Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutarea-alFORM A - AREA Massachusetts Historical Commission 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 Assessor's Sh ee ts USGS Quad Area Letter Form Numbers in Area 77&82 Boston N.AL 1369-140 9 Town: Lexington Place (neighborhood or village): No rt h Lexington Nance of Area: The Grove Present Use: Residential Construction Dates or Period 1962-1965 Overall Condition: good Major Intrusions and Alterations: additions Acreage: approx. 30 acres Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf Organization: Lexington Historical Commission Date (month/year): April-July 2000 rau iano of ........... a b R^e^O ^a Q Rd 1de ^d A J ^ (see Onhil l t aM m Sheep" f mere he I J v y, ) AREA FORM ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION Describe architectural, structural and landscape features and evaluate in terms of other areas within the community. The Grove is a development of approximately forty contemporary style houses constructed between 1962 and 1965 off Burlington and Grove Street in the northern part of Lexington, just south of the Rt. 95/128 corridor. The development includes houses on Diamond Street which is accessed off Grove Street, on Angier Road (off Burlington) and on North Emerson Road which spans from the end of Diamond to the end of Angier. Five additional houses are located on White Terrace, a small side street which ends in a cul-de-sac off the west side of Diamond Road. Two houses in the development actually front Grove Street while another is located on Burlington Street. All but possibly two of the houses are examples of the award-winning, split-level design known as the "Peacock Farm" house. Each house was individually sited to reflect the contours of its particular site. Most of the houses retain a wooded setting although in a few cases the lots have been cleared. With the exception of the rise in elevation toward North Emerson Rd., most of the development consists of fairly level lots averaging 30,000 square feet. With the exception of the Colonial-style houses at 367, 369 and 371 North Emerson Road (all built in 1984) there has not been any infill construction within the neighborhood, resulting in considerable cohesiveness. As originally constructed, each of the houses in the development contained roughly 1,800 square feet. The three-level interior was designed to divide functions with three bedrooms and bath on the top level, the living room, dining room, kitchen and main entrance on the middle level and a playroom, utility room and/or garage (convertible to two additional bedrooms) on the lower level. The houses are all capped by a low pitch roof with one slope longer than the other. The broadly overhanging eaves display exposed beams. The houses are sheathed in stained vertical cedar siding. Fenestration consists of horizontal band) of windows which include single-pane glass as well as casement units with clerestory windows tucked under the eaves. Over the years, a number of the houses have been enlarged. Among the more dramatic additions are those at 7 Diamond Road (1990, B.D. Nayak of Braintree, architect) and 5 Angier Road. More typically, additions consists of a rear addition which is largely screened from view. Few of the houses originally incorporated a lower level garage. As a result, the addition of garages or carports, either detached or attached to the side or offset in front, are the most common alteration/addition. Almost every house retains its vertical cedar siding; the single exception noted was 7 Diamond Road. Among the least altered in the development are the houses at 2 , 3 & 7 Angier Road; 9, 11, 15 & 17 Diamond Road, 11 Diamond Road; and 3 White Terrace. Two of the houses appear to display a form which differs from the conventional "Peacock Farm" house. These houses, 8 Diamond Road and 352 North Emerson Road, were either built according to a different design or have been so altered that their original form is no longer discernible. Lexington has approximately ten developments of Contemporary style houses (see also Areas S, AK, AM, AN) including The Grove. Such a concentration of contemporary houses is rare in the state and these developments constitute some of Lexington's most significant architectural resources. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Explain historical development of the area. Discuss how this area relates to the historical development of the community. The Grove is one of approximately six areas in Lexington developed with a split-level dwelling which was known as the "Pe:1cock Farm" house. In addition to the Peacock Farms development [Area S] (1950s), the other areas included Rutiford Road [Area AM] (1959); Glen Estates [Area AK] (1960-6); and on Turning Mill Road [Area AN] in North Ley gton. Other communities featuring the same house design were built in Wayland and Newton. The Grove followed on the heels of the success of Peacock Farms which met national acclaim in 1956-7 including first prize in the national "Homes for Better Living" contest sponsored by the A.I.A., a First Award from House and Home magazine and exhibited in the National Association of Home Builders' Hall of Fame in Washington. ® Recommended as a National Register District. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address Lexington The Grove Massachusetts Historical Commission Area(s) Form No. Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard L Boston, Massachusetts 02125 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE As part of the Peacock Farm development, Cambridge architect Walter Pierce was commissioned by developers Harmon White and Edward Green to design a house which would meet the needs of the young professional buyers they hoped to attract. The resulting design, known as "the Peacock Farm house" contained 1,825 sq. ft. including garage and sold for just over $20,000. For an extra $1,500 buyers had the option of adding two bedrooms and a bath in the basement garage space and a separate garage outside the house. Most apparently opted for the living space rather than the basement garage. Like Peacock Farms, The Grove was developed by Edward Green and Harmon White (Green and White). The original plan for the subdivision (originally known as Pine Ridge) was submitted in 1959 and was finally approved in 1961 after some neighborhood opposition. The majority of the houses were constructed between 1962 and 1964 by Benjamin Franklin Homes of Newton (who also constructed the other four developments of Peacock Farm houses). The last houses to be constructed in 1964 and 1965 are found on North Emerson Road and owners were given the option for a slightly larger house. The construction of Contemporary-style developments in Lexington in the late 1950s and early 1960s coincides with the trend of outward movement from Boston to the surrounding suburbs. Route 128 was opened in 1951 and in the years that followed many new jobs were created at the various companies that were established in proximity to the highway. In 1950 Lexington's population stood at 17,335; by 1960 it was 27,691, a 60% increase in ten years. The town's farmland, in this case - the Johnson Farm, found new value as residential subdivisions. The "Peacock Farm" house prototype was popular with young professional buyers and the early ownership of the Grove houses reflects this. Directories indicate that within the subdivision, the original households were for the most part comprised of male breadwinners and their spouses who are listed as housewives. The typical residents who moved to the Grove in the early 1960s were in their thirties and many had recently moved to Lexington from various locations in Massachusetts and across the nation. Scientists, professors and engineers predominated. Unlike some other local developments of the period, a community pool was never constructed in the Grove. Today, almost forty years later, approximately fourteen houses in the neighborhood are still owned by their original owners. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey of Lexington, Book 1, 1984 [Area S, Peacock Farm]. House and Home, October 1956, June 1957. Information from resident Jane Eastman, July 2000. Lexington Assessors records. Lexington Building Department Records. Lexington Planning Board records. Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Plan Recorded Nov. 3, 1961, Book 9925, Pg. 508. Seney, Noel. "A Split-Level that Makes Sense", Better Homes and Gardens, May 1960. Time, May 20, 1957. The Grove Area(s) Form No. Lexington INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Property AddressTown Massachusetts Historical Commission Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 DISTRICT DATA SHEET AREA AL "THE GROVE" Assessors Resource Address Style Date MHC# 77/164 James & Esther Bouras House 2 Angier Road Contemporary 1963 1369 77/163 Italo & Caroline Servi House 3 Angier Road Contemporary 1963 1370 77/165 Kenneth & Noleine Purser House 4 Angier Road Contemporary 1963 1371 77/162 Paul & Joy Blackburn House 5 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1372 77/166A James & Calista West House 6 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1373 77/161 Frederick & Frances Matthews House*7 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1374 82/93 Alan & Beverly Wernick House 8 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1375 82/92 William & Bett y Daly House 10 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1376 77/160 Harvey & Margaret Mansfield House 11 Angier Road Contemporary 1962 1377 77/146 Harold Mindell House 96 Burlington St.Contemporary 1960 1378 77/172 Melvin & MarilynTracey House 3 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1963 1379 77/171 Irwin & Diane Miller House*5 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1963 1380 77/170 Jaime & Nelly Carbonell House 7 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1963 1381 77/178 Charming & Harriet Morrison House*8 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1964 1382 77/169 Joseph & Myrna Fox House*9 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1962 1383 77/179 Harold & Barbara Wachman House*10 Diamond Rd.Contemporary 1963 1384 77/168 Alfred & Doris Schneider House 11 Diamond Road Contemporary 1962 1385 82/99 Irving & Phyllis Lessin House 12 Diamond Road Contemporary 1963 1386 82/98 William & Kathleen Talley House 15 Diamond Road Contemporary 1962 1387 82/100 Willard & Jane Eastman House*16 Diamond Road Contemporary 1962 1388 82/97 Robert & Betty Tagen House 17 Diamond Road Contemporary 1962 1389 82/101A Gerald & Natalie Mosby House 18 Diamond Road Contemporary 1962 1390 77/145 Martin & Mar it Landahl House 5 Grove Street Contemporary 1961 1391 77/144 Sydney & Irene Koren House 11 Grove Street Contemporary 1961 1392 82/83B Yu-Chi & Sophia Ho House*351 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1393 77/159 Matthew & Joyce Crimmins House*352 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1394 82/91 Frank & Edith Sandy House*353 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1395 82/90 Mario & Noris Grignetti House 355 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1964 1396 82/89 Arthur & Manse Gottlieb House 357 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1397 82/94 Chester & Nancy Zaneski House 358 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1962 1398 82/88 Irwin & Sandra Macey House*359 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1399 82/95 John & Jean Hatfield House*360 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1962 1400 82/87 Bernard & Charna Levine House*361 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1401 82/96 Gordon & Constance Lawson House 362 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1962 1402 82/86 Joel & Marianne Yancey House 363 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1403 82/85 Theodore & Ellen Andersson House*365 North Emerson Rd.Contemporary 1965 1404 77/173 Shelden & Dorothy Sarnevitz 2 White Terrace Contemporary 1963 1405 77/177 Eugene & Nancy Isotti House 3 White Terrace Contemporary 1962 1406 77/174 Richard & Virginia Strauss House*4 White Terrace Contemporary 1963 1407 77/176 Albert & Bernice Dean House 5 White Terrace Contemporary 1963 1408 77/175 Samuel & Vivian Bram House 7 White Terrace Contemporary 1962 1409 * Still owned by members of original family in 2000. Lexington The Grove Area(s) Form No. Town Property AddressINVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Massachusetts Historical Commission Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 Ii 18 Diamond Road 7 White Terrace N Lexington The Grove Area(s) Form No. 351 North Emerson Road Town Property AddressINVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Massachusetts Historical Commission Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 353 North Emerson Road Town Lexington INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Massachusetts Historical Commission Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard Property Address The Grove Area(s) Form No. Boston, 7 Diamond Road White Terrace Lexington The Grove Area(s) Form No. INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address Massachusetts Historical Commission Massachusetts Archives Building 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 C Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, Massachusetts 02125 Lexington The Grove Area(s)Form No. AL National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: ! Individually eligible ! Eligible only in a historic district ! Contributing to a potential historic district 0 Potential historic district Criteria:! A ! B [] C ! D Criteria Considerations:! A ! B ! C ! D ! E ! F [] G Statement of Significance by: Lisa Mausolf Justify criteria that are checked in the above sections: The Grove subdivision should be evaluated for National Register eligibility as it turns 50 years old. The area is potentially eligible for the National Register under Criterion C as an intact example of an early 1960s subdivision of award-winning, split-level residences known as the "Peacock Farm" house, named after the Lexington neighborhood where the houses were first constructed in the 1950s. The Grove is the last of five areas in Lexington developed with this type of dwelling giving the town a concentration of these Contemporary-style houses which is without parallel in the region or the state. The Grove exhibits integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. The aspects of integrity which are most important to the neighborhood include setting, design, and materials. Critical elements include the relationship between the houses and their surrounding and the unique way in which each dwelling is oriented to make the most of the site and its natural topography. The wooded setting adds to the character of the neighborhood and harmonizes well with the natural stained siding which predominates on the houses. Although the siting of the houses varies considerably, all of the houses are built according to the same basic plan and retain a distinctive, asymmetrical gable roof with broadly overhanging eaves, fenestration which includes horizontal bands of windows as well as clerestory units and vertical cedar siding. Although a number of the houses in the neighborhood have been enlarged over the years, the area continues to exhibit a distinctive character. ^ pvOn` i ^ ^ / ^/' ice' / ^ .\^ ' f \ •s, ^ '\\\\ ^ ^' ^ ^ `,^^..^. .r^r „L6Blr^•'/< \\\LOGY ^l ^' I /^'^/ /^ </ / ^` ^\ ^ \\ ( -I = L fE'I^ p^ ^ ^ ^ asp . 'I/ I/:- 'Er-- i/,/ ok::\) \/ !foTHr1a\C'))E__\ /---^ `^#• ^^l„^L^\ ^ M1'^\ ^^/, . . / f IN ^ 6 fN •-ru,los,^SN 3 a L ,^^-^I ^ J ! ^ goo,d,^ Rio ^ ^ ^ ^z ^ ^ ^ ^ 1i ^foa^rf , j ^ ^J^ L^—\Joni!^ i/Otjl j/usi t %,oa'r-^^ o f ^ \ \^ ^ `\ ^ \ \ ^^ Lfri!L /•'1--;:__,;t; :-6 E}/\ — T I A.y ^'^IC •^Y FRONT ELEVATION. :fur y's comment: The well-inte- grated facade makes the house look considerably larger than it really is. The site planning is excellent, especially the large lot (125 frontage) Leve y2 Lesel3 U b lU 1.)' PLAN. Jur y 's co,NNlent: The house has excellent cir- culation between living-dining and bedroom levels. The plan permits very economical plumbing." (Floor area is 1,860 sq. ft. including garage.) FIRST ANVARD Class B—$15,000 to $20,000 CITATION: "An excellent solution of the entire problem: site planning, arrange- ment of interior circulation, and treatment of the facade." BUILD EER, Euward G-een & H en White ARCHITECTS: Com.o`on & Pierco LOCATION: Lexington, Mass. This house ii as one of the 57 houses for '57 published in H&H last October. u -Nz)fria \L1 0 i 0 FIREPLACE WALL. !lu'v 'S Comment: "We call particular attention to the svay the fireplace is used to give privacy for entry without reducing the sense of space in the living room." (You enter the house from behind the fireplace at the right end.) LIVING Room, below, as seen from the stairway at the fireplace wall.