4 Crescent 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
Recorded by: Bonnie Parsons
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31B-67 Easthampton NTH.606
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 4 Crescent Street
Historic Name: Thomas M. O’Donnell House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1894-1895
Source: Registry of Deeds and Atlas
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards, paneling
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.365 acre
Setting: This house is north-facing on a raised
corner lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [4 CRESCENT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.606
_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 one of the finest examples of the Queen Anne style in Northampton. It is a two-and-a-half story house with a hipped roof
that has cross gables on the east elevation and on the north façade. There are two cross-gables on the north and both have
eaves that make full returns to form pediments with curved bargeboards that create arched openings. The larger of the two has
windows in the gable field that are fit into the arch in an unusual fashion, and the smaller is a stacked porch with paneling in its
field. A wraparound porch traverses the north façade and most of the west elevation. It is supported on turned posts with solid
Eastlake brackets, a railing with turned balusters that follow the same profile as the posts. A paneled frieze surrounds the
building and descends to frame a second story rondel on the west elevation. This building with its unique and playful elements
is clearly architect-designed and further research should be done to identify the architect.
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 1980: “This finely detailed, late 19th century house was built on a prominent corner site for Thomas O’Donnell,
the keeper of a Main Street cigar store, restaurant, and saloon. Crescent Street had been laid out in 1886, curving gracefully
along the middle slopes of the eastern, northern and western sides of Round Hill. The street quickly became one of the most
‘aristocratic’ in the city.”
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: Bk. 467-P.135, 465-356, 394-90 and 91
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [4 CRESCENT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.606
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.
The O’Donnell 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.
Architecturally it is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne style houses,
the Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles of the 20th century that were often architect-designed by the region’s
most well-known designers. The O’Donnell House is a fine example of the Queen Anne style and is exceptionally
well-preserved. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.