46 Graves Avenue
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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
32A-83 Easthampton NTH.2040
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 46 Graves Avenue
Historic Name: Napoleon Brais House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Three-family residence
Date of Construction: 1911
Source: Atlases & S.D.R.
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Napoleon Brais
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl, shingles
Roof: not visible
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.1 acres
Setting: House is located at the end of a dead-end street.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [46 GRAVES AVE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2040
___ 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 triple-decker was not as popular a house form in Northampton as it was in cities in the eastern part of Massachusetts where
the need for housing density was greater. It is a Colonial Revival style building, three stories in height under a flat roof that has
wide eaves supported on brackets. The south façade is divided into a three-story, three-sided bay window that projects slightly
from the plane of the façade, and a two-bay section that contains two doors on the first story, a door and a window on the upper
two stories. There is a full-width porch at the first floor level, and it is stacked on the upper two levels crossing only the two-bay
section. Porch supports are fluted Colonial Revival style posts. On the first story, the side-by-side entries have trabeated
surrounds with pilasters supporting cornerblocks below an entablature with a minimal cornice. In the three-sided bay the center
openings have large, fixed light windows with stained glass transoms at all three stories. Although vinyl has replaced first floor
clapboards, the building retains some of its Colonial Revival siding with shingles on the upper stories with a slight flare b etween
stories.
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 is one of the few ‘triple-deckers’ in Northampton. Most of the city’s housing stock consists of one
and two family houses, with a few apartment buildings built in the 20th century.
Graves Avenue had been opened in 1884 and was quickly developed with fourteen of the present fifteen structures
appearing on the 1895 atlas. The Gazette called this ‘our most citified street’ because of the rows and double houses lining both
sides of the street.
This was the last building to be constructed on the street, and was erected in 1911 at a cost of $6000. Napoleon Brais,
a carpenter, was the owner and builder.”
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.