19 Columbus 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: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): June, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
38B-143 Easthampton NTH.1047
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 19 Columbus Avenue
Historic Name: R.F Putnam House
Uses: Present: Three unit residence
Original: Single unit residence
Date of Construction: 1895
Source: Hampshire Gazette (5/22/1896)
Style/Form: Shingle
Architect/Builder: Rosewell F. Putnam
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Fieldstone
Wall/Trim: Stucco & wood shingle
Roof: Asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: Good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.27 acres
Setting: House among other large single family or former
single family homes in a well-established residential
neighborhood of turn-of-the century homes, which contains
mature trees throughout.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [19 COLUMBUS AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.1047
__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 an architect-designed two-and-a-half story Shingle style home with cross gambrel roof that overhangs slightly to form a
jetty. Dark brown shingles cover the faces of the gables but are confined to those areas rather than covering all surfaces as
typical in the Shingle style. There are three brackets symmetrically placed along the gable-to-wall juncture. Beneath the gables
is a stuccoed ground story. A broad arch defines the recessed front entry. The house features several window types, including
3/1 sash, 4/2 sash and windows with multi-paned decorative sashes. Windows in the gables have drip mold edges. There is a
low-relief bay window on the ground floor of the southern elevation and a steeply pitched gabled dormer on the upper story. The
frontward facing gable features a three part window above which is a decorative Palladian style arch, which is a common
decorative feature found on Shingle style houses. There are two brick chimneys, one on each gable. An additional decorative
feature of the home is its fieldstone foundation.
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 Form B of 1976, “Roswell F. Putnam and L.D. Bayley opened an office in Northampton around 1892 and captured a large
number of architectural commissions in the 1890s. Bayley was a Vermonter who began practicing in the 1870s; Putnam hailed
from Amherst and was reported to have studied in the “best offices in Boston,” although his obituary mentions a period of
training with Architect Fuller in Worcester. By 1898 the firm had been dissolved, Bayley going to Hartford and Putnam remaining
in Northampton until his death in 1911. In 1895, Putnam purchased two lots of land, #3 and #5 in a subdivision of off South
Street to be known as Columbus Avenue. The Gazette of May 22, 1896, noted that “Architect Putnam is moving to his new
house, Columbus Ave, today.” “Among Putnam’s other designs are the Hammond House on Elm Street, the Masonic Block, the
Porter House on Butler Place and the Reid House on Phillips Place. His son Karl Putnam also had an architectural business in
Northampton.”
Edward and Anna Zuchowski have owned this home since at least 1976.
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.