159 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-162 Easthampton NTH.644
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 159 Elm Street
Historic Name: Miss Maltby House
Uses: Present: Two-family Residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1918
Source: Owner
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Karl Scott Putnam, Architect,
Northampton Exterior Material:
Foundation: not visible
Wall/Trim: wide weatherboards
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.02 acres
Setting: This house faces south and is set back
from the street on a tree-shaded lot.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [159 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.644
___ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
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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 two-and-a-half story house with a side-gable roof that is Colonial Revival in style. It is five bays wide and three deep
and has two end wall chimneys. On the front slope of the roof are three pedimented dormers and there is a Palladian window
over an arched portico on columns – all architectural features favored during the Colonial Revival period. Sash in the house is
6/9 on the first floor and 6/6 on the second floor. The center door has an elliptical fanlight over its paneled door with half -length
sidelights. The house is sided in wide weatherboards and its slate roof is copper-trimmed. Architect Karl Scott Putnam was
known for the archaeological approach he took to designing Colonial Revival style houses and this house is representative of the
high design level he achieved.
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 1977: “The house was built for Miss Maltby by Robert Huxley in 1918. An ell in the rear was designed for
servants’ quarters, and subsequently made into a garage and a separate apartment. Miss Maltby belonged to an old
Northampton-Elm Street family. The house was inherited after her death by Mrs. Edith F. Marshall, nee Maltby. Purchased from
Mrs. Marshall by William Cochran, Shaub purchased from Cochran in 1941. The land is said to have been part of the Clara
Clark Tract.”
It has been recorded that the architect of this house was Karl Scott Putnam, a Smith College professor and practitioner in
Northampton known for his deep study of American colonial architecture, the knowledge of which he applied to his commissions.
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: 807/333 1924, 960/72 1941