Audubon Road 265.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. FORM B − BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Topographic or Assessor's Map Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission Date (month /year):
March, 2010 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 5-040 Easthampton NTH.4 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Leeds Address: 265 Audubon Road Historic Name:
Calvin Clark House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: ca. 1792 Source: Clark Family history Style/Form: Georgian Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: parged brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Additions to rear of house
ca. 1990 Condition: good Moved: no | | yes | x | Date possibly 1884-1895 Acreage: 0.973 acres Setting: This is a west-facing house that is set relatively close to the road in a semi-agricultural
area.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [265 Audubon Road] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.4 _x__ 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. This is a one-and-a-half story house under a side-gable roof with a large center chimney. It is
four bays wide and two bays deep and its rear roof extends to first floor level to create a saltbox profile. It rests on parged foundations. The eaves in the gable ends are clipped as
was prevalent in vernacular Georgian houses of the mid-18th century. The small house represents the form form that many early houses took in rural Northampton, but most of which have
been lost. To bring it up to 20th century functionality, the house has a one and a half and a two story rear additions that do not compromise the integrity of the early portion of the
house. Windows in the west façade have 2/2 sash, but there is a 12/12 sash that probably represents the original fenestration pattern in the attic window of the south elevation. 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. From the Form B of 1976, “This small dwelling has presented some difficulty in tracing, as it first appears at this site on the 1895 atlas. The owner is Charles Clark,
who also owns the homestead farther west on Audubon Road. The 1884 and 1873 atlases do seem to show two houses at the more western site though, so this house was probably moved from
the upper site between between 1884 and 1895. Rev. Clark states that the present house in the Clark homestead on upper Audubon Road is the third one that’s been built since the Clarks
established themselves there in 1792. The small house is possibly the original house that was built at that time, or the second house, if built shortly thereafter. The third house is
the large Greek Revival structure currently standing. The Clarks were one of the first families to settle this area, then called Rail Hill, in the early 1790s. After mills were established
at the junction of Roberts Meadow Brook and the Mill River, the Rail Hill settlement became part of Sheperd’s Hollow, and in 1849 the name was changed to Leeds.” BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or
REFERENCES Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts, New York, 1873. Clark, Solomon. Antiquities, Historicals and Graduates of Northampton, 1882, pp. 162-165. Hales, John
G. Plan of the Town or Northampton in the County of Hampshire, 1831. Miller, D. L. Atlas of the City of Northampton and Town Town of Easthampton, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, Philadelphia,
1895. Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884. Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [265 Audubon Road] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.4 National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form Check all that apply: Individually eligible Eligible only in an historic district Contributing to a potential
historic district Potential historic district Criteria: A B C D Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G Statement of Significance by _____Bonnie Parsons___________________ The criteria
that are checked in the above sections must be justified here. The Clark House is eligible for the National Register as one of the three remaining homes of late 18th century settlers
to the northwest section of Northampton, and the homestead of the Clark family who farmed the area for generations. Architecturally, the house is significant as an example of what western
Massachusetts settlers were constructing in the late 18th century in response to the weather and and terrain, a Cape Cod building conservative in form. Stylistically, it is equally conservative
reflecting the experience of its builders who chose known architectural proportions and decorative features to carry on a building tradition that suited the families for whom they built.