37 Henshaw Avenue
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
31B-175 Easthampton NTH.655
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 37 Henshaw Avenue
Historic Name: Lewis Warner House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1866-1869
Source: Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: Italianate
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.265 acres
Setting: House faces west towards a wooded
hillside.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [37 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.655
_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.
The Warner House is an Italianate style house, two-and-a-half stories in height under a front-gable roof with a one-and-a-half
story wing on the north under a side-gable roof. The house is shingle sided and the main block is three bays wide and three
bays deep while the wing is four bays long. The house has a full-width porch across its west façade supported on chamfered
posts that are set on high pedestals. Connecting the posts is a railing with a similar jigsaw cut pattern as the railing at 17
Henshaw Avenue. The eaves at the main roof make full returns to form a pediment and they are supported on paired Italianate
brackets. Windows in the house have projecting cornice lintels that rest on small brackets and they have 2/2 sash. In the
pediment of the west façade is a half-round window. The wing has a secondary entry under a hood that is supported on braces.
Second floor windows are small and have 2/2 sash. There are single brackets at the eaves of the wing, so it is less ornamented.
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: “During the latter part of the 1860’s Henshaw Avenue was opened up through the western part of the
Charles Talbot estate. In 1866, Silas Whitney of Belchertown bought lot no. 9 for $400. The 1872 atlas shows this house, with
Mr. Whitney owning it, but Lewis Warner, the treasurer of the Hampshire Savings Bank and cashier at the Hampshire County
National Bank, resided here.”
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. 306-P.404, 261-182, 237-335
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [37 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.655
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 Warner 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 Warner House is a good example of the Italianate style.
This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.