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902 NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form MAT TIT OMB No. 1024-0018 RECENED 2200 JUAL 1 52004 1. Name of Property historic name Lenox High School other names/site number Cameron, Marguerite E., Elementary School; Lenox Elementary School 2. Location street & number_ 109 Housatonic Street city or town_ Lenox state Massachusetts code MA county_Berkshire _ not for publication - vicinity code_003 zip code 01240 3.
State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this nomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Histeric Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property 2 meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria. I recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally O statewide [ocally. (- See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Betog friedlang, natinal Regiter Dereitr 7/13/04 State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion, the property - meets - does not meet the National Register criteria.
(- See continuation sheet for additional Comments.) Signature of certifying official/Title Date State or Federal agency and bureau 4. National Park Service Certification 1, hereby certify that this property is: Dentered in the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined eligible for the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined not eligible for the National Register - removed from the National Register - other (explain): Pesan Dt Beell Date of Action 8/25/04 Lenox High School Name of Property 5.
Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply) X private - public-local - public-State - public-Federal Berkshire County, Massachusetts County and State (Check only one box) X building(s) - district _ site _ structure -object Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.) Contributing Noncontributing 1 2 _building _ sites structures . objects Total 1 2 Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register N/A Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing. N/A 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) EDUCATION/ school Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) DOMESTIC/ multiple dwelling Z.
Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) Colonial Revival Italian Renaissance. Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundation granite walls brick roofslate other terra cotta, wood Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) NPS Form 1 10-900-a 8-86 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number_7_ Page_1_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Lenox High School Lenox (Berkshire), MA ** In 2002, the Lenox High School was converted to an assisted living residence. At that time, the floor levels were renamed from a Basement/First Floor/Second Floor nomenclature to a First Floor/Second Floor/Third Floor nomenclature, as noted in the accompanying floor plans.
For the following description, the three floors are designated in the First Floor/Second Floor/Third Floor format, with the First Floor being the floor below ground and the Second and Third Floors being above grade.** 7. NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION Lenox High School is located on the outskirts of Lenox Center in a neighborhood of modest, single- family, wood- frame homes. The building is imposingly sited on a hill facing southwest overlooking Housatonic Street. A red brick structure with terra cotta and buff brick trim, Lenox High School is designed in an eclectic style that combines a strong Colonial Revival vocabulary with Second Renaissance Revival detail. The building rises three stories from a high basement to a slate gable roof with two end cross gables. The ridgepole is capped with an Italianate wooden cupola.
Viewed from the southwest, the building terminates at two gable-fronted, three-bay, projecting end pavilions. A single- bay, gable-fronted entrance pavilion with broken pediment is centered on the principal (southwest) facade. Now approximately T-shaped in plan, the building consists of the original 1908 structure, which formed a shallow U in plan, and the 1948 rectangular wing, which is centered and projects north from the rear of the building. A rectangular, wood-frame gazebo located southeast of the school and constructed as part of the 2002 rehabilitation is noted on the coversheet as a non-contributing structure, as is a modern playground. The building sits on a large triangular-shaped lot of 3.86 acres. It is bounded to the west by High Street, to the south by High and Housatonic streets and to the north by Barberry Lane.
The building is set back approximately 80 feet from the sidewalk on a terraced hill that runs along Housatonic Street. A row of three large maple trees are planted on the lower terrace of the hill in front of the school. The site slopes up just beyond the drive on the west side of the building, and it slopes down toward Barberry Lane along the north boundary. The hill to the west of the building is planted with grass and bushes and numerous mature trees, which provide a buffer between the school and High Street beyond. A paved level lot at the rear of the building continues around to the east side of the rear ell. East of the building, beyond the paved area, there is a large open field with a playground enclosed by a chain link fence at the northwest corner of the field. A chain link fence also rims the edge of the level portion of the field along Housatonic Street and Barberry Lane.
Mature trees line the slope along Barberry Lane. A driveway leads up from High Street along the west side of the building to the paved lot at the rear of the parcel and exits out onto High Street near the intersection with Barberry Lane. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number_7 Page_2 Lenox High School Lenox (Berkshire), MA Original 1908 Building he building is approached from the sidewalk along Housatonic Street by a set of concrete steps witk andings that is centered on the main entrance. (photo #2) The original main building is 13 bays at th facade and eight bays along the side elevations.
The original building consisted of two stories (including basement) in an H-shaped plan and a two-story (including basement) section centered in the middle of the H and projecting slightly at the rear. The two-story section contained the boiler room, probably in the basement. Rising from a granite foundation, the brick walls below the water table are constructed of red brick laid in common bond with a pink tinted mortar. Above the water table, the masonry changes. The brick walls are enlivened with Flemish bond with burnt headers at the second and third stories and are highlighted with polychrome detail in terra cotta and buff brick. Second story windows of the central bays are set in blind round brick arches with raised rectangular spandrel panels below the windows.
Quoins at the corners of the building and at the projecting pavilions, the sidewalls of the entry porches at the east and west entries, and a frieze above the third story windows are executed in a buff brick. Slightly ribbed terra cotta ornament includes the water table, window sills, keystones and impost blocks at the second story arches, keystones at the third story windows, swags set below the third story windows on the facade and an ornamented surround at the main entrance. The brick walls rise to a wood cornice enriched with pierced dentils and modillions. The side gable roof has cross gables at the west and east ends forming the wings of the U. An open wooden cupola is centered at the ridge above the main entry. The cupola is boldly executed with Ionic colonettes supporting a classical dentil cornice. The copper roof of the cupola rises to a tall finial.
Five brick ventilation stacks with hipped metal caps rise from the different slopes of the roof. An exterior brick chimney with a square stack rises above the roof at the north elevation of the west wing. The main entrance, set within a central projecting pedimented pavilion at the facade, is approached by six steps constructed of cast stone with what appears to be a marble aggregate. A wooden Doric portico set on a brick base projects from the base of the pavilion sheltering the round arched opening, which is framed in terra cotta. The double wood and glass panel entry doors are set within a shallow recess behind the round arch. The doors are framed by sidelights and engaged colonettes, which support an elliptical arched fan. The sidelights and a round arched fanlight centered over the doors are glazed with leaded glass.
At the east and west elevations, the secondary entries are located at the base of a projecting pedimented pavilion, which is set off-center. An enclosed one-story entrance porch at the base of the pavilion has buff brick side walls and a red brick facade set in Flemish bond similar to the main building. Each porch (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a 8-86 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number_7_ Page_3_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Lenox High School Lenox (Berkshire), MA has a front gable and a slate roof. The eaves and raking cornice are ornamented with pierced dentils. The entrance is set in an elliptical arched opening and consists of a set of metal double doors with a filled narrow transom and a fan. Two steps leading up to the entrance are cast stone with marble aggregate.
(photo #1) Windows are typically 1/1 double-hung wood sash. The second story windows have round arched sash and the windows at the third story are all flat arched. Above the main portico, a tri-part window topped tri-part windows with 2/2 double hung sash containing horizontal muntins. An oculus with tracery is set below the gable in each of the gable ends on the north and south elevations and a smaller oculus is set in the gabled pavilions on the east and west elevations. First story windows are of a shorter 1/1 double-hung 1948 Rear Addition The rear addition is a three-story red brick structure with a flat roof. (photo #3) The first story is raised. Rectangular in plan, the addition is five bays in length with a three-story projecting pavilion on the north elevation.
The east and west elevations have windows set in each of the five bays, and a flat-roofed entrance portico is centered on the east elevation. The brick walls are unadorned save for the recessed bays with concrete lintels. The oversize glazed openings within each bay consist of single-light casement windows at the second and third stories with spandrel glass located between levels. Basement windows are 1/1 sash with horizontal muntins. The projecting pavilion on the north elevation is built of red brick and the lower two stories and third story was added during the 2001 rehabilitation. Three entry doors centered at the second story of the north elevation remain, but are not used and the stairs beneath them have been removed. Interior The primary circulation in the main building consists of a main corridor running east/west between the two side entries with a stair at either end.
A simple wood wainscot topped by a chair rail adorns the walls of the corridors and the exterior walls inside the units. The corridor floors and tall baseboards are terrazzo. The entry porches feature floors of square mosaic tiles. The central main entrance at the second floor had been closed off as part of earlier alterations to the building. (photo #4) That space has been reopened, rendering the main entrance operable once again and revealing the original vestibule partition with oak and glass panel doors, fanlight, and sidelights with leaded glass. The carved Ionic columns in antis, which were intact behind the infill partition, are again visible.
The east and west stair halls, located at either end of the main corridor, feature the original metal (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number_7. Page_4_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Lenox High School Lenox (Berkshire), MA stairs with paneled newels, wood railings and stringers ornamented with rosettes. The fire enclosures at the stairs are framed in a metal panning painted to look like wood and are filled with wire glass. While the building's use has changed, and former classrooms have been converted to residential units, the overall spatial relationship in the 1908 building between classrooms and circulation space remains unaltered.
The main east-west corridor still serves as a primary circulation route, and the small alcoves leading to the southeast and southwest classrooms are intact. Access to the rear addition is provided through small lounges, located on each floor at the juncture of the two buildings. Existing openings in the corridors remain, as do the ornamental moldings framing the openings and service doors. Classroom doors were replaced, however the new doors into the residential units were recessed, leaving the original door frames intact. All rooms retain their original vertical wood wainscoting on the exterior walls and molded surrounds at the doors and windows. Rooms on the south side of the corridor were repartitioned to create studio units. Each dwelling unit contains a small kitchenette, bathroom, and closet.
Flooring in the classrooms, which was rubber or vinyl tile, has been replaced by carpeting. Documentation exists for certain of the previous alterations to the building. At the third floor, the lower sashes of paired clerestory windows set above the lockers on the north side of the corridor were filled with plywood during construction of the 1948 addition. Some of the lockers at this level have been retained. The first floor (basement) of the main building had been converted to classroom use at an unknown date. As part of the current rehabilitation, this area has been subdivided into residential units. Rear Addition The rear addition is reached from the north side of the main corridor at the second floor and first floors. A new metal stair at the north end of the addition runs from the first floor to the third floor of the original building.
The rear addition houses residential units on all three floors. Additionally, administrative offices are located on the first floor, while dining and kitchen space are found on the second floor. The rear addition received new finishes throughout as part of the rehabilitation. The existing first floor corridor was maintained, and new corresponding corridors were inserted at the second and third floors. New partition (continued) (SPS Fomm 1 10-900-2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page_5_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Lenox High School Lenox (Berkshire), MA Archaeological Description No ancient Native American or historic sites have been identified on the school property or in the general area (within one mile).
Environmental characteristics of the property, especially its distance of over 1000 feet from the nearest wetlands, do not represent locational criteria that indicate a high potential for locating ancient Native American sites. Historical research to date has also failed to identify landuse that predates construction of the existing school in 1909. Given the above information, landscaping the terraced hillside, construction of the school, parking areas and installation of utilities, a low potential exists for the recovery of both ancient Native American and historic resources. (end) Lenox High School Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance