BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston - In Area no. Form no. Old Camb. IIB9 1. Town Cambridge iSS 24 Coolidge Hill Road Josiah Coolidge House ent use residential 4. Map. 110-21A in relation to nearest cross streets anu sther buildings. Indicate north. FRESH POND AUBURN PKWY. COOLDGE WHILL CoOLIGE An Esmoridge: Watertown AUBURN Cambridge tertown ASSESSOR 13 COOLIDGE HILLE # 242A-23 30M-5-77 RO cOOL 225 ST. ient owner Alexander A. Anderson cription: 1822-25, 1900 jource deed records e Originally Federal shitectunknown Exterior wall fabric clapboard Outbuildings (describe) -- Other featuresextensive alterations include addition of dormers, and formation of twe front bays. Altered Yes-alteratiorBateprimarily 1900 Moved _ No Date 5.
Lot size: One acre or less XX Over one acre Approximate frontage 36 feet Approximate distance of building from street 56 feet 6. Recorded by Bainbridge Bunting Organization Cambridge Historical Comm. Date 1964 -- UTM - NEWTON QUAD 1932394014693320 7. Original owner (if known). Insiah Coolidge Original use residential Subsequent uses (if any) and dates same 8. Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Conservation Agricultural Education Architectural XX Exploration/ The Arts settlement Commerce Industry Communication Military Community development XX Political Recreation Religion Science/ invention Social/ humanitarian Transportation 9. Historical significance (include explanation of themes checked above) This is the much remodelled Coolidge farmhouse, one of five structures of some antiquity surviving on the hill.
In 1821 Josiah Coolidge bought 33-1/2 acres of 1980 land and began to build the house the next year, starting Coo bidie with the ell. It was completely finished by 1828. The original Federal house has been altered greatly over the years: the roof line was changed, dormers were added, and the two sides of the front porch were enclosed and made into bays. Because of the extensive alterations, the house is more significantla study of the development of a house over a period of 150 years than as an example of Federal architecture. It is also the last remnant of the last surviving farm in Cambridge to succumb to development. Until the early twentieth century, the. Coolidge Farm preserved the farm open spaces which once typified Cambridge. 10.
Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) 2 Substantive Revlew NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION / RETURN SHEET Coolidge, Vosiah, House Property: (Cambridge Multipe Resoura Aeea State, County: MA. Nuddlesek Federal Agency: 1/8 United States Department of the Interio: National Park Service Working No.- 11-14-80-2862 Fed. Reg. Date:_ Date Due: Action: 4-17-82 resubmission ACCEPT. RETURN 4/13/87 nomination by person or local government - REJECT. owner objection photos L appeal maps - Substantive Review: - sample -request - appeal NR decision Reviewer's comments: significance as an evocutionay areluledural ex ample needs tole thoouguly defined. : stroved te sompaton a statement grotm/iuis fest way Hus aropecty meets : criterion C reeds to le provided Reviewer Braukam Discipline_ arch.
Itis Date - 4.13.82 with open spaces tormer a saiatandler nois - see continuation sheet Momination returned for: Xdusstantive technical corrections cited below Xsubstantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification @umership Public Aoquieition 4. Owner of Property Matuo Recocalbie prosom Uoo 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys fse thle property been determined eligible? - - - Nº 7. edtle excellent good fair soribe the Description Seteriorated - Puins Dhock ene unattered atered Check ene -original site moved derte _ unexposed reeent and eriginal (il knewn) pirgeieat appearenoe summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection 8.
Significance arle arees of metlty belen summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification ofareas checked relating significance to the resource context relation ship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Aoreage of nominated property - Quedrengle name _ UNT Poterencer Perbel boundery deecriptien and fstificatien 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The eveluated nificance of thie property within the state is: national lecal Dute Meteric Preservatten Oficer eigneture 13.
Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to - Signed Date _ 4.13.82 Phone: 202 272-3504 Comments for any Item may be continued on an attached sheet FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston In Area no. Form no. O1d Camb- IIB9 , 1. Town Cambridge. Address 24 Coolidge Hill Road Name Josiah Coolidge House Present use residential 2. Photo (3x3" or 3x5") Staple to left side of form Photo number ||10 - ZIA - 4. Map. Draw sketch of building location in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings. Indicate north.- AUBURN FRESH LONELL POND COOLESE ML, PKWY: CoOsIeGE MIr. Cambridge Watertowin AUBUR Cambridge tertown COOLIDGE HILLE - ASSESSOR # 242A-23 225 ST. Present owner Alexander A. Anderson 3.
Description: Date 1822-25, 1900 Source deed records Style Originally Federal Architect unknown Exterior wall fabricclapboard Outbuildings (describe)_ Other features extensive alterations include addition of dormers, and formation of two front bays. Altered : Yes-alteratiorßateprimarily 1900 Moved Date 5. Lot size: One acre or less XX Over one acre Approximate frontage_ 36 feet Approximate distance of building from street 56 feet 6. Recorded by Bainbridge Bunting Organization Cambridge Historical Comm. Date _1964 UTM- NEWTON QUAD 19323940/4693320 30M-5-77 7. Original owner (if known)_ -Iosiah Coolidge Original use residential Subsequent uses (if any) and datessame 8.
Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Agricultural Architectural The Arts Commerce Communication Community development XX Conservation Education Exploration/ settlement Industry Military Political Recreation Religion Science/ invention Social/ humanitarian Transportation 9. Historical significance (include explanation of themes checked above) NOr This is the much remodelled Coolidge farmhouse, one of five structures of some antiquity surviving on the hill. In 1821 Josiah Coolidge bought 33-1/2 acres of land and began to build the house the next year, starting with the ell. It was completely finished by 1828. The original Federal house has been altered greatly over the years: the roof line was changed, dormers were added, and the two sides of the front porch were enclosed and made into bays.
Because of the extensive alterations, the house 1s more significantas na study of the development of a house over a period of 150 years than as an example of Federal architecture. It is also the last remnant of the last surviving farm in Cambridge to succumb to development. Until the early twentieth century, the Coolidge Farm preserved the farm open spaces which once typified Cambridge. 10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : Old Cambridge Form No: OC II.B.9 Property Name: Josiah Coolidge House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
The Josiah Coolidge House is associated with the Josiah Coolidge Farm, which occupied a drumlin on the banks of the Charles River within sight of Harvard Square until it was sold I for subdivision in 1910. It was the last working farm in Cambridge, and the last of the Old Cambridge estates to be subdivided. The following description of the area is drawn from Report Four: Old Cambridge of the Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: The history as well as the iocation of Coolidge Hill sets it somewhat apart from Brattle Street. Here, at what later became known as Gerry's Landing, the bank of the Charles River offered a firm landing place, and it was near this point that Sir Richard Saltonstall in 1630 established the first watertown settlement. Until Memorial Drive was extended through to Fresh Pond Parkway in 1946, this valley was meadowland leading down to the Charles River.
When the initial settlers removed toward Watertown Square after 1635 the allotments were gathered into farms by a few remaining families. Most of Coolidge Hill was acquired by the Samuel Thatcher family, in whose possession iE remained until 1793. Owned later by . - Elbridge Gerry - and thus briefly annexed to Elmwood estate - it came eventually into the hands of Josiah Coolidge and his son Joseph, who kept the farm together until World War I, except for some ll acres sold in 1865 to the city for the Cambridge Cemetery. The last remnant of the farm disappeared in 1924. 'Near what had earlier been an access road to a farm further south on the river, Coolidge Avenue was laid out in 1830 and became the boundary of the newly founded Mt. Auburn Cemetery.
Partitioning of Coolidge Hill began in 1910 with sales of the lower meadows to Browne and Nichols School and in 1925 to Shady Hill School; the eastern crest was purchased by the Forbes family in 1910 and developed as a family enclave. The more intensive subdivision of the hill's northern slope as Coolidge Hill Road took place in 1915, while larger hilltop lots were laid out in 1924. Surrounded by cemeteries, school grounds, and a traffic artery, Coolidge Hill is very much of an island, and it is further protected by one-way streets that seem only to lead 'out'. As a result; the district's streets are as quiet as they were forty years ago and their layout [Prof. Henry V. Hubbard of Pray, Hubbard & White] at- tains the same picturesque informality as Larchwood, although the houses on top of the hill are larger.
Like Larchwood [a nearby development of 1915], they provide a perfect locality in which to study and compare high-grade residential building before and after the First World War. (seé over - continuation) Staple to Inventory form at bottom Though the 17th-century Thatcher farmhouse near the corner of Coolidge Avenue and Mt. Auburn Street disappeared in 1831, five other structures of some antiquity survive on the hill. Numbers 8 and 10 Coolidge Hill Road are the service wing and main portion (separated in 1936) of the Widow Orne's house. This building began life in 1807 as a store across the parkway, on the grounds of the Home for Aged People; two years later it was moved to its present site and adapted as a house. Its barn (6 Coolidge Hill Road) was remodeled as a residence in 1900 by Ralph Adams Cram.
The two Coolidge houses also survive: 24 Coolidge Hill Road (1822, remodeled 1900) and 34 Coolidge Avenue built in And finally, there is the trim little Federal house of 1801 at 144 Coolidge Hill, moved here in 1929, from 15 Appian Way. In 1821 Josiah Coolidge bought 33½ acres of land which included the present 24 Coolidge Hill Road. He began to build the house next year, starting with the ell. Work on the major portion of the house probably did not begin until 1825 since Coolidge was not taxed for a new house until 1826. It was finished by 1828, the last year it was taxed as a "new " house. In its present form, the Josiah Coolidge House reflects the gradual residential development of Coolidge Hill during the 19th century. Constructed in the 1820's in the Greek Revival style, it was later remodeled with jerkin- headed gables and front porches. C.
1900, just before fianl subdivision of the Coolidge Farm, it assumed its present form. Alterations carried out in 1900 included removal of a jerkin-headed cross gable and subsitution of three dormers; 2222 enclosure of the porches, retaining the original triglyph detailing on the fireze boards; and addition of two bay windows on the north end of the house. These alterations clearly changed the original Federal character of house, as shown on the accompanying photo of about 1870. The architect of the alterations is unknown. Because of the extensive alterations, the house is not significant as an example of Federal architecture. It is, however, an interesting study of the development of a house over a period of 150 years. The Coolidge House is significant under Criterion A for its association with the Coolidge Farm and the development of this section of Cambridge.
NPS Form 10-900-a (7-81) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number For NPS use only received date entered Page / 2 1.7 Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name State Cambridge Multiple Resource Area MA Nomination/Type of Review 111. Y Mason, W. A., House Substentive ferlew Keeper Date/Signature Aomanh Day l 610B3 Attest 112. Building at 259 Mount Auburn Substant1vo Hevio Keeper Street tomer hen Dnan / 630-85 Attest 113. Howel1s, Wil11am Dean, House Substentivo RewoKeeper WilianH.Brauain 4.13.82 Attest 114. Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House Substantive Review -115. Mount Auburn Hospital - Main Building DOE/OWNER Keeper Tanie hn Brp l 6 30-37 Attest Determined E11g: OBJECTION Keeper Bidildny l 63o0 Attest 116.
Higginson, Colonel Thomas Wentworth, House Suastentirs Bavlo Keeper Attest Weliamt Brackam 4.3-82 +117. Noyés, J. A., House Keeper WeeliamH.Bravham 4.13-82 Attest +118. Coolidge, Josiah, House Keeper Binuea har Dausel6 3083 Attest -119. Orne, Sarah, House Substantive Review Keeper e 6-30.83 Attest +120 Hooper-Eliot House Aaviogv Keeper Attest Bonm hm Brypl 63089 ATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES ted states sopertmaat of the latorton donal Part Servica Sabstantive Revien EYALUATION / RETURN SHEE Coolidge, Josiah, House (Cambridge MRA) Middlesex County MA resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appesl Subatantlve Review: - sample - request - appeal Roviower's comments: Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due: Action: L.14.80-28 2-7-84 214/83 ACCEPT 6/30/83 - RETURN REJECT- Federal Agoncy:- NR decision Recom.
/ Criteria ACCERT Reviewer _ Discipline- A./i- Date 6-30-83 -800 continuation sheet -Nomination Paturned for: __technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussad bølow 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification aagon was socadatton 4. Owner of Property hossocion prosoas Uoo 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys - M propety bown donammanaed adrpacta? - - 7. Description somtttor rxoritar ood aenorsa ruie unexposed Checa cmo _ iartarad .atared teaponed (1l kaorma) pipiaed summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/intearity Chocà em _ Morad 8.
Significance erled Areee ef Significance-Chock and juetity belew Specific dates Statement of Significance (in ono peragraph) Builder Architeet summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resourc e context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominsted property Quadrangie neme UMT Reterences Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national - state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature dete titie 13.
Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Signed Date Phone: 202 272 -3504 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Canbridg MRA, Na coclidse, Josiäh, Huse 24 COOLIDEE HILLID. 196/3 1110 -2|A NOV 1 4 1980 vantrids MRA Ma Coolidge, Jasiah, House 24 Cooliage Hill Rd. 1110-21A Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000275