8 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): June, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
31B-242 Easthampton NTH.588
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village) Smith College campus
Address: 8 Paradise Road
Historic Name: Smith College President’s House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1920
Source: Smith College website
Style/Form: Georgian Revival
Architect/Builder: John W. Ames, Architect, Boston
Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: stucco
Roof: slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.193 acres
Setting: This building is set back from Elm Street and its
principal façade overlooks Paradise Pond on the south.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [8 Paradise Road]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.588
_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 Smith College President’s house, the grandest residence on the Smith College campus, is a two-and-a-half story, stucco-
sided, Georgian Revival style house under a slate, hipped roof. The north façade is seven bays wide, has corner Ionic pilasters
and a pair of two-story Ionic pilasters that frame the center entry. The entry has a Georgian style eared architrave surround with
a balcony on consoles above it. There is a tall, four-light transom over the double leaf doors. Directly above the entry at the
second floor level is an opening with French doors under an arched fanlight. The house’s south elevation overlooks Paradise
Pond on the south and is composed of a recessed porch flanked by two projecting wings. The porch is supported by colossal,
two story, Ionic columns. Three front-gable dormers are evenly spaced on the roof’s north and south sides and two on east and
west, and four tall chimneys are located on the lower slopes of the roof on the east and west . Sash in the house is primarily 6/6.
There is a hipped roof wing on the east end of the north façade. It is three bays long with a lattice work entry porch and a one-
bay garage set perpendicular to its entry.
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 1977: “Built in 1919-20 on a sloping hillside site facing Paradise Pond and Mt. Tom, the President’s
House replaced Gateway House as the official residence of the President of Smith College. Designed by John W. Ames of
Boston (who was later a partner in the planning of the Quadrangle complex) in the Neo-Georgian style, the large residence is
situated in front of a formally landscaped rear terrace. The largest American elm tree remaining on campus is located within the
urn adorned walls.”
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.
Smith College Archives
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
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON ] [8 Paradise Road]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.588
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 Smith College President’s House would be individually eligible for the National Register as home from 1920 to
the present to a succession of educational leaders of this nationally important women’s college including William
Allan Neilson (1917-1939), Elizabeth Cutter Morrow (1939-40), Herbert Davis (1940-1949), Benjamin Fletcher
Wright (1949-1959), Thomas Corwin Mendenhall (1959-1975), and Jill Kerr Conway (1975-1985).
Architecturally the house is significant as a high style expression of the Georgian Revival style and example of the
work of Boston architect John Ames (1871-1954) who was to go on to design the Quadrangle complex for Smith
College within the firm of Ames, Putnam and Dodge.
The Smith College campus as a whole may be considered eligible for the Register as an historic district, and if that
were to occur, the President’s House would contribute to that district.