155 South Street
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FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Recorded by: Jayne Bernhard-Armington
Organization: Pioneer Valley Planning Commission
Date (month / year): April 2011
Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
38B-44 Easthampton NTH.2190
Town: Northampton
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Address: 155 South Street
Historic Name: Martha A. Strong House
Uses: Present: Single-family residence
Original: Single-family residence
Date of Construction: c. 1895
Source: Gazette, Nov. 30, 1895
Style/Form: Colonial Revival
Architect/Builder: Roswell F. Putnam
Exterior Material:
Foundation: Brick
Wall/Trim: Clapboard
Roof: Slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Major Alterations (with dates):
Condition: Good
Moved: no | | yes | | Date
Acreage: 0.533 acre
Setting: House sits on a corner lot in a residential
neighborhood of former single family homes that have been
converted to buildings with two or more residential units.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [155 SOUTH STREET]
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Continuation sheet 1
NTH.2190
_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-and-a-half Colonial Revival style home with fine classical features. The square house is set off by fluted Ionic
pilasters and a wide frieze with fine dentil row. On the frieze, there is a single colored wreath of laurel at the corners. The house
is capped by a slate pyramidal roof that has a matching pyramidal dormer with leaded tripartite window. The shed roof front
porch has a large pediment with decorative swags and wreath of laurel in the tympanum. The front porch has fluted square
columns flanked by unfluted Ionic columns, a solid frieze with fine dentil row, and brick balustrade. The front entrance features a
leaded stained glass transom and sidelights. Most windows on the home are one over one sash and have eared architrave
surrounds. Two of the first floor windows, located on at the southern and eastern elevations at the southeast corner of the home,
are much larger and have architrave surrounds topped by a segmental pediment. Other stylistic features include the paneled
rondel at the center of the front façade and a large ached window at the location of the stairwell on the northern elevation. The
On the western elevation of the home is a two-story rear ell to which there is a one story enclosed porch on the southern
elevation. The house has at least two brick chimneys.
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 Colonial Revival house was built during the early 1890’s from designs of Roswell Putnam. Mt.
Putnam was a native of Leverett, Massachusetts and learned his trade in the office of a Worcester architect. He returned to
Leverett and began his practice there. Many of his commissions were in Amherst. In 1893, he opened an office with Lewis
Bayley in Northampton and moved here the next year. Within two years, the Gazette was able to publish a list of a dozen
houses that the firm had designed in Northampton. Mr. Bayley moved to Hartford in 1897 and Mr. Putnam continued the
practice alone. His son, Karl S. Putnam, joined as a partner about 1910, and after the elder Putnam’s death in 1911, continued
his practice.”
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. 475-P. 19