5 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-13 Easthampton NTH.597
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 5 Crescent Street
Historic Name: J. Everett and Mary Seelye Brady House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: c. 1892
Source: Registry of Deeds and Directory
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.199 acre
Setting: This is a south-facing house on a corner
lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [5 CRESCENT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.597
_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.
The Brady House is a two-and-a-half story, Colonial Revival style house with a gambrel roof. The principal entry to the house is
in the gable end. The lower story of the house is clapboard-sided, the upper stories are wood shingle sided and between the
first and second story is a wide overhang or jetty. Front-gabled dormers appear on the lower slopes of the roof and on the west
a large oriel window under a shed roof spans the two stories. It has leaded glass in the main window opening. An arcaded
porch serves to shelter the main entry to the house. Two bays deep and one bay deep, the porch arches rise from springing
blocks above a solid railing. The house has a center chimney.
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 house was built in 1892 for Rufus Underwood at a cost of $400. Rev. Underwood sold the house
and lot the next year to Mary Seelye Brady and J. Everett Brady. Mr. Brady was a professor of Latin and Literature at Smith
College.
Crescent Street had been opened in 1886 as part of the subdivision of the old Round Hill Hotel property. The street
gracefully curved around the middle slopes of the hill providing fine views and stimulating breezes.”
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. 464-P.21
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [5 CRESCENT STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.597
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 Brady 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 Brady House is a fine example of the Colonial Revival style and is exceptionally
well-preserved. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.