32 Barrett Place
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
31B-172 Easthampton NTH.654
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 32 Barrett Place
Historic Name: Benjamin Barrett Hinckley House
Uses: Present: single-family residence
Original: single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1905-1915
Source: Directory and atlas
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.237 acres
Setting: North-facing, this house is at the end of a short,
dead-end residential street that is shaded by mature trees.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [32 BARRETT PLACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.654
_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.
Probably the grandest of the houses on Barrett Place, the Benjamin Barrett Hinckley House is a 20th century Colonial Revival
interpretation of his parents’ Georgian house, which is close by and known as The Manse. It is a two-and-a-half story house
under a side-gambrel roof with two interior chimneys. It is five bays wide and a generous three bays deep, and there are three
shed roof dormers arranged on the north side of its gambrel roof. Like its neighbor at 7 Barrett Place the house has porches on
both its east and west elevations supported on Doric columns, although the west porch in this house is partially enclosed. T he
center entry has a barrel vaulted portico on paired Doric columns with respondent pilasters framing the doorway. Above the door
is a gold-painted carved shell, repeating the motif and use of a barrel vault of 4 Barrett Place. Windows have 9/1 sash and
crown molding lintels. Sidelights flanking the entry have curved, geometric muntins in a pattern that was common during the late
Federal Period.
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: “Barrett Place was laid out in 1910 through a portion of the H. R. Hinckley Estate on Prospect Street
(known as ‘The Manse’). Benjamin Barrett Hinckley was a son of H. R. Hinckley and had this house built by 1915 when it
appears on the atlas. Benjamin was clerk of the Northampton Cutlery Company and later became manager of the International
Silver Company in Florence.”
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 FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [32 BARRETT PLACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.654
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 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. This house has particular significance as it was built for Benjamin Barrett Hinckley whose
family had the nearby gentleman’s farm/estate known as “The Manse” and this house was part of the later
development of the district so both eras are represented.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of late 19th century and early 20th century styles
from the late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne styles to the early 20th century Colonial Revival and Tudor
Revival style houses that were often architect-designed by the region’s most well-known designers. As a fine
Colonial Revival style house, the Hinckley House contributes to the district’s significance This potential historic
district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.