Prospect Street 25.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 31B-204 Easthampton NTH.677 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 25 Prospect Street Historic Name:
Talbot House Uses: Present: Dormitory Original: Dormitory Date of Construction: 1909 Source: Smith College Archives Style/Form: Colonial Revival Architect/Builder: Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick Wall/Trim: brick, stucco, shingles Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Major Alterations (with dates): Condition: good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage:
1.55 acres Setting: Talbot Hall occupies a tree-shaded lot that is shares on the east with other Smith College buildings.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [25 PROSPECT STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH.677 _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. Talbot Hall is a Colonial Revival style dormitory that is set on its lot with a relatively narrow
façade and a long rectangular plan. The building is brick on its first story with granite window sills, and stucco on its upper two and a half stories. It has a slate-covered gambrel
roof. The west façade is entered through a porch on brick corner piers with ornamental wood railings railings at first and second story levels. There are two large cross gables on the
south elevation. Each cross gable has solid barge boards and is supported at its corners with braces. Five bays wide, the cross gables have centered, two-story oriels. A shed roofed
dormer that is slate-sided extends between the two cross-gables. The dormitory is a late version of the Colonial Revival style with its gambrel roof but has Tudor Revival elements in
its barge boards, brick and stucco exterior and bands of windows in its west façade. 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 1977: “Talbot House was named after the family that originally
owned this property and Capen House. Miss Bessie Capen bought the Talbot property, established Capen School, and had Talbot House built in 1909. In many ways, Miss Capen was one of the
largest benefactresses to Smith College because she sent more than 900 of her 3600 students to Smith. In addition, Miss Capen bequeathed most of her property to the College in 1921.
At present, the house serves as a dormitory which houses 78 women.” 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] [25 PROSPECT STREET] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH.677 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 Round Hill Historic District. This potential historic district is significant according to
criteria A and C and would have local significance. The residential streets that cross Round Hill are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of development in Northampton
from the early 19th century (1807) through the 1950s. Residential development began on Round Hill with the establishment of gentleman’s estates but grew with schools and a resort hotel
until the 1890s when residential development increased significantly. From the 1890s through the 1950s (1959 McAlister Infirmary) Round Hill became home to Northampton’s wealthy and
to the Clarke School for the Deaf. Architecturally this area of Northampton is significant for the range of residential architectural styles including the Queen Anne and Colonial Revival,
and for its institutional buildings in the French Second Empire, through High Victorian Gothic and Colonial Revival styles ending with the American International style. The potential
district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.