Elm Street 196.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 31A-68 Easthampton NTH.476 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 196 Elm Street Historic Name: Aaron
Breck, Jr. House Uses: Present: Smith College apartments Original: Single-family house Date of Construction: 1854-1860 Source: Maps Style/Form: Italianate Architect/Builder: Exterior
Material: Foundation: brick, concrete Wall/Trim: beaded weatherboard, flushboard Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Ell added, ca. 1920 Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.444 acres Setting: This building occupies a corner corner lot that is slightly raised. It is tree-shaded.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [196 ELM STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.476 ___ 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. The Aaron Breck, Jr. House is a two-and-a-half story, front-gabled house in the Italianate style.
Its roof eaves make full returns in the gable to create a pediment in whose field is a round oculus window. The house is three bays wide and its first floor windows are full-length with
2/2/2 sash to allow more light and air into the house. The window surrounds have cap lintels at both first and second stories and second story sash is 2/2. A transverse gable bay projects
from the east elevation of the house and contains a secondary entry. A porch on chamfered posts with scroll-cut brackets at its eaves wraps from the north façade around the east to the
transverse gable bay. It has a graceful rounded corner. On the south elevation of the house is an added ell that is flushboard sided and has a peculiar second story jetty. It was added,
most likely, at the time the house was converted to college use. 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 Form B of 1980: “In 1856, Aaron Breck, a farmer, sold his son Aaron Breck, Jr. his homestead
on Elm Street and 2 ½ acres in the ‘Lower Walnut Tree division’ of the meadows for $1. Mr. Breck, Sr.’s homestead was 206 Elm Street and Aaron Jr. probably constructed this house for
his own residence. The 1860 directory lists Aaron Sr. on King Street, so the old homestead was probably leased out. About 1890, Charles Crouch, Northampton’s most prolific developer
of the 19th century, bought the farm with both houses standing and opened Kensington Avenue between them.” 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. Registry of Deeds: Bk. 358-P.410, 167-325, 47-609