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. O1d Camb. Form no. IIB13 Cambridge 3S 9 Follen Street Second Waterhouse House nt use_ residential 4. Map. Draw sketen or punumg IvuavIvi 1110- 9A in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings. Indicate north. CONTININTAL ROETREN HOTEL CHAUNCY LONGY SCNOL or Music FOLLEN nt owner Todd Stuart iption: _1844 deed records urce_ Greek Revival itect unknown Exterior wall fabric wood Outbuildings (describe) Other features typically Greek Revival in detail, the house is one of the earliest on block. Altered Date =-- Moved No Date -- 5. Lot size: One acre or less XX Over one acre Approximate frontage 108 feet Approximate distance of building from street 22 feet 6. Recorded by Bainbridge Bunting Organization Cambridge Historical Comm.
Date 1964 UTM- BOSTON NORTH 19/32523014693800 ASSESSOR # 172-21 7. Original owner (if known). Ben iamin Waterhouse Original use residential Subsequent uses (if any) and dates_same 8. Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Conservation Agricultural Education Architectural 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) Number 9 Follen Street is the most characteristic Greek Revival house in the block. It is upright and impressive, including large dormers. The windows have heavy crossetted frames, and the entrance porch is appropriately enclosed with substantial Doric columns and a full entablature.
Other features in- clude the wide pilaster strips, which are actually enlarged corner boards without capitals at the corners. Because of its fairly early date and simple Greek Revival lines, this house remains one of the more impressive buildings on Follen Street. 10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) I AON 086L Vi Second Waterhouse House 9 Follen Street Photo: 1969 N.R.# OC II.B.13 Second Waterhouse House 9 Follen Street (furnace) . Photo: 1973 N.R.# OC.II.B.13 2 SubstantIve Fertoy NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES United States Department of the interior National Park Service EVALUATION / RETURN SHEET Second waterhouse House CCamnbadge Property:- multiple Resouxce ARea) State, County: MA. Mudalesux Federal Agency: Working No.11-14-80-2862 Fed. Reg.
Date:- Date Due: 4-17-82 Action: ACCEPT- RETURN 4/13/8 resubmission nomination by person or local government - REJECT. owner objection photos L appeal maps. Substantive Review: - sample - request - appeal NR decision Reviewer's comments: - contertral inp is weak tta 1oso sone just way is this brieding eligiice Mos the N.R? Rocom. /Criteria Retun Roviower praluam Discipline Asch. /ti Date- 4.13.82 - See continuation sheet -Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below 1: Name 2. Location 3. Classification uershig ubltc Aoquteition 4. Owner of Property Matus bccosalble rosom Ueo 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys thle property lason determined oligtbo - ya0 - no 7. Description Mlen .
excellen good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Oheck one -_ unaitered altered Chack one originai site - moved dete - bo the prosent and ertglnai (il knewn) phrysieal appoerenos summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection 8. Significance Podtor Brees of and huattly boler peelfe dater ant of Slgmll wllder Arettter summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of excepticn other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acraaga of nominated property - Quadranglo namo _ UNIT Roterencen Varbel boundery descriatien and heticatien 11. Form Prepared By 12.
State Historic Preservation Officer Certification Tho eveluated elgnilicance of thie propperty atehin the etote le: - national _ state local Blate Htetoric Preeervatten Officer elgneture 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Andrus Signed 2 Bracham - 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. O1d Camb. Form no. IIB13 1. Town Cambridge Address_9 Follen Street Second Waterhouse House Name Present use residential 2. Photo (3x3" or 3x5") Staple to left side of form Photo number 4. Map. Draw sketch of building location in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings. Indicate north.
ceg nan CONTINENTAL OL RR ATMENT HOTEL GARRGE CHAUNCY - 2 or MusIc SCHOOL FOLLEN 70y, ASSESSOR # Present owner Todd Stuart 3. Description: Date 1844 Source deed records Style Greek Revival Architect unknown Exterior wall fabric wood Outbuildings (describe)-- Other features typically Greek Revival in detail, the house is one of the earliest on block. Altered No Moved No Date =--- Date _-- 5. Lot size: One acre or less XX Over one acre Approximate frontage 108 feet Approximate distance of building from street 22 feet 6. Recorded by Bainbridge Bunting Organization Cambridge Historical Comm. Date 1964 UTM-BOSTON NORTH 19-32523014693800 172-21 30M-5-77 7. Original owner (if known)_ Ben iamin Waterhouse Original use_ residential Subsequent uses (if any) and dates_same 8.
Themes (check as many as applicable) Aboriginal Agricultural Architectural XX 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) Number 9 Follen Street is the most characteristic Greek Revival house in the block. It is upright and impressive, including large dormers. The windows have heavy crossetted frames, and the entrance porch is appropriately enclosed with substantial Doric columns and a full entablature. clude the wide pilaster strips, which are actually enlarged corner boards without capitals at the corners. Because of its fairly early date and simple Greek Revival lines, this house remains one of the more impressive - buildings on Follen Street. 10.
Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records, early maps, etc.) INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEEL MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity: Old Cambridge Form No: II.B.13 Property Name: Second Waterhouse Hous Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. The Second Waterhouse House was built just a block away from Cambridge Common at a time when building activity in Old Cambridge was beginning to pick up following the opening of Cambridge's first railroad station at Porter Square: This period coincided with the popularity of the Greek Revival style, which arrived in Cambridge during the late 1830s and reached its heyday during the 1840s. Old Cambridge had only one temple fronted house (now demolished), however, and no more than a half- dozen of this elaborate type were ever built in the city.
Much more common were sidehall or center entrance Greek Revivals, of which 9 Follen Street was considered the best example by Bainbridge Bunting in Report Four: Old Cambridge of the Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge. The house is fully described in the following excerpt from the book: An impressive representative of Greek Revival design, though not a temple-house, is the beautifully preserved dwelling at 9 Follen Street, built in 1844 by Charles Saunders for Mrs. Benjamin Water- house. In 1853 it was bought by the Bowen family whose last member, Miss Maria Bowen, willed it to the Cambridge Historical Society by whom it was later sold with appropriate provisions for preservation. The stocky, forthright character of this house creates a telling contrast to the light, sheer qualities of the earlier Federal idiom.
The juncture of roof and facade is emphasized by a full entablature of substantial projection, and there is considerable space between the tops of the windows and the eaveline - quite a different effect from that of the low cornice and crisp moldings found in Federal work. The sturdy quality of the composition is further emphasized by corner pilaster strips and heavy window frames enlarged by crossettes. The entrance porch is carried on Doric columns of good design - these recall the great value placed by architects and critics of the period on the accuracy with which Classical forms were repro- duced. A standard mail product, wooden columns like these were manufactured in varying lengths and in conformity with the three orders.
Although the Yankee carpenters who built these houses or fabricated the columns probably had little knowledge of the archi- tecture oi Greece, files, and proportions from current handbooks like Asher Beniamin's nroba cly nad correcti clasdicay de benla ao- The American Builder's Companion, which included plates illustrating the orders in the fifth and sixth editions of 1826 and 1827. Slight modifications in plan of the Follen Street house tend to relax the monotonous symmetry of the four-room, center-hall, Georgian plan. Though chimney placement and equal size of rooms to the right (see over - continued) Staple to Inventory form at bottom of the hall (used for dining-room and library) are traditional, the partition between the two parlors on the left has been moved forward to create a small front reception room and a large rear parlor.
smaller room lacks a fireplace, which would have been an unusual arrangement in a Georgian house, but the two rooms are connected by large double doors so that they could be thrown together for enter- taining. The parlor mantel is ingeniously centered on an outside wall so that its chimney will not prevent an equal division of space between the bedrooms on the floor above. The interior woodwork is heavier in scale than Federal trim would have been: moldings have a bold profile and lintels a slightly pedi- mented outline. Doorway trim shows this treatment although details of the stairway retain the proportions of Federal preference. Wooden paneling - even for wainscoting - had gone out of fashion, but principal rooms displayed heavy plaster cornices. Since Cambridge lacked a plant to produce illuminating gas until 1852, 9 Follen Street was not originally equipped with gas fixtures.
Like most Cambridge houses of the period, it contains several marble mantels; these appear to be commercial products turned out by local stone- yards and, though monumental-looking, they are reasonably portable, having been assembled from several thin slabs of precut marble. It is interesting to note the hierarchy of designs, which range from a beautiful specimen of black veined marble in the parlor to a de- lightfully simple one in the main bedroom. Less important chambers have wooden mantels, while third-floor rooms have only a sheli above a stove outlet. Of historic interest at 9 Follen Street are traces of the early heat- ing and sanitation arrangements. Although the house originally had no central heating, a furnace was installed toward mid-century, perhaps when the Bowens bought the house in 1853.
No longer in use, the old hot-air furnace consists of a cylindrical fire chamber of iron, enclosed in a brick vault spanned by brick arches carried on iron beams. The air warmed in this vault was probably led through ducts to floor registers in rooms on the main floor, but as the ducts and the soapstone floor registers have been removed, it is difficult to know just which rooms were heated. (Frequently houses of the period had no heat on the second floor and in the attic al- most never.) Nor, at first, was there a bathroom; a double privy situated on the ground floor at the rear of the service wing was reached from the back hall by a narrow inside passageway. Though the privy was removed, the blocked-up door to it remains, as well as traces of the passageway partition.
Until the city built a pump- ing station and reservoir in 1856, water was obtained from private wells. Even after waterclosets had become usual in Cambridge houses, they were long confined to the rear of the second-floor ell, an in- convenient location doubtless derived from the usual position of the old privy on the ground floor. (see next page - continued) 'INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Conmnity: Old Cambridge MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Form No: OC II.B.13 Property Name: Second Waterhouse House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. (continued - page 3) The Second Waterhouse House is significant under Criterion A for its importance in understanding the development of Cambridge during the 1840s, and under Criterion C as embodying to an exceptional degree the distinctive characteristics of the Greek Revival style.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom 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 14 ah17 Multiple Resource Area Thematie Group Name State Cambridge Multiple Resource Area MA Nomination/Type of Review 131. Conventual Church of St. Mary and St. John Substantive Review 132. /Second Cambridge Savings Bank Building Subatant1yo NevyAm 133. Frost, David, House Sude5 nEiro Mevier' 1,34. Howe House '135. Lowell, The '136. Willis, Stillman, House Substantive Review Su88t Sune Soüsi $137. Second Waterhouse House SEARS TOWER - Harvard. Observatory swine alyection DOE/OWNER OBJECTION withdraw '139. Almshouse Substantive Review -140.
Lovell Block Su0c Keeper Date/Signature Wieuian H.Braiham 41382 Attest Keeper tuca,len-, 163:1 Attest Keeper prur 1-003 16-2007 Attest Keeper Pure 1 np l 6 1057 Attest keepernDam1Drl6-3052 Attest Keeper Willian HBrarham 41382 Attest Keeper Bne l Der 6-308) Attest Keeper Attest Keeper Cane 8Shull 2-2687 BethtSange 2-26-81 WeuamttAracnam 4.13.82 Attest Keeper Attest Ruer ha Dag l 63083 TIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Nd Statas Dopartmant ef the latarien tional Park Service Substantive Review EYALUATION / RETURN SHEET Second Waterhouse House (Cambridge MRA) Middlesex County MA resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Roviow: Reviower's comments: Revisimo jmmvile adezest - arditactmal anid bistricl cnntext. Working No. //.14.88-2862 Fed. Reg.
Date:_ 2-7-87 Date Due: 7/7/53 Action: - Y ACCEPT _6/30/83 - RETURN - - REJECT_ Foderal Agency:_ -sample - request - appeal NR decision A+c/Aecors Rocom. / Criteria Reviewer. Man Discipline. A./t Date 6-30.83 _ 800 continuation sheet corrections cited below -substantive reasons discussad bolow -Momination returned for: 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Pusorabie Motte sosotattion 4. Owner of Property racon Uos 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Ios thie property ten eromained 7. Description ecoten 9000 dotortorere roine artglned (ll keowa) plysteel summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates chech end 8.
Significance arted droas ef st sosifle deter and pestify boler ahter Aratirass 4 od sh pntthcanoo (ta ano paraorant) summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of excepticn other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Aareage of nominated property Quadrangio neme - UNTT Aeterencee Verbel bouendary doecription and hestticacien 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification Thes evatunsad signiticance of tris proparty wthin the scene is: netional state Mnte Historte Prepervation Officar signeture 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 1110 -9A Canbridge MRA, Ma Secard wate-hause House 4:3 C 9 Follen St. 1110 - 9A NOV 1 4 1980 Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000275