Plimpton House, Amherst College (1914)

by Dan//Amherst, Collegiate, Colonial Revival, Organizations

The building at 82 Lessey Street in Amherst was built in 1914 by the Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity of Amherst College. It replaced the fraternity’s two earlier connected buildings on the site. One of these had been purchased on land acquired in 1883 from Col. W.S. Clark, President of the Massachusetts Agricultural College (now UMASS Amherst) and the second was built next to it in 1886. The new Georgian Revival fraternity house was designed by Lionel Moses II of the firm of McKim, Meade & White and has a doorway modeled on that of Westover, the eighteenth-century Virginia plantation house of William Byrd II. The fraternity house became an Amherst College dormitory, named Plimpton House, in 1984.

48 Pomeroy Terrace, Northampton (1850)

by Dan//Houses, Italianate, Northampton

The house at 48 Pomeroy Terrace in Northampton was built around 1850, or perhaps as early as 1847. Its first resident was Rev. Rufus Ellis (1819-1885), a Unitarian clergyman who rented the property. In 1853, Edward Clarke sold it to Mary Ann Cochran and the house became known as the Miss Cochran Cottage. According to tradition, the house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. In the 1850s, the house’s cupola had differently colored panes of glass and fugitive slaves were said to have known whether it was safe to proceed based on which pane was lit. The house is now used for the offices of the neighboring College Church.

Old Town House, Marblehead (1727)

by Dan//Colonial, Marblehead, Public Buildings

This is the 500th Post for Historic Buildings of Massachusetts!!! The Old Town House in Marblehead was built in 1727. The upper level contained the town hall and the lower level was originally used as a market. The building is sometimes called “Marblehead’s Cradle of Liberty” because of meetings held there before the Revolution where such leaders as Elbridge Gerry and General John Glover debated independence. The building‘s lower level, originally at ground level before the addition of a granite foundation to the structure in 1830, served as the town’s Police Station from 1853 to 1961 and is now home to the Marblehead Police Museum. The second floor also has a Grand Army of the Republic meeting hall maintained as a museum.

Amherst Cinema Building (1926)

by Dan//Amherst, Colonial Revival, Theaters

In 1926, an old livery stable, built in 1879 on the site of where the old Amherst Academy (attended by Emily Dickinson) had once stood, was rebuilt as the Amherst Cinema. The Cinema, at 28 Amity Street, continued in operation until 1999, by which time the building had already been in a deteriorating condition for some years. The vacant theater was then acquired by local residents who were seeking to turn it into a cultural and performing arts center. Developer Barry Roberts and architect John Kuhn relocated the three-screen cinema to the rear of the building and adapted the rest for retail, restaurant and office space. The Amherst Cinema Arts Center opened in 2006. A new mural has recently been added to the west side of the building, joining the vintage graffiti that reads “Save the Drake” and “For Willy, for humanity.”

Hearth and Eagle House (1750)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Marblehead

In the 1940s, historical novelist Anya Seton‘s research into her ancestry led her to Marblehead, and she based her 1948 novel, The Hearth and Eagle, on the history of the seaside town. She set the novel in the Hearth and Eagle Inn, based on the house at 30 Franklin Street in Marblehead. The house was built c. 1715-1721 by the father of Elbridge Gerry and was enlarged in 1750. It was owned by the captain in command of Fort Sewall during the War of 1812 and soldiers were billeted in the house.

George Whitefield Martin House (1800)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Salem

The house at 102 Federal Street in Salem was built in 1800 for George Whitefield Martin (1771-1810). A cabinetmaker, Martin was born in Marblehead and worked in Concord, New Hampshire from 1794 to 1796. In 1797, he married Sally Bullock and moved to Salem, acquiring land for his home and shop on Federal Street through his wife’s family. In more recent times, the house was converted into three condominiums. The house’s owners caused a stir in the neighborhood when they painted the house a reddish-orange color called “Clementine” (manufactured by California Paints), which contrasts with the more muted hues of neighboring houses on Federal Street. Although Clementine is a historic color developed by Historic New England and approved by the Salem Historical Commission, some neighbors sued the condo owners in 2003, complaining about the orange glow from the house! The house still retains the Clementine paint.