 Vine Street
Historic Name:
Uses: Present: residential
t Original: residential
Date of Construction: ca. 1780
Source: assessors' records, style
- Style/Form: No style
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: poured concrete
South (facade) and east elevations Wall/Trim: asbestos shingles and wood trim
Locus Map Roof- asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
-_ -;sir r None
! 217 a a
Major Alterations (with dates):
18 * Foundation (20th c), rear addition (E 20th c?), fagade
22 fenestration (E- mid 20th c)
1B
4a
4a c Condition: fair
Moved: no ❑ yes ❑ Date:
2 Acreage: 0.19
Setting: Narrow, winding residential road with a great
diversity of building scale, form, period, and style; irregular
building setbacks and orientations. Close to intersection of
-- } Hayes Lane and Woburn Street.
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 22 VINE STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
2276
❑ 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.
22 Vine Street occupies a small, thin lot that slopes significantly up from the street. The front of the building is set very close to
the road, with a narrow setback on its left side and a paved driveway on its right side. The front and left side setbacks are
mostly occupied by shrubs; trees and shrubs are scattered through the larger back yard.
The three by one bay main block rises two stories from a concrete foundation to a shallow-pitched side gable roof; no gable
returns. An interior chimney rises near the center of the front slope of the roof. Walls are clad with asbestos shingles. Windows
are typically 2/2 double hung sash with narrow band molding. The asymmetrical facade contains a high proportion of solid wall
area. A small double-hung window is centered on the first floor, flanked by a triplet of 6-light casement windows on each side.
Three small double hung windows are arrayed close to the eave on the second floor. The basement contains short, double-leaf
flush doors at the left end of the fagade, with a small, contiguous 6/6 window near the corner.
The right (east) and left(west) side elevations are both symmetrical, with one small window centered on each floor. A one-story
shed roofed addition across most of the back of the building is sheathed in wood clapboards. It has no windows on the left side,
and an offset doorway(the main entrance to the house) and a modern six-pane window on the right side. A large shed-roofed
dormer is visible on the right side of the addition.
An early and modest house, 22 Vine Street has experienced significant alterations over time but retains its original massing and
sense of spare simplicity. It is notable for its siting close to the street, compact proportions, small and infrequent windows, and
low-pitched roof.
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.
One of the earliest roads in Lexington, Vine Street was established as part of the route between Lexington and Woburn in the
17th century. It formed the southwesterly end of this road until 1833, when the old highway was widened and straightened to
meet Massachusetts Avenue. Vine Street was sparsely settled through the 19th century; suburban infill developed gradually
through the 20th century.
Assessors' records for this house show a construction date of 1780. The massing, scale, proportions, and surviving early
fenestration are consistent with an 18th century date, although it has not been confirmed. The house at 22 Vine Street seems to
be indicated on all the historic maps of the 19t century. It is certainly evident on the 1889 map (the first one with owners' names
identified), owned by J. Reardon. O'Reardon is named here in 1898, and P. O'Reardon in 1906. The present rear addition is
drawn on the 1918 map.
The first known occupants at this address are Dennis Reardon, a laborer, and his sister Mary E. Reardon, who were living here
in 1920 and remained here through at least 1935. By 1945, the house was occupied by Harold Morgan, who worked in a
creamery, his wife Ganes (sic), and their son Harold Jr., who was serving in the Army. Subsequent residents included Thomas
E. Rafferty, who worked for the State Department, and Lorette A. Rafferty, a bookkeeper(1955), followed by Myron J. Block, a
physicist, and his wife Davida L. (1965).
Continuation sheet I
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 22 VINE STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
2276
Further research is recommended to trace the history and use of this property, particularly as it relates to Lexington's agricultural
history.
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, 1913, 1918, 1922, 1926, 1930, 1934, 1936.
Lexington List of Persons: 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965.
Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Lexington." 1980.
U. S. Census: 1920, 1930, 1940.
Worthen, Edwin B. Tracing the Past in Lexington, Massachusetts. New York: Vantage Press, 1998.
SUPPLEMENTARY IMAGES
r
West and south (facade] elevations
Continuation sheet 2