217 North Main Street
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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, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
16B-50 Easthampton NTH.51
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Florence
Address: 217 North Main Street
Historic Name: Luther H. Warner House
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1884
Source: Registry of Deeds
Style/Form: Late Italianate
Architect/Builder: William and Luther Warner, Builders,
attributed Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Windows replace, ca. 2000
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.468 acres
Setting: This is a south-facing house whose lot
slopes down to the north slightly. It has an unobstructed
view to the south.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [217 NORTH MAIN STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.51
___ 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 two-and-a-half story house has an unusual plan. It has a front-gabled roof with a cross-gabled bay on the east and a two-
and-a-half story wing behind the bay on the east elevation, for an F-shaped plan. The main block is three bays wide with a
side-hall entry and the entry surround and the window surrounds have Italianate hood lintels on brackets. Sash is replacement
2/1. A porch wraps from the north façade to the cross-gable bay on the east and then picks up again to cross the wing. It is
supported on Italianate chamfered posts and has solid, scroll-cut brackets at the eaves. An Italianate arched window is located
in the north façade’s gable field.
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: “In 1884, William Warner sold his son Luther the south end of his homestead on the north side of North
Main Street in Florence ‘with new house upon the same’ for $1800. Father and son were carpenters and probably built this
house themselves. William Warner was probably the grandson of Joseph Warner, ‘the first man to erect a permanent dwelling
house in Florence.’ His 300 acre property lay on both sides of North Main Street then known as the road to Williamsburg.”
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