Belmont Avenue 27.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: PVPC Date (month /year): April, 2010 Assessor’s Number
USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 31D-40 Easthampton NTH.753 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 27 Belmont Avenue Historic Name: Harris and Inez Wilder House Uses:
Present: college office and one living unit Original: single-family house Date of Construction: ca. 1925 Source: Registry of Deeds, Book 871, page 246 Style/Form: Spanish Eclectic Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: concrete Wall/Trim: stucco Roof: tile Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage:
0.065 acres Setting: This building is set in a neighborhood of large college buildings, residences converted to college use, and private residential buildings.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [27 BELMONT AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.753 ___ 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 unique house in Northampton built in the Spanish Eclectic style that was popular in California
and Florida in the 1920s but relatively rare in the Northeast. It is a two-story, stucco-sided house with a low hipped roof laid with tapered Mission tile. The roof has a tile ridge
laid across the base tiles set back slightly from the edge of the roof and ornamented at each corner with a high-profile ornamental tile. The ridge adds a heavy finishing border to the
roof. A molded cornice surrounds the building beneath the tile roof and beneath the cornice is a row of over-scaled dentils. The main block of the house is three bays wide with a triple
window composition and entry next to a blind bay on the first story of the east façade, and three arched windows on the second story flanked by pairs of 6/1 sash. The off-center entry
is sheltered by a hipped, tiled hood that rests on stuccoed consoles. This main block has on its north elevation a one-story wing and at its southeast corner, a one-bay integral garage.
Integral garages were appearing on houses during this period and this is a good example of their first scale and position. Fenestration on the other elevations of the house is asymmetrical
and of varying sizes giving the house a visual interest. 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 twentieth century dwelling whose style was influenced by Spanish architecture
was built about 1930. A deed of February 1931 transferred “Lot #6” to Edward J. Gare; the selling price was $7,000. The house may be earlier, however, as one deed described the property
of Inez Wilder, who owned the lot before Gare.” In 1925 Harrison and Inez Wilder lived at 27 Belmont Street and both were Smith College professors. Inez was in the zoology department.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Beers, F. W. County Atlas of Hampshire Massachusetts, New York, 1873. 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 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. Hampshire Registry of Deeds. Book 1464, Page 133; Book 1402, Page 256; Book 871,
Page 246; Book 703, Page 256.