265 Audubon Road
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY 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 FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [265 Audubon Road]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY 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
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
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 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 FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [265 Audubon Road]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY 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 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.