83 Round Hill 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
31B-5 Easthampton NTH.593
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 83 Round Hill Road
Historic Name: Arthur Curtiss James House
Uses: Present: vacant
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: 1908-1909
Source: Springfield Daily Republican
Style/Form: Italian Renaissance
Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material:
Foundation: concrete
Wall/Trim: brick, limestone
Roof: slate, metal
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: good
Moved: no | x | yes | | Date
Acreage: 1.43 acres
Setting: This house, set behind a brick wall,
occupies a large lot that slopes down to the east.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [83 ROUND HILL ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.593
__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 James House exemplifies the Italian Renaissance style that was popular from the 1890s through the 1930s. In contrast to
the earlier Italianate style that was built in the 1850s-1870s, this later version takes its inspiration more from the Italian palazzo
than the Italian country villa and uses more authentic details from the originals. The James House is two-and-a-half stories –
there are low, barrel-arched dormers on the north and south sides of the roof – under a gable-on-hip, slate roof. Typical of the
style, the eaves are boxed and supported on ornamental brackets. The brick house has a centered projecting pavilion on its
seven-bay-wide west façade and quoins ornament the corners of both the main block and the pavilion. Second story windows
have straight lintels with center limestone keystones and first story windows are more lengthy and arched. They have limestone
keystones and springing blocks. Windows are multi-paned steel casements. The center entry consists of a classical
pedimented wood portico with Doric columns and respondent pilasters. The entry is trabeated and has half-length sidelights. At
the second story level above the entry is a full-length, three-part arched window opening. The roof eaves curve above it in a low
arch. There is an open porch on the north elevation that is supported on classical columns below a full entablature. It has a
balustrade at the second story level. The house has a garage that is also Italian Renaissance in design and is part of the overall
composition.
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: “This large estate with 200 feet frontage on Round Hill Road and Crescent Street and 300 foot depth
commands one of Round Hill’s finest assets, the eastern view. This land was once part of the famed Round Hill Hotel,
Northampton’s premier tourist attraction of the mid 19th century, and earlier in the 19th century the site of the Round Hill School
for Boys, the first school in the county to exemplify the systems of German gymnasium.
Round Hill, a glacial drumlin, superbly situated for sweeping vistas of the Connecticut River Valley and its surrounding
hills, was first settled in the early years of the 19th century by the three Shepherd brothers, James, Thomas and Levi, all of whom
built large houses high up on the eastern slopes. The house of James Shepherd was located on the site of the present house,
and later served as the main entrance to the hotel.
The hotel went out of fashion after the Civil War and by the early 1870’s plans were being made to subdivide the
property and develop the hill for residential purposes. This original proposal never succeeded and development did not reall y
begin until just about the turn of the century.
In 1908, Mrs. Arthur Curtiss James of New York made plans for ‘an elegant new home and grounds’ for this site. The
plans were said to be from New York architects and landscape architects and ‘colonial in style.’ By the end of 1908, the press
reported that $50,000 had been spent on this residence and the next year saw $25,000 more spent furnishing the house and
terraces.”
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] [83 ROUND HILL ROAD]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 2
NTH.593
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 Round Hill Historic District. This potential historic district is significant according to criteria A
and C and would have local significance.
The residential streets that cross Round Hill are significant according to criterion A for their reflection of development in Northampton from
the early 19th century (1807) through the 1950s. Residential development began on Round Hill with the establishment of gentleman’s estates
but grew with schools and a resort hotel until the 1890s when residential development increased significantly. From the 1890s through the
1950s (1959 McAlister Infirmary) Round Hill became home to Northampton’s wealthy and to the Clarke School for the Deaf.
Architecturally this area of Northampton is significant for the range of residential architectural styles including the Queen Anne and Colonial
Revival, and for its institutional buildings in the French Second Empire, through High Victorian Gothic and Colonial Revival styles ending
with the American International style. The potential district has integrity of workmanship, design, feeling, association, and materials.