9 Cherry Street
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
Please see attached map.
Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32A-045 Easthampton NTH.2018
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 9 Cherry Street
Historic Name: William Pratt Cottage
Uses: Present: single-family house
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: 1845-1860
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette; Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: Gothic Revival
Architect/Builder: William Fenno Pratt, architect
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: asbestos shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates): Porch enclosed after
1975; siding added after 1975; several windows replaced in
wing, before 1975.
Condition: fair
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.115 acres
Setting: House faces sideways on its narrow lot as does
at least one other house on the street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [9 Cherry Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2018
___ 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 well-detailed Gothic Revival house whose stylistic features have been obscured by the enclosure of an open porch,
application of siding, and lack of on-going maintenance. It is a one-and-a-half story house under a side-gable roof, but with its
gable end to the street. It has a steeply pitched roof with a small center chimney. The house is one room deep and appears to
be five bays wide, but the porch covers its façade. There is a one-and-a-half story wing on the south that is two bays long, but
both windows are replacements and may not be in their original bays. On the roof of the main block of the house and its wing
are two front-gabled dormers with paired, Gothic Revival style lancet windows. The north elevation of the house has on the first
floor two full-length, French windows of eight fixed lights on each leaf. On the second floor are double lancet windows whose
surrounds do not remain intact. The east elevation of the house has a three-sided bay window with Gothic drip mold lintels over
is openings. Two double lancet dormers are on the east side of the roof of the main block and a single dormer on the wing.
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 1975 Form B, “This Gothic cottage was built by local architect Wm. F. Pratt ca. 1850 and remodeled by him in 1860.
The cottage, the architect’s residence 1845-1861, is far more modest than the cottage designs which he executed for local
residents during the period 1845-1860. It is possible that prior to renovation in 1860 the structure exhibited few of the
characteristics of Gothic Revival cottage style, for the Gazette referred to the house as a “dwelling house” in 1860 and as a
“cottage” only after renovation and sale of the residence to G. L. Shaw, for $1,700 in 1861. It is worth noting that Pratt held
numerous mortgages on the property, and that his later residence on North Street was sold at auction in April 1879 following
Pratt’s declaration of bankruptcy. The practice of architecture in Northampton was not particularly lucrative.”
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.
Registry of Deeds, Hampshire County, Book 199 page 362; Book 110 page 201.
Daily Hampshire Gazette, August 7, 1860; April 2, 1861; April 8, 1879.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [9 Cherry Street]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2018