77 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-84 Easthampton NTH.612
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 77 Henshaw Avenue
Historic Name: Nicholas G. Hayes House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1892
Source: Registry of Deeds, Atlas, & Springfield
Daily Republican Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles, half-timbering
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Gazebo
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.346 acres
Setting: This west-facing house sits on the crest of
a hillside in a neighborhood of late 19th, early 20th century
homes.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [77 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.612
_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.
Queen Anne in style, this house is three-and-a-half stories in height and illustrates clearly the stylistic features of the Queen
Anne style. It has a side-gable roof with a cross-gable bay on the northwest corner, a four-story polygonal tower on the
southwest corner, and a shallow pavilion on the southeast corner. Tying all the elements together is a gazebo porch with a
pedimented entry, which wraps across the west façade to the south elevation where it there becomes a balustraded deck that
crosses the south and wraps around to the east elevation. Porch supports are turned in an unusual bulky fashion. The porch
has a spindle frieze and spindle railings. The cross gable bay at second story level has a recessed open porch within a large
arched opening. The first story of the house is clapboard sided and the upper stories are shingle-sided. A band of wave
shingles separates first and second stories and in gable ends is a faux half-timbering motif. This is a complex building with
visually interesting changes in materials and forms.
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 house was built in 1892 for Nicholas G. Hayes at a cost of $8000. Mr. Hayes was the owner of a
harness making and trunk retailing concern on Main Street. Henshaw Avenue had been extended northerly in 1886 along the
sides of Round Hill, and later received the name Crescent Street, due to it almost completely encircling the hill. The street
provided fine vistas eastward and quickly became one of the most fashionable in town. During the early 20th century, the house
was owned an occupied by Richard Irwin, a justice of the Superior Court.”
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. 438-P. 229
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [77 HENSHAW AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.612
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 Hayes 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 Hayes House is a fine example of the Queen Anne style.
This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.