Nomination for Pratt, Dexter, House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NI LLI Form 10-300 (July 1969) PH0016349 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM STATE: Massachusetts COUNTY: Middlesex FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) MAY 8 DATE 1973 2.

NAME COMMON: The Window Shop (until 1973 when sold by the Window Shop, Inc.) AND/OR HISTORIC: Dexter Pratt House Wse the LOCATION STREET AND NUMBER: 54 Brattle Street CITY OR TOWN: Cambridge STATE Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION CODE COUNTY: 1025 Middlesex CODE 017 CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS (Check One) District X Building Site Structure Object Public Private Both Public Acquisition: - In Process Being Considered Occupied : Unoccupied Preservation work in progress ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC Yes: Restricted Unrestricted No PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Agricultural Government - Commercial Industrial Educational Military Entertainment Museum Park Private Residence Religious Scientific OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNER'S NAME: Cambridge Center for Adult Education STREET AND NUMBER: 42 Brattle Street CITY OR TOWN: Cambridge LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Middlesex County Registry of Deeds STREET AND NUMBER: Cambnidge and Third Streets CITY OR TOWN: Cambridge Transportation - Comments EOther(Specify) will be educational - and social Mass - STATE: STATE: Massachusetts CODE 025 STATE Massachusetts GODE 025 Middlesex COUNTY: REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY: Inventory of Historical Assets of Massachusetts DATE OF SURVEY: 1967 Federal * State - County DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET AND NUMBÉR: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN.

SMassachusetts Boston feontinued] - Local 1973 ENTRY NUMBER CODE 025 DATE NO 469332 FOR NPS USE ONLY 7. DESCRIPTION CONDITION Excellent x Good (Check One) Fair (Check One) Deteriorated Ruins X Altered - Unaltered DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

Moved - Unexposed (Check One) x Origiral Site The house at 54 Brattle Street is a two-story, hip- roofed house of the Federal period. The original features of the five-bay facade remain: low eaves and narrow corner boards frame the facade; molded frames enclose the six over six sash; original clapboards cover the surface. The half-circular fan with delicately carved glazing bars and the pilasters of the entrance are handsome features of the house. The bracketed hood over the entrance dates from a later period (1875). Members which braced the brackets have been removed. Inside, the two-room center-hall plan is still evident and the cramped three-run staircase remains. Most of the interior features, however, have been altered so that the nineteenth century house could serve its twentieth century functions as"tea room" (1920's) and restauant.

More changes may need to be made to make the building useful as an educational center. The setting of the building is as important as its Federal-style features. Situated with its side to the street, 54 Brattle Street is reminiscent of a series of such houses of the early nineteenth century built along Brattle Street. The front and side yards fortunately have been retained as a courtyard for outdoor dining; the glass-walled shop at the rear (1946, Kennedy E Johnson) effectively encloses the court. In. the past decade, the area around the Window Shop has been radically transformed to a dense commercial district. The house at 54 Brattle Street, assured of its preservation because of its recent purchase by the Cambridge Center for Adult Education, will continue to provide a welcome relief to the dense development at this end of Brattle Street.

12 RECEiVED APP 5 1973 NATIONAL REGISTER 1o0 00. 15.3 Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Middlesex FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER MAY DATE 1973 (Number all entries) Cambridge The Window Shop (Dexter Pratt House) 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Title: Historic Sites Study Date: 1967 Level: State Depository: Eastern Massachusetts Regional Planning Project, Massachusetts Department of Public Works Address: 100 Nashua Street, Boston, Massachusetts Code: Title: Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge Date: 1964- Level: Local Depository: Cambridge Historical Commission Address: 57 Inman Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts Code: 20 31 14, RECEiVED APp NATIONAL REGISTER 1973 18 OTI T6'

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) - ProsCotumbiarapp 16th Century 18th Century 15th Century 17th Century 19th Century SPECIFIC DATE'St (f Applicable ang, Known) 1808, 1839, 1946, 1973 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE foieck ane or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal - Education - Prehistoric Historic OII - Engineering - Industry Agriculture - Invention Architecture Landscape Art Architecture Commerce Literature Communications Military L Conservation Music Political Religion/Phi. losophy Science Sculpture Social/Human- itarian Theater Transportation 20th Century Urban Planning X] Other (Specify) Preservation STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

The significance of the house at 54 Brattle Street is in its literary associations. The house, built in 1808, was at one time the home of Dexter Pratt, the "Village Smithy" of Longfellow's well-known poem. Pratt bought the house from Torrey Hancock, another blacksmith, in 1827. While the house is not mentioned in the poem, both the shop and the Chestnut tree, originally between the house and Story Street, have disappeared; the house at 54 Brattle Street stands as the best reminder of Longfellow's hero. The house, a good example of Federal-style architecture of the early nineteenth century, has architectural significance as well. It is the only nineteenth century house left on Brattle Street between Hilliard Street and Brattle Square, a stretch of road once lined with nineteenth century residences.

Along with the William Brattle House at 42 Brattle Street (1727), the Dexter Pratt House provides evidence of an early.. Cambridge neighborhood in an area presently undergoing dense development. The house at 54 Brattle Street has recent historical significance as well. In 1946, it was purchased by the Window Shop, Inc., a unique organization dedicated to aiding European refugees during World War Il by providing employment for them and selling homemade goods and bakery to raise funds. The house had served as a restaurant since the 1920's, but the new owners made extensive changes to improve the restaurant facilities and added a new building to the rear to serve as a shop and bakery. The property served an important charitable and social function for over 20 years. Today the house has an important role in the preservation movement. Purchased by the Cambridge Center for Adult Education,.

thé organization responsible for the preservation and reuse of the Brattle mansion, the house may be spared demolition in spite of the pressure for development in the Harvard Square area.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Hannah Winthrop Chapter, D.A.R., An Historic Guide to Cambridge, Cambridge, 1907, P. 89. Rettig, Robert B., Guide to Cambridge Architecture, Cambridge 1969, C3. 12. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY R CORNER LATITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds LONGITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES Degrees LATITUDE Minutes LONGITUDE Seconds Degrees Minutes NW " NE 42 22 28 71 SE SW APPROXIMA TE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: 0.15 LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY COUNDARIES CODE COUNTY Seconds " 7 24 STATE: CODE COUNTY: STATE: CODE COUNTY: STATE: CODE COUNTY: RECELNED REGISTER NATTON, OHt 16 CODE CODE CODE CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE: Amy E. Cohn, Camb. His. Com. for Eliz. R.

Amadon, State Survey Director ORGANIZATION Massachusetts Historical Commission: (727-8470) 3/20/73 STREET AND NUMBER: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN: STATE CODE Boston 02108 STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION Massachusetts NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION 25 As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. The recommended leve of significance of this nomination is: ViFkDavru Honorable JOHN F.X. DAVOREN, Secretary ofth Commonwealth, Chairman of the Title Massachusetts Historical Commission I hereby certify that this property is included in the Nationa1 Register.

Rokertu Date 5/8/73 Date March 26, 1973 Date - Ahe Iiapctou PROPERIY wherp WORKING NUMBER Prantil/973 ido S las STATE Mass. 4,5.73.2747 M TECH REVIEW Photos/ Maps CONTROL REVIEN Contenuatiei Sheet is zeroked Dexter Prait House Middlesex co. HISTORIAN Atkenure haue minor reservations- but not seriens ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN 4-13. 73 Accept. AMLL f/ 2373 Shull Accipt y25-23 Accept KH 4/24/73 ARCHEOLOGIST REVIEW UNIT CHIEF BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER National Register write-up Federal Register entry ?-3-23 426 chaue neme to Prott Howre -per form Send-back Re-submit Entered MAY 8 1973 Pleace lIse GIFT SHOP Entrance photograpt heprint1972 NPS Number s/8/73 Title: Pratt House Loc. MiDDlESEX, MASS..

viEw of southeast fAcADE fROM terTACE DEXTERPRATT HOUSE CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: LOCA TION STREET AND NUMBER: CITY OR TOWN: The Window Shop Dexter Pratt House UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with photograph) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Middlesex FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER MAY 8 17JE 31 14 54 Brattle Street Cambridge STATE: Massachusetts CODE COUNTY: 20 Midalesexa PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT: DATE OF PHOTO: NEGATIVE FILED AT: B. Orr Photography 1968 (C42N2) APp ECEL NATIONAL REGISTER OT CODE 12017 B. Orr Photography, Box 6, Carlisle, Mass. 16 01741 BEI DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC. View of southeast facade from terrace. Form 10-301 (Dec.

1968) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY MAP FORM (Type all entries - attach to or enclose with map) STATE Massachusetts COUNTY Middlesex FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBF573 MAY DATE NAME COMMON: AND/OR HISTORIC: LOCATION STREET AND NUM BER: The Window Shop Dexter Pratt House 4 54 Brattle Street CITY OR TOWN: Cambridge STATE: Massachusetts CODE COUNTY: 20 MiddlesexN REGIS NATIONA AOODE 017 MAP REFERENCE SOURCE: U.S.G.S. 7½' Quadrangles SCALE: 1:24.000 DATE: 1956 REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. Property broundaries where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference.

Boston North, Boston South Lexington, and Newton (all0Mass.)8 ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MASSACHUSETTS MAY 8 1973 Date Entered Name Location Pratt (Dexter) House O1d Chelmsford Garrison House Complex Kittredge (Alvah) House Boston Public Library Cambridge Middlesex County Chelmsford Middlesex County (Roxbury) Boston Suffolk County Boston Suffolk County Also Notified Hon. Edward M. Kennedy Hon. Edward W. Brooke Hon. Thomas P. O'Neil1, Jr. Hon- Paul Cronin Hon. John Moakley Director, Northeast Region PHR NRowland : mm State Historic Preservation Officer Hon. John F. X. Davoren Secretary of the Conmonwealth Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission 40 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 5/9/73 F.Y.

1973 APPORTIONMENT WARRANT NOMINATION (DUE 1 APRIL 1973) 3L 4/ RECÊiVED 1979 NATIONAL REGISTER 18 16 IF YOU HAVE NOT RECEIVED ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THIS NOMINATION BY 1 MAY 73, PLEASE NOTIFY US AT ONCE INT: 3097-72