76 Bancroft 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: PVPC
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
24D-311 Easthampton NTH.357
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 76 Bancroft Road
Historic Name: Richard Rice House
Uses: Present: single-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1915-1922
Source: Atlases and Directory
Style/Form: Prairie Style
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stucco surface
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.407 acres
Setting: This house occupies a hillside lot that slopes
steeply down to the west. It is a richly landscaped lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [76 BANCROFT ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.357
__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 two-and-a-half story Prairie style house with a hipped roof and center chimney. The wide eaves overhang of the roof is
supported by Italian Renaissance style brackets at its cornice. The main block of the house is four bays wide and two bays deep
and has the off-center entry favored by the Prairie style. An Italianate flat roof entry porch rests on slim, paired Doric columns.
There is a hipped roof wing on the north elevation with a corner porch supported on a single Doric column. Sash in the house is
6/2. There is one small front-gable dormer centered on the roof. This is an uncommon style in Northampton, which suggests
that it may be 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 the 1980 Form B: “Bancroft Avenue (originally known as Third Avenue) was laid out in its present form in 1885. A road
somewhat similar in orientation had existed since the early 19th century, but was probably much gentler in slope. Development
was slow on the street and the 1915 map only shows three houses on the upper portions of the street, east of Crescent Street.
This house doesn’t appear on that map, but is listed in the 1922 directory. The owner was Richard Rice, a professor of English
language and literature at Smith College. “
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.
Northampton Directories, 1915 and 1922.
Registry of Deeds: Book 466 Page 387; Book 165 Page 529; Book 149 Page 311.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [76 BANCROFT ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.357
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 Rice House would contribute to a potential historic district that extends north of Northampton’s primary corridor,
Elm Street, encircling and encompassing the primary feature of that landscape, Round Hill. The potential historic
district is significant for its 19th century development from a few gentlemen’s farms to a neighborhood dense with the
homes of its most prominent residents and educational institutions that shaped the character of Northampton for
several hundred years to the present. Richard Rice as a Smith College professor was part of that important
educational history that shaped the character of Northampton.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and
Queen Anne style houses that were often architect-designed by the region’s most well-known designers. This well-
preserved house is a rare example of the Prairie style and reflects the progressive architectural thinking of many of the
residents of Northampton. The potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and
materials.