38 Franklin 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
31A-23 Easthampton NTH.458
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 38 Franklin Street
Historic Name: Churchill House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: post-1831
Source: map of 1831
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Siding added, windows replaced, ca. 1990
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.684 acres
Setting: This is an east-facing house on a
residential street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [38 FRANKLIN ST]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.458
_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.
Although local tradition says that this is an 18th c. house, other than low foundations, it has none of the features of such an early
house. An investigation of its interior structure could determine whether there is any truth to this tradition. Today, it has the
appearance of a Colonial Revival style house, two-and-a-half stories high under a side-gable roof. It is three bays wide and the
equivalent of three bays deep. Windows on the east façade are Colonial Revival style being paired and on the second story
evenly spaces single windows. Few late 18th century houses in the region were three bays wide and none had paired windows.
The entry is trabeated with narrow sidelights. A flat-roofed portico shelters the entry and is supported on chamfered posts.
There is an exterior wall chimney on the south elevation and three, pedimented dormers on the east side of the roof. Vinyl
siding makes it difficult to determine whether there are additional details that would confirm a date.
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 1972: “This house was once part of the famous Round Hill School for boys, which operated from 1823 to 1834.
It was the residence for the farmer who cared for the school’s land, crops and livestock. The school was founded by George
Bancroft (noted historian) and Joseph Green Cogswell. The house was later owned and occupied by Prof. and Mrs. Vance
Churchill, and was acquired in 1971 by the present owner.”
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.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [38 FRANKLIN ST]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.458
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 Churchill 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 the potential historic district 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 Churchill House is an example of the Colonial Revival
style and would contribute to the district despite its vinyl siding. This potential historic district has integrity of
workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.