27 Belmont Avenue
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): April, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31D-40 Easthampton NTH.753
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 27 Belmont Avenue
Historic Name: Harris and Inez Wilder House
Uses: Present: college office and one living unit
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: ca. 1925
Source: Registry of Deeds, Book 871, page 246
Style/Form: Spanish Eclectic
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: concrete
Wall/Trim: stucco
Roof: tile
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.065 acres
Setting: This building is set in a neighborhood of large
college buildings, residences converted to college use, and
private residential buildings.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [27 BELMONT AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.753
___ 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 unique house in Northampton built in the Spanish Eclectic style that was popular in California and Florida in the 1920s
but relatively rare in the Northeast. It is a two-story, stucco-sided house with a low hipped roof laid with tapered Mission tile.
The roof has a tile ridge laid across the base tiles set back slightly from the edge of the roof and ornamented at each corner with
a high-profile ornamental tile. The ridge adds a heavy finishing border to the roof. A molded cornice surrounds the building
beneath the tile roof and beneath the cornice is a row of over-scaled dentils. The main block of the house is three bays wide
with a triple window composition and entry next to a blind bay on the first story of the east façade, and three arched windows on
the second story flanked by pairs of 6/1 sash. The off-center entry is sheltered by a hipped, tiled hood that rests on stuccoed
consoles. This main block has on its north elevation a one-story wing and at its southeast corner, a one-bay integral garage.
Integral garages were appearing on houses during this period and this is a good example of their first scale and position.
Fenestration on the other elevations of the house is asymmetrical and of varying sizes giving the house a visual interest.
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 twentieth century dwelling whose style was influenced by Spanish architecture was built about
1930. A deed of February 1931 transferred “Lot #6” to Edward J. Gare; the selling price was $7,000. The house may be earlier,
however, as one deed described the property of Inez Wilder, who owned the lot before Gare.” In 1925 Harrison and Inez Wilder
lived at 27 Belmont Street and both were Smith College professors. Inez was in the zoology department.
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.
Hampshire Registry of Deeds. Book 1464, Page 133; Book 1402, Page 256; Book 871, Page 246; Book 703, Page 256.