Colonial – Page 21 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Durant-Kenrick House (1732)

by Dan/March 22, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Newton

One of Newton’s few surviving pre-Revolutionary War houses is the Durant-Kenrick House on Waverly Avenue. Built in 1732 by Capt. Edward Durant, the house was constructed on land which had once been the Praying Indian Village of Nonantum, established in 1646 by Rev. John Eliot of Roxbury as the first Christian Indian community in British North America. In 1790, the Durant House and farm were acquired by John Kenrick, an abolitionist and noted horticulturist who started a commercial nursery in the 1790s. After his death, one son, William Kenrick, inherited the nursery, while another, John A. Kenrick, inherited the family homestead. William Kenrick, a founding member of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, was even more influential than his father, authoring two important works: The New American Orchadist (1833) and The American Silk Grower’s Guide (1835). The Newton Historical Society and the Newton History Museum are seeking to acquire a the Homestead and the remaining open space on the property.

Joseph Clesson House (1814)

by Dan/February 28, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Deerfield, Houses

Today part of Historic Deerfield, the Joseph Clesson House was built in 1814, probably planned to be the ell of a larger house Clesson, who died two years later, had intended to build on the site. The house was moved moved around the corner in 1872 and replaced with a Victorian-style home. Eventually, the Clesson House was moved to Greenfield. In 1960, the later Victorian house was torn down and the Clesson House returned to its original lot in Deerfield. The following year, the house opened to the public as the home of the Henry Needham Flynt Silver and Metalware Collection. The house’s kitchen was set up as an example of a silversmith’s workshop. To accommodate the collection, a fireproof wing, made of cinder blocks, was added to the house, with its exterior disguised to resemble the original section.

Hall Tavern (1760)

by Dan/February 27, 2009February 28, 2009/Colonial, Deerfield, Taverns

The Hall Tavern Visitor Center at Historic Deerfield was originally built around 1760 on the Mohawk Trail in East Charlemont, not far from Deerfield. It became a tavern in the 1780s and a ballroom was added around 1800. In the early nineteenth century, the tavern was operated by Joel Hall and his wife, Lucretia Street Hall, whose embroidered blanket is in the collection of Historic Deerfield. Joel Hall, who purchased the building in 1807, also manufactured axes. In 1935, the Hall Tavern was the site of an exhibition by the Deerfield Valley Art Association. In the 1950s, the Tavern was moved to a site in Deerfield where a similar tavern, which burned down in 1799, had once stood. It is now the Visitor Center for tours of Historic Deerfield and the restored tavern kitchen is used for open hearth cooking classes. Behind the Tavern is the Cook’s Garden.

Frary House (1760) and Barnard Tavern (1795)

by Dan/February 26, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Deerfield, Houses, Taverns

In 1890, Miss Charlotte Alice Baker purchased a colonial home in Deerfield and, assisted by the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge, restored it in 1892 in one of the earliest efforts at historic preservation in Western Massachusetts. Baker also furnished the home in line with the ideas of the Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts movements. At the time, the house was believed to have been built by the original Deerfield settler, Samson Frary, who owned the lot and built a house on it sometime after 1683. Frary was killed during the famous 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield. C. Alice Baker, who was a descendant of Samson Frary, did research on the Deerfield captives and wrote a book called True Stories of New England Captives Carried to Canada During the Old French and Indian Wars (1897). She also wrote A Summer in the Azores (1882). Baker’s lifelong companion, Miss Susan Lane, died in 1893 and Miss Baker died in 1909.

The Frary House, now believed to have been built sometime in the late 1750s, is currently owned by Historic Deerfield. The Barnard Tavern is an addition to the Frary House, constructed in 1795. The home had been sold from the Frary to the Barnard families in 1752. With a large second-floor meeting room, the tavern was one of the centers of village life. At the Tavern’s bar, in 1775, Col. Benedict Arnold closed a contract to supply the expedition against Fort Ticonderoga. Recent research, though, suggests that the building may not have served the full functions of a tavern. Archeological work is also planned for the site.

Narbonne House (1675)

by Dan/February 19, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Salem

The Narbonne House, on Essex Street in Salem, is part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site. It was built in 1675 by Thomas Ives, a butcher (or “slaughterer”). The oldest section of the house has a prominent peaked roof. Later owners added to the building, with part of the lean-to and the gambrel-roofed ell probably being constructed when Capt. John Hodges owned the house in the third quarter of the eighteenth century. In 1780, the house was purchased by Jonathan Andrew. His granddaughter, Sarah Narbonne, was born inside and lived there until her death, at age 101, in 1895. Her daughter Mary lived there until her death in 1905. The Park Service acquired the historic structure in 1963. Instead of being restored to a particular period, the Narbonne House is kept unfurnished as an architectural study house. There is a video of a talk outsidethe Narbonne House: Continue reading “Narbonne House (1675)”

Severance-Hawks House (1712)

by Dan/February 5, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Deerfield, Federal, Houses

Built on Old Deerfield Lot 36, the Severance-Hawks House was probably built in 1712 by Joseph Severance, a tailor who fought in the Deerfield Raid of 1704. Severance was later seriously wounded by Indians in 1713. In 1762, the house was bought by Zadock Hawks, who died in 1821. In 1824, Zadock’s son, Zur Hawks, bought out his brothers’ shares in the property. As sole owner, he updated the house in the Federal style. Both father and son were tanners and shoemakers. In 1920, the house was purchased by Grace A. Bement, who founded the Bement School in 1925. Now called Bement House, it one of four buildings used as boarding houses by the school.

Hinsdale and Anna Williams House (1730)

by Dan/February 3, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Deerfield, Federal, Houses

The Hinsdale and Anna Williams House in Deerfield was originally built in 1730 by Ebenezer Hinsdale, who founded Hinsdale , New Hampshire. It later passed through other owners until it came into the possession of Hinsdale’s grandnephew, Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams, whose mother was from Deerfield. In 1816, Williams extensively altered the house in the Federal style, raising the structure in order to install a fanlight above the door, raising the roof and doubling the size of the house with the addition of a two-story ell. Hinsdale Williams lived in the home, with his wife Anna and two children, until his death in 1838. From 1866-1981, the Williams House was occupied by members of the Cowles family. Russell Cowles worked to preserve the house and when the original French scenic wallpaper depicting Venetian scenes, installed by Williams in 1816, was damaged in the Flood of 1936, Cowles went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to learn how to restore it. The building was restored in the 1980s as part of Historic Deerfield.