153 Elm Street
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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-163 Easthampton NTH.645
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 153 Elm Street
Historic Name: Jewett Homestead
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: ca. 1786
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, 8/3/71
Style/Form: Federal
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.275 acres
Setting: House sits on a slight rise in the
landscape and is sheltered by a mature maple tree.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [153 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.645
___ 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 conservative Federal style house, two-and-a-half stories in height under a side-gable roof with a saltbox profile, the
latter being more frequently built in the Georgian stylistic period 1750-1776. The house is five bays wide and three bays deep.
Foundations are low which was more characteristic of the Georgian than Federal, but there are two interior chimneys, an
arrangement that only appeared after the Revolution. The house has a trabeated door surround with fluted pilasters and a
dentilled entablature. Second floor windows are set close to the eaves and sash is 6/6, which was generally the custom in the
Federal period. As one of the few saltbox profile houses remaining in Northampton, this house is an important part of its
architectural history.
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 1970: “Timothy Jewett (1763-1852) came to Northampton ca. 1786. He was a member of the Hampshire
Regiment in Shay’s Rebellion. He built a distillery (cider mill) and spinning wheel and spindle shop, later a fabric coloring
business. The distillery was demolished in 1857.
Timothy left half the house to his third son, Ansel, and one half to his daughters. It was known as the Ansel Jewett
House. Ansel died in 1872. There were then several changes of ownership. In 1882, it was occupied by Ansel’s widow and
daughters. In 1935, it was purchased by Miss Hester R. Hoffman, a poet and artist. She restored the interior, gardens, and
outbuildings. In 1964, Miss Hoffman sold it to the Mary A. Burnham School and they sold it in 1968 o Mrs. Charles Oak.
Professor Charles MacSherry of the Smith College Art Department lived in the house for some time and referred to it as
‘the oldest complete house still standing in Northampton.’”
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.