Kensington Avenue 49.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-239 Easthampton NTH.549 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 49 Kensington Avenue Historic Name:
Edward Lord House Uses: Present: Single-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1895-1915 Source: Atlases Style/Form: Queen Anne Architect/Builder: Exterior
Material: Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: clapboards Roof: asphalt and slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Shed Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes
| | Date Acreage: 0.118 acres Setting: This house is east-facing and its lot is bordered by a low stone wall on the southeast corner.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [49 KENSINGTON AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.549 _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 Queen Anne style house is unique in Northampton and is among the best-preserved examples of
the style. It is two-and-a-half stories in height and has a hipped roof with shallow cross-gable bays on the east façade and south elevation. The cross-gables are embellished with bargeboards
that fill in the gable peaks with King Post trusses flanked by spindled wheels in relief. relief. A hipped roof porch on the east façade is two bays wide and is supported on chamfered
posts on high pedestals with solid brackets at the eaves pieced by a single circular opening. Railings are composed of a complicated geometric pattern. A secondary porch is located on
the south elevation under a shed roof. It has the same posts but its railing follows a distinctly separate geometric pattern. The east cross-gable bay has a highly unusual elevation.
On the second story it has been recessed to provide space for a suspended corner porch and on its first story level it has been turned into a round bay window with its own slate roof.
On a street where many houses repeat a common elevation, this house stands out as architect-designed. 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: “This house was built during the early
part of the 20th century on Kensington avenue, which had been opened in 1890. Development proceeded quickly on the street, so that by 1915, all of the 28 lots but two had been built
on. This house first appears on the 1915 atlas and was occupied by Edward Lord, a letter carrier.” 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.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [49 KENSINGTON AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.549 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. This property would contribute to a potential historic district that would encompass the residential/institutional side
streets laid out on the south side of Elm Street in Northampton Center between Main Street on the east and the west boundary of Childs Park on the west. This potential historic district
is significant according to criteria A and C and would have local significance. These residential streets are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of the development
of Northampton from the mid-19th century as a relatively affluent community that supported several private schools for young women, which prepared them after 1875 for attendance at Smith
College, and the Clarke School where deaf students were given an education that thoroughly prepared them for the hearing world. The residences in this area made a shift from gentlemen’s
estates to accommodation of the growing middle class in Northampton during the 19th century with businessmen, scholars, teachers, doctors, and retired farmers. According to criterion
C this district would be significant for the range of historical styles that it includes. Gothic Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles are
all well-represented within a landscape of individual large lots, and streetscapes that were laid out and developed at one time.