HomeMy WebLinkAboutwaltham-street_0277 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM N0.461
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
- to Lexington l
Iress 277 Waltham Street
;toric Name Augustus Elwin Scott
_ I
,} use
� - Present residential
o�� r Original residential
)ESCRIPTION:
,e 1891
dource Lexington Minute an, Ilay 15, 1891
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Shingle Style
to nearest cross streets and/or attributed to
geographical features. Indicate Architect Hartwell and Mich rdson a✓-di
all buildings between inventoried 4. 4. Huyl,tl covwalcf /
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric shingles
Indicate north.
Outbuildings
off. ��ti
lv o Major alterations (with dates)
QsIV, Moved Date
Approx. acreage 4 .9 A.
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting A prominent site on the south
Organization Lexington Historical Commission slope of Loring Hill; landscaped grounds
Date March, 1984 extend down to 11altham Street.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This is the finest Shingle Style house in Lexington. The house shares
many features with the Yerxa House in Cambridge by Hartwell and Richardson;
and Susan Maycock, Hartwell and Richardson expert, is comfortable with the
attribution of this house to the architects. A balanced design with turrets
at either end, one round and one hexagonal, and a steep chateauesque roof
with one dormier, this building with overall shingled finish is a cor.r,andinc
presence on Waltham Street. There have been few changes to the gracious
(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.)
Augustus E. Scott was one of Lexington's most prominent citizens. He
"came to Lexington shortly after graduating from college to be principal of
the high school. Finding his ambitions were more extensive, he studied law
and practiced in Boston" (Reinhardt dissertation, p. 102) . He was a state
representative from 1379 to 1880 and a state senator in 1885. Ile became a
justice in the Middlesex Central District Court. e was president of the
Appalachian Fountain Club and a trustee of the Lexington Savings Bank. He
served on the school committee and was repeatedly moderator of Town LieE�`ing.
As chairman of the buildina committee of the Hancock School, A.E. Scott
got to know Hartwell and Richardson, winners of the architectural competition,
first hand. This must have induced him to choose the architects to design
his own house.
Scott married late at 53. Tradition states that he went to the I_ardi
Gras in New Orleans, fell in love with the queen, and married her. i:rs. Scott,
is said to have requested that he build her a "Spanish" house.
The next owners were the Ryders of Newton, who purchased the house in
1917 for a summer residence.
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, n. 617. Boston:
Houghton 1,1ifflin Company, 1913.
Lexington Iinute Nan, Iiav 15, 1891.
Reinhardt, Elizabeth Wright. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston
University.
SocietN7 for the Preservation of New England Antiquities photograph collection.
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCHAffSSION Lexington 4.61
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 277 Waltham Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
but informal interiors. The interior plan is open. There is a stairhall with
fireplace and elaborate staircase which even incorporates a place to cage a
dog under the stairs. Rooms on the first floor are separated only by wide door
openings and many diagonal features such as fireplaces and windows provide
further interest and sense of flowing space. Finishes are elaboratively carved
or molded oak. Each fireplace is a fine brick or tile composition unlike any
of the others.
The grounds of the house extend down to Waltham Street. Early photographs
at SPNEA show the grounds as they were in Scott's time.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 277 WALTHAM ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 461
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Augustus E. Scott married Cecilia Gustine on January 20, 1891 and this house was built shortly thereafter.
On May 15, 1891 the Lexington Minute-man reported that"The contract for A.E. Scott's new house has been awarded to
H.H. Hunt of Newton. It is to be a handsome structure and will occupy a sightly position on the summit of Loring hill,
just off Waltham street, about a mile from the village". Little is known about builder Henry H. Hunt. The MACRIS
database maintained by the Massachusetts Historical Commission credits him with seven residential buildings in Boston,
Brookline and Newton, built between 1890 and 1902.
Augustus Elwin Scott was born in Franklin, Massachusetts in 1838. He studied in the Milford High School and in the
Green Mountain Liberal Institute at Woodstock,Vermont and later at Brown University and Tufts College. He received
the degree of A.B. in 1858 and in 1861 received his Master of Arts from Tufts College. He studied in the Albany Law
School and received the degree of LL.B. He served as the principal of the high school in Abington for two years and for
nearly six years was the principal of the high school in Lexington. Scott was active in many different fields. He was a
member of the State Legislature from 1879-80 and a State Senator from 1885-86. He assisted in establishing the
Middlesex Central District Court and was for many years an Associate Justice. He organized the Lexington Field and
Garden Club and was prominent in the forming and incorporating of the Lexington Historical Society, of which he was
the first president. A.E. Scott played a prominent part in procuring the charter of the Lexington Savings Bank in 1871,
and was an officer in the bank and its attorney. Scott was also an early president of the Appalachian Mountain Club and
was active in planning and building paths to important points in the White Mountains. He was an early climber of Pike's
Peak and Gray's Peak,was one of the first American climbers of Mont Blanc and made explorations in the Scottish
Highlands. He was also an authority on the flora of Eastern Massachusetts and of high altitudes(Eliot 1909). Locally,
A.E. Scott also had extensive real estate holdings and was responsible for several subdivisions.
A. E. Scott died prior to 1918. The property was sold by Cecilia Scott to Charles Ryder, proprietor of Ryder's Stock
Farm(cattle and hogs)at 24 Maple Street. Ryder lived in Newton in the winter and spent summers in Lexington. He
continued to own it into the 1930s. The house was owned by Marshall and Rena Bushnell from 1943 to 1968 and by
Irving and Gladys Kanter from 1968 to 2005.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Eliot, Samuel Atkins. Biographical history of Massachusetts: biographies and autobiographies of the leading men in
the state. Massachusetts Biographical Society, 1909,vol. 2.
Lexington Directories, various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man, May 15, 189 1.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
April 2009