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1210 OMB No. 1024-0018 NPSForm 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service 22 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a).
Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name_Boutell-Hathorn House other names/site number Wheelgate Farm 2. Location street & number 280 Woburn Street - N/A not for publication city or town_ Wilmington N/A vicinity state Massachusetts _ code_MA county_Middlesex code 017 zip code 01887 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certity that this Ehomination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property - meets - does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant ] nationally O statewide Elocally. (O See continuation sheet for additior betsy tuedlhera, hational Register yconmens 9/4/04 Signature of certitying official/Title Cara H. Metz, Executive Director Massachusetts Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer Date 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: E entered 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): Hepnt. Beall Date of Action 10/27/04 Boutell-Hathorn House Name of Property 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply Xprivate -public-local -public-State -public-Federal (Check only one box) X building(s) _ district - site _ structure -object Middlesex, MA County and State Jumber of Resources within Propert Do not include previously listed resources in the count Noncontributing Contributing 5 3 2 building sites structures objects Total 10 Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) NA 6.
Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) DOMESTIC AGRICULTURE Single Dwelling Storage/Animal Facility Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) DOMESTIC Single Dwelling Z. Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) COLONIAL EARLY REPUBLIC MID-19" CENTURY Georgian Federal Italianate Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundation stone walls clapboard board and batten roof asphalt other Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) See attached 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__ Page1 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA 7.
Narrative Description The Boutell-Hathorn House located in eastern Wilmington, Massachusetts, appears to have been built in stages between the mid-18"h century and the early 20*h century. The two-story dwelling is located on a 5.6- acre parcel. Sited between two open fields, the parcel is the remainder of a once-extensive farm that is representative of the agricultural landscape that persisted in Wilmington until nearly the mid-20"h century. Although the original parcel has been reduced, the remaining land retains characteristics and features associated with the history, development, and use of the site throughout all periods of its existence, including the farmhouse, a mid-19"h century barn complex, and 20* century farm outbuildings.
The property retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and embodies the distinctive characteristics of the local vernacular Georgian and Federal style interiors and Federal/Greek Revival transitional style exterior in the house, the fine Italianate mid-19" century barn, and 20" century outbuildings. Site The property is located on a Colonial-period road formally laid out in 1737 over a Native American path that provided access to neighboring towns and supported dispersed farmhouses and their adjoining fields. Another 18" century house standing opposite this house made a small residential node. Now domestic development of the past half-century surrounds the property with contemporary residential subdivisions.
The site is bounded on Woburn Street and parts of the south and north lot lines by old stone walls that survived the widening of Woburn Street. A new sidewalk along the property's Woburn Street border is currently under construction. A stone wall perpendicular to the street divides the south field from the house. Other stone walls are located in the scrubby woods northeast of the house and along the northern border of the property. (photo #3) Two driveways, turnouts from the road, meet to form a triangular pattern in front of the house that remains from at least the last quarter of the 19" century. Interstate I-93 now provides the eastern boundary of the lot. The parcel is gently rolling. Northeast of the house is a rock outcropping, and near the northwest corner of the lot a small, seasonal pond fills a depression in the hummocky field.
(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 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA The house, facing south and nearly perpendicular to the road, is located close to Woburn Street on its southwestern corner, due, in part, to the widening of the road. Dispersed about the lot are several outbuildings: a large barn complex located northeast of the house, a brooder house east of the barn complex and a small greenhouse east of the house. A ca. 1941 grape arbor stands southeast of the greenhouse. The foundations of a now demolished hen shelter are located in a wooded knoll east of the barn. The faint outlines of a large rectangular cold cellar, filled ca. 1946, located east of the barn complex can still be traced.
House Exterior (photo #1) The vernacular house rises 2½ stories high under a side-gable roof. Low foundations are of granite rubble. The main, two-story, single pile block measuring 38' x 18' is five bays wide by one bay deep. The western three bays of this block may have been constructed as early as 1754 or perhaps slightly earlier; the two easternmost first and second floor bays and cellar may have been added in the first third of the 19th century. This structure was extended, probably around the mid-19' century, with a one-story, one bay- deep shed-roof addition and cellar across the back of the house. It may have been constructed in several builds. The rear additions, which extend beyond the original block on both ends, are covered with a half- hip roof. A one-story kitchen ell (ca. 1900) was added with its half-front gable placed at the rear of the house's east elevation.
Perhaps at the same time a lower one-story gabled pantry was erected on the east side of the kitchen and parallel with the main house. (photo #4) Finally, a one-story front-gabled ell/shed and lower privy were aligned on the north perpendicular to the pantry to form an L shape. A mid-19" century side porch at the east elevation was expanded and enclosed in the mid-1970s. All these elements were indicated on a ca. 1908 plan of the house. The main block features a center entry and a large central chimney that rises from the ridge to serve four fireplaces, two on each floor. Paired windows of the first and second floors are nearly symmetrically arranged while the central window of the second floor is offset towards the east. Windows have simple lintels.
The 9/6 frames and sash were replaced with similar patterned sash in the 1980s except for the (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 3 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA windows of the dining room's north wall. The boxed cornice is finished with a bed mold typical of the region. The eaves returns appear to have been replaced when a new asphalt roof was installed but may seek to replicate the close-cropped style of the vernacular Federal style houses of this area. The transitional Federal/Greek Revival-style door surround (photo #2) mounted on a wider enframement is composed of Doric pilasters with entasis supporting an entablature containing an unusual splayed frieze and a projecting cornice.
Full-length sidelights flank the four-paneled door. The cornerboards and sill are of modest size. A narrow door directly accessing the west end of the rear addition has batten storm door inset with a square, glazed lozenge on the exterior. It covers a mid-to late-19h century interior door with two glazed panels. A sunken, stone lined ramp on the north elevation leads to a basement door on the north elevation. Both were constructed by Alvin Richardson in 1942-1943 for the installation of a basement furnace. House Interior The interior essentially retains the 18'h and early 19" century plan and structural elements although additions have opened it up and a later stair cuts out a portion. Both the west (ca. 1754) and east (ca.
first third of the 19"h century) parlors have cased corner posts, wide-board wainscoting, girts and bridging summer beams, but the summer beam of the west parlor is uncased and is enriched with a shallow beaded edge. (photo #7) The 5' 6" wide fireplace of the west parlor retains a heavy iron crane and an oval oven located at a rear corner of the chimney mass. The Federal-style surround and perhaps the doors to upper and lower built-in cupboards to the left of the fireplace were apparently installed at a later date. A door on the north wall accesses the rear addition. A mid-20" century ceiling in this room precludes an examination of the original ceiling and framing. The east parlor retains wide vertical broad-board paneling with a thin, shallow bead on the fireplace wall and wide horizontal board paneling of the same design on the east elevation.
The 6' 6" wide fireplace with high crane and pot was apparently built with an oven in the right-hand side of the chimney face. (photo #8) The oven, finished with a cast iron door manufactured in Boston, is ornamented with a sunburst design; the cast iron door to the clean-out is plain. A contemporary built-in fire screen does not obscure the fireplace's original features. The mantel is a simple board. Removable boards in a recess to the right of (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 4 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA the oven cover a cavity that may have served as a smoke chamber. A stair to the second floor erected perhaps ca.
1900 in the northeast corner could have been the location of a stair from the east chamber above to the exterior and the original stair to the cellar, now relocated to the kitchen. This room has been opened to the rear addition. The entry hall between the two rooms also contains wide board flooring and cased posts. Here a closed staircase with two small landings is located beside the chimney and shelters a low closet. Its ca. 1950s renovation includes a new handrail, newel, balusters, and most of the treads. The inside of the door to the closet under the stairs retains scribe marks similar to those found in the attic. The second floor hall retains an exposed girt with shallow beaded edge like that of the west parlor, suggesting that the original western block was erected with two stories. Spaces in the shed-roof addition also contain wide-board flooring and cased girts.
The westernmost bedroom, thought to have additionally functioned as a shoe shop, contains a door to the exterior. The bathroom was formed from an earlier bedroom ca. 1942. The ca. 1900 kitchen ell, set perpendicular to the shed-roof addition, measures about 13' x 16'. Stairs at the northeast corner of the original block, but entered from the kitchen, lead to the cellar. The kitchen was modernized in the 1970s or 1980s. The pantry was remodeled from a narrow shed and pantry at the same time. The ell/shed and four-hole privy may have been added with the kitchen or perhaps later. On the second floor the same two-room and stair hall plan survives, except for a passageway behind the chimney accessing both chambers, and containing a ca. 1970 bathroom and closet.
The posts and binding summer beams in both west and east chambers are cased, as are the girts in the west chamber but the girts in the east chamber are exposed. Both rooms retain wide board flooring. The west chamber has a simple Federal-style fireplace surround. (photo #9) The east chamber retains vertical beaded, feathered-edged chimney-wall paneling. The fireplace is unusual in that the space over the mantel is recessed, similar to an octagonal bay, and the paneling of the recess is laid on the horizontal. (photo #10) This feature can be seen from the stairs to the attic. The heavy batten door of this chamber is hung with long cast-iron strap hinges and pintels. (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_5 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA A batten door in the second floor hall accesses the narrow, closed stair to the attic. The chimney in this stairwell reveals that the north wall of the chimney cavity is roughly plastered with split lathe. When the roof was replaced in the 1970s the original rafters were reinforced with new lumber and multiple new rafters have been inserted, with plywood sheathing placed between them and the asphalt shingles. Four sets of probably original rafters with empty tenon holes at the typical location of a collar beam remain. Outbuildings A very small, glazed, probably commercially built greenhouse (ca.
1930s) set east of the house was originally located in Waltham and moved to this site by Alvin Richardson about 1941. A one-story brooder house was built during his ownership ca. 1941. This simple, unpainted, shingled outbuilding has a shed roof and barn doors. The barn complex is composed of at least four joined buildings and their additions. The oldest are the large, two-story New England gable-front barn facing south and a lower front-gabled slaughter barn with the ridge set perpendicular to the larger structure and its door on the west elevation. (photo #5) The larger barn displays elements of the Italianate style in the deep cornice and eaves returns and the square, louvered cupola topped by a fine bronze weathervane. Set on low rubble foundations, it could have been built between ca. 1845 and 1885.
Above the shingles of the facade is a clapboard gable-field whose peak contains a pigeon cote with ten symmetrically arranged arched openings and landings. Three windows, two with 6/6 sash, light the attic space. The high, front and rear central barn doors of diagonally laid boards slide on a covered exterior track. On the façade, each door contains a six-light window and a three- tier, 24-light transom further lights the interior. A small hayloft opening is placed at the side. The north, west, and part of the east elevations are sheathed in board and batten. The door on the north elevation was blocked up on the interior in the mid-20th century when the open part of the barn was used for hens. A ramp at this door originally gave cows access to the north pasture. Above this door is a 6/6 window in the clapboard pediment of the gable field.
The east elevation contains two high-placed fixed four-pane windows. The west elevation contains three fixed six-pane windows on the upper level, one on the lower level, and a basement door. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page 7 Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA The interior framework of this barn is constructed with mortise-and-tenon joints. It is divided into three aisles by two sets of posts. The first aisle is partly closed off, and filled with a stair giving access to the second and attic stories and a cow stanchion area. The earth-floored basement is accessed by doors below the grade of the east elevation.
The shingled attached smaller slaughter barn may have been built as a separate building and connected to the larger by a small link. Its framing employs peeled logs or sleepers to support the roof. A large spoked slaughter wheel, used as a hoist for butchering high on the south wall, is intact. Two ropes wound around an axle-like member terminate in iron hooks for suspending the butchered animal. A cobbler's bench owned by N. B. Eames was relocated here from the first floor bedroom of the house. Several additions have been built onto the slaughter barn. A lean-to addition was extended to the north, its side elevation. Mr. Richardson relocated cow stanchions in this lean-to from the barn. A metal door in the north wall of the slaughter barn's lean-to is now closed up.
Another, now-closed door in the east wall of this addition opened on an exterior sliding track the termination of which is anchored on a nearby tree. Extending southward from the slaughter barn is a large, single-story garage that was originally an open carriage or equipment shed but was closed with three large garage doors in the 1940s. Its roofline is divided between an unequal side gable and a shed roof. A lower, shed-roof addition, extant in 1941,on the garage's east elevation was enclosed with a similar garage door. A large, one-story shed-roof coach house addition was built on the east elevation of the slaughter barn in 1984 to house a recreational vehicle. It was extended into the slaughter barn in 1995 to accommodate a larger vehicle. (photo #6) The foundation of a demolished ca. 1941 hen shelter is located northeast of the barn.
A cold cellar was filled in the early 1940s but the faint, fieldstone outline of its perimeter is still visible. Archeological investigation may reveal more about these now-demolished buildings. Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American sites are recorded on the Boutell-Hathorn House property, sites may be present. Three sites are recorded in the general area (within one mile). The well-drained, level to (continued) (SPSForm 1 10-900-2 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number7 Page_7 OMB Approval No.
1024-00X8 - Boutell-Hathorn House Wilmington (Middlesex), MA moderately sloping topography of the property combined with the presence of a small pond at the northeast corner of the lot indicate locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, proximity to wetlands) that are favorable for the presence of ancient Native American sites. The property is located within the Shawsheen River drainage, however, wetlands within the Ipswich River drainage are equal distance from the house. A rock outcropping northeast of the house may also indicate the presence of windbreak type sites in the area. Given the above information and the size of the houselot (5.6 acres), a high potential exists for locating ancient Native American resources on the nominated property. A high potential also exists for locating historic archaeological resources on the Boutell-Hathorn House property.
Structural evidence may exist from additions and renovations made to the house since its original construction in ca. 1756. Similar evidence may also survive from barns, outbuildings, and other structures known but no longer extant on the property. A mid-to-late 19" century horse barn, slaughter barn (ca. 1855), and several 20" century agricultural related outbuildings are presently dispersed about the property. Foundation remains of a now demolished hen shelter are visible on a wooded knoll northeast of the barn. The site of a large demolished outbuilding is known between the barn and stonewall dividing the house from the field. The faint outlines from a large rectangular cold cellar, filled in ca. 1946, are also visible northeast of the barn complex.
Archaeological evidence of occupational related features (trash pits, privies, wells) associated with residential and agricultural activities should also exist on the property. (end) Boutell-Hathorn(e) House Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance