17 Chestnut 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: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
11A-28 Easthampton NTH.35
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Leeds
Address: 17 Chestnut Avenue
Historic Name: L. Field House
Uses: Present: two-family house
Original: single-family house
Date of Construction: 1878-1884
Source: Registry of Deeds and atlas
Style/Form: eclectic
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.629 acres
Setting: Buildings occupy a large lot that is shaded with
evergreen and maple trees.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [17 Chestnut Avenue]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.35
___ 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.
The Field House is a substantial and stylistically sophisticated house that reflects the economic status of Lemuel Field at the
Nonotuck Silk Company. It is a two-and-a-half story house under a side-gable roof with a transverse gable on the west façade,
a wing on the north, and a three-story tower under a mansard roof in the southeast angle between the main block and the
transverse gable. There is a porch across three of the four bays of the north wing. It is supported on Italianate chamfered posts.
At the porch eaves are Gothic Revival style braces. Knee-high windows are found on the wing at the second story level. On the
transverse gable at the first floor level is a three-sided bay window. Above this bay window at the second floor level are
Italianate style, long and narrow paired windows. Sash in the house is 2/2 and 1/1.
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, “Lemuel and Augusta Field purchased a lot from the Nonotuck Silk Company in 1878. This was lot 5 on
the company’s subdivision plan for the area north of Front Street on the hill overlooking Leeds village. L. B. Field was employed
by the Nonotuck Silk Company, listed as a foreman in the 1885-1886 Directory, and as superintendent of the Wood Department
in the 1895-96 Directory.”
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.
Registry of Deeds, Book 758, page 416; book 341, page 565.
Walker, George H. and Company. Atlas of Northampton City, Massachusetts, Boston, 1884.
Walling, Henry F. Map of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, New York, 1860.