196 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
31A-68 Easthampton NTH.476
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 196 Elm Street
Historic Name: Aaron Breck, Jr. House
Uses: Present: Smith College apartments
Original: Single-family house
Date of Construction: 1854-1860
Source: Maps
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick, concrete
Wall/Trim: beaded weatherboard, flushboard
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Ell added, ca. 1920
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.444 acres
Setting: This building occupies a corner lot that is slightly
raised. It is tree-shaded.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [196 ELM STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.476
___ 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 Aaron Breck, Jr. House is a two-and-a-half story, front-gabled house in the Italianate style. Its roof eaves make full returns
in the gable to create a pediment in whose field is a round oculus window. The house is three bays wide and its first floor
windows are full-length with 2/2/2 sash to allow more light and air into the house. The window surrounds have cap lintels at both
first and second stories and second story sash is 2/2. A transverse gable bay projects from the east elevation of the house and
contains a secondary entry. A porch on chamfered posts with scroll-cut brackets at its eaves wraps from the north façade
around the east to the transverse gable bay. It has a graceful rounded corner. On the south elevation of the house is an added
ell that is flushboard sided and has a peculiar second story jetty. It was added, most likely, at the time the house was converted
to college use.
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: “In 1856, Aaron Breck, a farmer, sold his son Aaron Breck, Jr. his homestead on Elm Street and 2 ½
acres in the ‘Lower Walnut Tree division’ of the meadows for $1. Mr. Breck, Sr.’s homestead was 206 Elm Street and Aaron Jr.
probably constructed this house for his own residence. The 1860 directory lists Aaron Sr. on King Street, so the old homestead
was probably leased out. About 1890, Charles Crouch, Northampton’s most prolific developer of the 19th century, bought the
farm with both houses standing and opened Kensington Avenue between them.”
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. 358-P.410, 167-325, 47-609