38 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): March, 2010
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31A-259 Easthampton NTH.563
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 38 Paradise Road
Historic Name: Sarah A. Peck House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1887
Source: Springfield Daily Republican
Style/Form: Shingle Style
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: wood shingles
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.23 acres
Setting: This house sits above Paradise Pond on
its east and the Smith College Quadrangle on its west.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [38 PARADISE ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.563
_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 Sarah A. Peck House is a good example of the Shingle Style, which is quite rare in Northampton. It is a two-and-a-half
story house under a steeply-pitched, front-gable roof. On the west façade, the roof eaves make full returns to form a shingled
pent roof separating the second story and attic levels. The exterior of the house is entirely of wood shingles that cover the
exterior with no cornerboards in a skin-like fashion. The house is a relatively modest two bays wide and two bays deep and has
a side entry on the west façade that is sheltered by a pedimented portico on posts with braces at the eaves. A narrow jetty
separates first and second stories. There is a shed roof dormer on the south side of the roof while on the north is a cross-gable
bay with a saltbox profile roof. A multi-paned stair window rises through two stories on the north as well.
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: “Paradise Road was opened by J.C. Ward in 1867, but there was little development on the street until the
latter part of the 1880’s. In 1887, there were four ‘cottages’ constructed, including this house. The house was built for Mrs.
Sarah A. Peck, the widow of A. Perry Peck, at a cost of $2000. Mrs. Peck’s family included two daughters, one of whom, Sarah
P. Peck, taught at Smith College and purchased the property in 1889. In 1925, Smith College acquired the property, and had
maintained its residential usage.”
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. 815-P. 521, 400-131, 407-237, 244-400
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [38 PARADISE ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.563
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.