Henshaw Avenue 81.pdf
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form. FORM B − BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220MORRISSEY 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-66 Easthampton NTH. 605 Town: Northampton Place: (neighborhood or village) Address: 81 Henshaw Avenue Historic Name: Charles
E. Childs House Uses: Present: Two-family residence Original: Single-family residence Date of Construction: 1890-1895 Source: Registry of Deeds & Atlas Style/Form: Colonial Revival Architect/Builder:
Exterior Material: Foundation: rusticated granite blocks Wall/Trim: clapboards, shingles Roof: slate Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Garage Major Alterations (with dates): Condition:
good Moved: no | x | yes | | Date Acreage: 0.312 acres Setting: This house occupies a corner lot in a neighborhood of late 19th early 20th century houses.
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [81 HENSHAW AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 1 NTH. 605 _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 contrast between this house and its neighbor at 77 Henshaw Avenue illustrates the difference
between the picturesque and complex Queen Anne style and the more regular, symmetrical and classical Colonial Revival style. The Charles Childs house is two-and-a-half stories under
a hipped roof with cross-gable bays on north and south and a simple cross-gable on the west, yet it is is basically rectangular in plan. The main block of the house is three bays wide
and the entry on the west façade is composed of an enclosed portico under a segmentally arched pediment. All of the eaves make full returns in gable ends to create pediments and there
is a full-width porch on the south elevation that rests on Doric columns. It has turned baluster railings. The house is clapboard sided on the first story and shingle-sided on the upper
stories and a broad paneled beltcourse separates first and second stories while a relatively narrow watertable and stringcourse ornament the first story. A principal Colonial Revival
feature is the Palladian window composition in the west façade’s gable field. Windows in the house are a combination of 1/1 sash on the first story and modified Queen Anne multiple light
sash on the second story. As the lot slopes down on the east elevation, the house’s sturdy granite foundations are exposed a full story. This is a well-built and well-preserved 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 1980: “In 1890, Charles Childs bought this parcel of land from Henry Hinckley. This was part of the western end of Mr. Hinckley’s homestead which
was being cut through for an extension of Henshaw Avenue and the beginning of Crescent Street. Crescent Street wrapped around the middle slopes of Round Hill, providing spectacular views
of the Connecticut Valley to the east and north. It quickly became one of the most fashionable streets in the city.” 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. 435-P. 469
INVENTORY FORMB CONTINUATION SHEET [NORTHAMPTON] [81 HENSHAW AVENUE] MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation
sheet 2 NTH. 605 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 Childs House would contribute to a potential historic district that extends north of Northampton’s primary corridor,
Elm Street, encircling and encompassing the primary feature of that landscape, Round Hill. The potential historic district is significant for its 19th century development from a few
gentlemen’s farms to a neighborhood dense with the homes of its most prominent residents and educational institutions that shaped the character of Northampton for several hundred years
to the present. Architecturally the potential historic district is significant for the mix of high style late Gothic Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne style houses, the Colonial Revival
and Tudor Revival styles of the 20th century that were often architect-designed by the region’s most well-known designers. The Childs House is a fine example of the Colonial Revival
style. This potential historic district has integrity of workmanship, feeling, setting, design and materials.