49 Kensington 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
31A-239 Easthampton NTH.549
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 49 Kensington Avenue
Historic Name: Edward Lord House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1895-1915
Source: Atlases
Style/Form: Queen Anne
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt and slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Shed
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.118 acres
Setting: This house is east-facing and its lot is
bordered by a low stone wall on the southeast corner.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [49 KENSINGTON AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.549
_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.
This Queen Anne style house is unique in Northampton and is among the best-preserved examples of the style. It is two-and-a-
half stories in height and has a hipped roof with shallow cross-gable bays on the east façade and south elevation. The cross-
gables are embellished with bargeboards that fill in the gable peaks with King Post trusses flanked by spindled wheels in relief.
A hipped roof porch on the east façade is two bays wide and is supported on chamfered posts on high pedestals with solid
brackets at the eaves pieced by a single circular opening. Railings are composed of a complicated geometric pattern. A
secondary porch is located on the south elevation under a shed roof. It has the same posts but its railing follows a distinctly
separate geometric pattern. The east cross-gable bay has a highly unusual elevation. On the second story it has been
recessed to provide space for a suspended corner porch and on its first story level it has been turned into a round bay window
with its own slate roof. On a street where many houses repeat a common elevation, this house stands out as architect-
designed.
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 during the early part of the 20th century on Kensington avenue, which had been
opened in 1890. Development proceeded quickly on the street, so that by 1915, all of the 28 lots but two had been built on.
This house first appears on the 1915 atlas and was occupied by Edward Lord, a letter carrier.”
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 ] [49 KENSINGTON AVENUE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.549
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.
This property would contribute to a potential historic district that would encompass the residential/institutional side
streets laid out on the south side of Elm Street in Northampton Center between Main Street on the east and the west
boundary of Childs Park on the west. This potential historic district is significant according to criteria A and C and
would have local significance.
These residential streets are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of the development of
Northampton from the mid-19th century as a relatively affluent community that supported several private schools for
young women, which prepared them after 1875 for attendance at Smith College, and the Clarke School where deaf
students were given an education that thoroughly prepared them for the hearing world. The residences in this area
made a shift from gentlemen’s estates to accommodation of the growing middle class in Northampton during the 19th
century with businessmen, scholars, teachers, doctors, and retired farmers.
According to criterion C this district would be significant for the range of historical styles that it includes. Gothic
Revival, Italianate, French Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles are all well-represented within a
landscape of individual large lots, and streetscapes that were laid out and developed at one time.