16 Paradise Road
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): April, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31A-324-001;
31A-324-904
Easthampton NTH.587
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 16 Paradise Road
Historic Name: Kneeland Estate outbuilding, attr.
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: possibly outbuilding of estate
Date of Construction: ca. 1895
Source: Northampton Street Map
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Karl Scott Putnam in 1929
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: clapboards
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
1929 altered to Colonial Revival
Condition: good
Moved: no | | yes | x possibly | Date ca. 1895
Acreage: 2.6 acres
Setting: This house is set above Paradise Pond
and faces west towards the Smith College Quadrangle.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [16 PARADISE ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.587
_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 is a two-story, Colonial Revival style house under a side gable roof with an off-center chimney. It is three bays wide and
two bays deep and has a two-story east ell and a one-story wing on the north. On the west façade the first floor windows have
12/12 sash and the considerably smaller second story windows have 8/8 window sash. The center entry is framed by an arched
arbor with lattice sides. The main block of this house was a popular style for small houses of the 1920s.
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 1979: “The origin of this little house is concealed in a larger property acquired by Smith College in 1919 from
Frederick N. Kneeland, who deed a considerable property, including his own residence at 8 Paradise Road. This building which
appears on the site for the first time on the 1895 map may have been built from an outbuilding on the Kneeland estate, possibly
moved to this site either before or after it was converted. It was rented by the College as a faculty residence after 1919. In
1929, Miss Mary Ellen Chase, novelist and member of the faculty, rented the building from the College and arranged for a
considerable restoration or remodeling at her own expense. These changes were designed and implemented by Karl Putnam,
well-known local architect and Professor of Architecture at Smith College.”
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: Plan Book 4-P. 56 1919, Book 744-P. 179 1919
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [16 PARADISE ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.587
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.