50 Phillips Place
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): May, 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
32A-191 Easthampton NTH.2080
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 50 Phillips Place
Historic Name: J.W. Reid House
Uses: Present: Three-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1894
Source: Daily Hampshire Gazette, Oct. 13, 1894
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Putnam & Bayley, Architects,
Northampton Exterior Material:
Foundation: brick
Wall/Trim: vinyl
Roof: asphalt
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
North ell added, siding applied and some windows replaced,
ca. 1990.
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.248 acres
Setting: This house is on a short residential street
shaded by mature trees.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [50 PHILLIPS PLACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2080
_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 house stands out stylistically on Phillips Place as it is Colonial Revival in a neighborhood of Italianate designs. Its scale
also exceeds that of any of its neighbors; the house shares with at least two of its neighbors, however, having been architect-
designed. The house is two-and-a-half stories in height under a front-gabled roof. It has cross-gable wings on the east and
west elevations and an added, two-story ell on the north. The south façade is a mere two bays wide but its proportions are
grand. A steeply-pitched roof has a deep jetty overhang between the attic and second story. The jetty is supported on carved
consoles and in the gable field is a recessed porch opening that adds to the impression of its depth. A one-story porch with a
rounded corner crosses the south façade and wraps around to the east elevation. Its entry is pedimented and ¾ length columns
support the roof and rest on high piers. The main entry has a trabeated door surround that encloses a leaded fanlight and half-
length sidelights. On the west elevation the shallow wing has a jetty in its gable field supported on carved consoles and
immediately below the jetty at the second floor level is a rounded oriel window. A leaded glass stair window mediates between
second and first stories on this elevation. Rondel windows, Palladian window compositions and horizontal windows with heavy
cornices and leaded glass add to the Colonial Revival style features of this well-designed house.
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 1975: “R.F. Putnam and L.D. Bayley had an architectural practice which began to practice in Northampton in
1893, the Hammond House on Elm Street being one of their earliest designs. In the nineties, the firm was in competition with
H.R. Hayden, successor to W.F. Pratt & Son, and Curtis Page; all three firms appeared in town in the early nineties. Putnam &
Bayley received the lion’s share of the commissions in 1894, building numerous residences, remodeling several commercial
blocks, and designing a large addition for the Nonotuck Silk Company. The firm submitted a design for the high school
competition, but Gardner, Pyne & Gardner of Springfield eventually captured the commission for what is now the D.A. Sullivan
School.”
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] [50 PHILLIPS PLACE]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.2080
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 Reid House would contribute to a potential Pomeroy Terrace historic district that developed south and east of the
Bridge Street Cemetery from the second third of the 19th century as Northampton’s finest residential district. Original
residents here were merchants, retired farmers, lawyers, and other professions. As the century progressed the adjacent
streets were laid out for the growing middle class with railroad personnel joining clerks, teachers, and others.
Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the fine examples of the 19th century architectural styles
from the Greek and Gothic Revivals, Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. The district includes
significant examples of the work of Northampton architect William Fenno Pratt. The architectural firm of Putnam
and Bailey is responsible for this house and for at least one other in the district. This potential historic district has
integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.