House at 17 Cranston Street

Last updated
House at 17 Cranston Street
House at 17 Cranston Street Boston MA 01.jpg
USA Massachusetts location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location17 Cranston St., Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°19′15.6″N71°6′33.9″W / 42.321000°N 71.109417°W / 42.321000; -71.109417 Coordinates: 42°19′15.6″N71°6′33.9″W / 42.321000°N 71.109417°W / 42.321000; -71.109417
Arealess than one acre
Built1871
ArchitectArchibald, Scott
Architectural styleItalianate
NRHP reference No. 87001398 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 20, 1987

The House at 17 Cranston Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is an architecturally eclectic and distinctive 12-sided structure, with an unusual combination of Italianate and Gothic features. It was built around 1874 by two Scottish immigrants, and is a distinctive landmark overlooking Hyde Square. It was listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1987. [1]

Contents

Description and history

17 Cranston Street stands on top of a low ridge southeast of the Hyde Square junction of Centre and Perkins Streets in Jamaica Plain. The main structure consists of three four-sided bays resembling truncated hexagons, which have been joined in a Y shape around a central hexagon. Windows consist of paired casements, each set at one of the angled corners with a triangular colored transom, giving the pair the appearance of a peaked transom. Each window pair is framed by shouldered Italianate moulding. The windows are arranged so there is only one pair per corner, either on the first or second floor. In two places on the ground floor there are doors placed at a corner, which fold as well as open. Each of these has been covered by a later added vestibule, whose exterior continues the main body styling but houses a more standard door. The exterior is finished in overlapping wooden panels that are in a hexagonal pattern. A six-sided cupola rises at the center of the roof, its exterior finished in multicolored slate. The interior decoration continues the hexagonal themes of the exterior. [2]

The land on which the house stands was purchased by James and Archibald Scott from developer Timothy Bowe in 1871. The Scotts lost the property by foreclosure in 1874. The house was probably built by the Scotts: Archibald, a native of Nova Scotia, was a carpenter, specialized in the organ building trade, while Bowe was a mason, none of whose nearby houses come close to this one in architectural interest. [2] According to a 1908 article on the house, the Scott brothers camped in a tent on the property while building the house. [3]

After the Scotts lost the property, it went through a number of absentee owners. In the 20th century, the vestibules were added, and the house was sheathed in asphalt siding, which was placed over the hexagonal tiles. [2] Subsequent owners have removed the siding, exposing the original, which was judged in 1987 to be in good condition. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Bateman Hotel (Lowville, New York) United States historic place

The Bateman Hotel, previously known as Howell Hotel or Kellogg Hotel, located in Lowville, New York, is now a conglomerate of condos. At one time, it was a hotel with a kitchen, a dining room, and a saloon. The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

First Congregational Parsonage Historic house in Minnesota, United States

The First Congregational Parsonage is a former clergy house in Wabasha, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1872 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 for being one of the city's finest examples of a frame Italianate building. However, in 1987 it was moved from its original location at 305 Second Street West due to construction of the Wabasha–Nelson Bridge. Removed from its historic context in a riverfront residential district, the parsonage was delisted from the National Register in 1992.

Seth Adams House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Seth Adams House is a historic house at 72 Jewett Street, in the Newton Corner village of Newton, Massachusetts. Probably built in the mid-1850s, it is a well-preserved example of Italianate architecture. During the 1870s it was home to Seth Adams, one of Newton's wealthiest residents. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Charles Payne House United States historic place

The Charles Payne House is an historic site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The house was built in 1855–56 by Charles Payne and later expanded with the addition of two ells and a porch. The 1+12-story Gothic-Italianate vernacular cottage is architecturally significant as a 19th-century vernacular cottage in a picturesque setting. Though the round-head picket fence and entry gates were later removed, the property retains a large shaded garden on with ample street frontage. The Charles Payne House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

Parker Tavern United States historic place

The Parker Tavern is a historic house museum in Reading, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1694, it is the oldest extant structure in Reading. The saltbox was built by Abraham Bryant, a farmer and blacksmith, and Ephraim Parker operated a tavern on the premises in the 18th century. It has been a local history museum since 1923, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Samuel Chamberlain House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Samuel Chamberlain House is a historic house at 3 Winthrop Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Built c. 1864, it is one of three well preserved Italianate side-hall style houses in Stoneham. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

Joseph Andrews House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The Joseph Andrews House is a historic house at 258 Linden Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built in 1851, it is one of the city's oldest examples of Italianate architecture, and was one of the first houses built in Linden Street. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

House at 23 Avon Street Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The House at 23 Avon Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts is one of the town's finest examples of Italianate. It was built about 1855, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

E. B. Cummings House Historic house in Massachusetts, United States

The E. B. Cummings House is a historic house at 52 Marcy Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts. Built in the 1870s, it is an unusually late example of Greek Revival architecture with Italianate embellishments and later Victorian additions. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1989.

South Meetinghouse United States historic place

The South Meetinghouse is a historic ward hall at 260 Marcy Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Completed in 1866, it is one of the city's finest examples of Italianate architecture, and a rare surviving example of a 19th-century ward hall. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. It continues to be used as a community resource.

First Parish Congregational Church Historic church in Maine, United States

The First Parish Congregational Church is a historic church at 116 Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine. The congregation was established in 1730, as the ninth church founded in what is now Maine. The current Italianate meeting house was constructed in 1867–68, and is an important surviving design of Portland architect George M. Harding. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The present congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

Sudbury Congregational Church Historic church in Vermont, United States

Sudbury Congregational Church, also known as the Sudbury Meetinghouse, is a historic church and town hall at 2702 Vermont Route 30 in Sudbury, Vermont. When it was built in 1807, it was a nearly exact replica of Plate 33 in Asher Benjamin's 1805 Country Builders Assistant. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

William McCallum House Historic house in Indiana, United States

The William B. McCallum House, built in 1887, is an Italianate Style house in Valparaiso, Indiana contains many of the basic elements of Italianate design, including brick masonry, deep eves, thick cornice features of wood and protruding flattened arch brick window lintels and a two-story bay window.

McClure-Hilton House Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The McClure-Hilton House is a historic house at 16 Tinker Road in Merrimack, New Hampshire. The oldest portion of this 1+12-story Cape style house was built c. 1741, and is one of the oldest surviving houses in the area. It was owned by the same family for over 200 years, and its interior includes stencilwork that may have been made by Moses Eaton Jr., an itinerant artist of the 19th century. The property also includes a barn, located on the other side of Tinker Road, which is of great antiquity. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Gen. John Stark House Historic house in New Hampshire, United States

The Gen. John Stark House is a historic house museum at 2000 Elm Street in Manchester, New Hampshire. The house, a single-story Cape style farmhouse, was built in 1736 by Archibald Stark. Stark's son John, a hero of the American Revolutionary War, lived in this house from 1736 to 1765; it is where he brought his new bride Molly, and where two of their children were born. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. It is now operated as a museum by the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The Slate House is an architecturally distinctive house at 123 Church Street in Brownville, Maine. Built c. 1860, it is the only known house to have foundations and wall exteriors fashioned entirely out of slate. It was built by the Brownville and Piscataquis Slate Company, a local quarrying operation, for its superintendent, and is believed to be unique within New England for the use of material and level of Italianate styling it presents. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Archibald-Adams House Historic house in Maine, United States

The Archibald-Adams House is a historic house at 122 Main Street in Cherryfield, Maine, United States. Built about 1795, it is one of the town's oldest surviving buildings, with associations to two prominent local families. It is now the Englishmans Bed and Breakfast, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Everel S. Smith House Historic house in Indiana, United States

The Everel S. Smith House is located on the northeast corner of West Jefferson Street and Clyborn Avenue in Westville, Indiana and is set well back from the streets it fronts. The yard is landscaped with four large maples and one medium size tulip tree equally spaced along the road. There is an enclosed garden with patio on the west side beginning at the back of the bay and extending north and west. The house faces south and is of two story, red brick construction with ivory painted wood trim. Its design is Italianate with a single story wing on the north (rear) side. There is a hip roof on the main section capped by a widow's walk with a wrought iron fence around its perimeter. A gable is centered on a short extension of the center, front wall which has a limestone block with beveled corners set in its center above the second story windows that is inscribed with the date 1879. There is a black, cast, spread eagle below the inscribed stone.

North Manchester Historic District United States historic place

North Manchester Historic District is a national historic district located at North Manchester, Wabash County, Indiana. It encompasses 159 contributing buildings in the central business district and surrounding residential sections of North Manchester. It developed between about 1870 and 1938, and includes representative examples of Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, and Bungalow / American Craftsman style architecture. Located in the district are the separately listed Lentz House, Noftzger-Adams House, and North Manchester Public Library. Other notable buildings include the John Lavey House (1874), Horace Winton House, Agricultural Block (1886), Moose Lodge (1886), North Manchester City Hall, Masonic Hall (1907), Zion Lutheran Church (1882), and North Manchester Post Office (1935).

Enoch Hibbard House and George Granniss House Historic houses in Connecticut, United States

The Enoch Hibbard House and George Granniss House are a pair of historic houses at 33 and 41 Church Street in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut. Built between 1864 and 1868, they are well-preserved examples of period Italianate architecture, with some high-quality later Victorian stylistic additions. They were listed as a pair on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "NRHP nomination for House at 17 Cranston Street". National Archive. Retrieved 2017-11-14.
  3. "17 Cranston Street". Jamaica Plain Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2008-06-06.