BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM A - AREA MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02116 Photos (3"x3" or 3"x5" black & white). Indicate on back of each photo street addresses for buildings shown. Staple to left side of form. Sketch Map. Draw a general map of the area indicating properties within it. Number each property for which individual inventory forms have been completed. Label streets including route numbers, if any- Indicate north. (Attach a separate sheet if space here is not sufficient). See Attached Assessor's Map Judeth BmDonoush/og8 SHPO UTM REFERENCE 19/314540/4689920 USGS QUADRANGLE SCALE Natick 1:25000 Area Letter APR 2& 1992 Form numbers in this Area A - 07 Town NEWTON Name of Area (if any) Walker Home for Missionary Children - 144 Hancock Street Present Use missionary use General Date or Period ca. 1850-1940 General Condition good Acreage63,467 sq.
ft / 1.45 acres Recorded byCandace Jenkins/Susan Abele Organization Newton Historical Comm. Date 1/87: rev. 5/88; rev. 11/90 NATIONAL REGISTER CRITERIA STATEMENT (if applicable) The Walker Missionary Home complex possesses integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. significant primarily for its associations with the Walker Home for Missionary Children founded in 1868- The Walker Home is important both as an institution serving missionaries and for its role int eh development of Auburndale. complex also includes two buildings of individual architectural merit (Walker and Harding), and as a whole, illustrates the development of an institution to serve missionaries. It meets criteria A& C of the NRHP. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other areas within the community.
The Walker Missionary Home complex, at the corner of Grove and Hancock Streets, consists of eight buildings constructed between 1850 and 1957. The most conspicuous component 1s Walker House (1913), a massive brick structure whose design reflects the Colonial Revival style. Although blown-up to the scale of an institutional building, it retains a domestic character in keeping with the surrounding residential neighborhood. Dominated by a slate gambrel roof, it has bridged chimneys, shed roof dormers on the lower slope, hip roof dormers on the upper slope, and central gable. The main body of the building is only one story. The symmetrical facade is organized around adouble-leaf (see continuation sheet) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain fistorical importance of area and how the area relates to the development of other areas of the community. Mrs.
Eliza Walker, widow of an American missionary to Turkey founded the Walker Home for Missionary Children in 1868. Returning to Auburndale after her husband's death, Mrs. Walker moved into a house at 103-107 Hancock Street, built for her ny her father the Reverend Sewell Harding. In order to support herself, Mrs. Walker, under the aegis of the American Board of Missionaries, began to take in children of missionaries stationed around the world, providing a safe, supervised home and educational opportunities in the Newton school system. Missionaries on furlough and retired missionary families also found refuge in Mrs. Walker's home. After Mrs. Walker's death, dedicated staff and community members continued to support the organization which reached a peak of operation in the nineteen twenties and thirties.
Incorporated in 1929 as a separate entity under the American Board of Missionaries, it became known as it is today, as The Waiker Missionary Home, Inc. Together with neighboring Lasell Junior College, the Walker Home has been an integral part of the growth and development of Auburndale and after more than 120 years of continuous operation, the Home continues to support its educational and religious mission. (see continuation sheet) CIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Building Department Records 144 Hancock Street, VF - Jackson Homestead, Newton Times 10/22/15, A History of the Walker Missionary Home, Field, Biographical Dictionary of American Architects, Withy.
6185 vbb stioas - INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston 1990 Community: Newton (Auburndale) Property Name : WaLker Home Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued beloi. APR 21 Form No: A-07 Missionary 1992 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (cont.) entry flanked by side lights and protected by a Tuscan porch. Single windows with 6/6 sash directly flank the entry, while three part bowed windows are located in the outer bays. Most other windows contain 6/6 sash. Scattered behind the main building are two metal clad garages and five dwellings, all but one of which arewood-frame, and some of which are interconnected. Directly behind the main building to the north is the two story Barton House (c1925, renovated 1935).
It consists of a wood frame section facing Hancock Street and a brick rear section extending back toward Grove Street. The front section is clapboard clad and faces a three-bay gable end to the street. Colonial Revival style details include a paneled entry with massive arched hood and 6/6 sash. A one story sunporch stretches along the south elevation. The brick section displays a bracketed entry adjacent to the frame section, and twin facade gables on the east elevation. Howard House (1927) stands north of Barton on Hancock Street, and is a typical Colonial Revival style dwelling of the period. Rising 2 1/2 stories to a gable roof, it is clapboard clad and it displays a three bay facade centered on an entry with Tuscan porch.
To the east are the attached Hume House(1926) and Harding East and West (1850, NR: 9-4-86) both of which aretwo-story clapboard-clad structures enclosed by gable roofs. Hume, a converted barn, is a simple Colonial Revival style residence facing a three bay facade southward toward the interior of the lot. A sunporch connects it to Harding East and West which is the oldest structure in the complex Designed in the Italianate style, Harding is a 2 1/2 story clapboard clad structure enclosed by a gable roof with paired brackets. Entries, framed by side lights and transoms and fronted byporches with paneled posts, are located on the southwest and southeast elevations. Other features include a two story bay window (SW), a cross gable (SE), and windows with 6/6 sash and label moldings. Eddy House (1954-7), which stands to the southwest and faces Grove Street, is a standard five bay Cape.
The two garages are three-bay structures with aluminum siding and corrugated metal roofs. Verbal Boundary Descriptions & Justification: The nomination is confined to the eight buildings which stand on the two lots owned by the Walker Missionary Home at Grove and Hancock Street. The boundaries, which follow these lot lines reflect the current holdings of the Home as wall as its historical development. One other building, historically associated with the Home, stands north of the district at Hancock and Fern Streets, at too great a distance to be included in the nomination. - INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commumity: Newton (Auburndale) Form APRo? 111992 A-07 Property Name : WaLker Missionary Home Indicate each item on inventory forn wnich is being continued belor.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (cont.) The oldest building in the complex, 161-163 Grove Street (Harding East and West NR:9-12-86) was built c 1850 as a family residence by Reverend Harding, one of several local ministers involved in speculative real estate. In the mid-1860s Harding built a new Mansard style house at the westerly end of the lot at the corner of Hancock and Grove Streets, moving there and selling 161-163 Grove Street. As Mrs. Walker's enterprise grew, she eventually expanded into the Harding's new house. Destroyed by fire in 1911, the Harding's house was replaced by the present main building of the complex, Walker House (144 Hancock Street), designed by Coolidge and Carison and completed in 1913. Henry J. Carlson, a Newton resident, was associated with Joseph Coolidge from 1903 to 1922.
Coolidge and Carlson were best known for their collegiate work at Harvard, Bates and Wellesley Colleges. In the period of greatest expansion several separate residences were added to the complex and in the late thirties extensive landscaping was done under the care of a noted local landscape architect, Herbert Kellaway. Reverend Harding's original house (161-163 Grove Street), owned for many years by near-by Lasall Junior College was repurchased from Lasall in 1925. Renovated to create two apartments it is known as Harding East and West. Further residential space was created with the renovation of an adjacent nineteenth century barn which became Hume House (165 Grove Street) in 1926 and Howard House (132 Grove Street), built in 1927. Barton House (138 Hancock Street), which is attached to 144 Grove Street, was enlarged in 1937 with the addition of a brick wing.
Two, three-car garages, added in1927 and 1937 respectively, and another residential building known as Eddy House (169 Grove Street), designed by Newton architect Albert Kreider in 1954, complete the inventory of structures belonging to the Walker Missionary Home, Inc. Mrs. Walker's house at 103-107 Hancock St. was sold by the Corporation in this century and is no longer a part of the Walker Home complex. ABHC I BARTON House (named after Dr. and Mrs. James L Barton) accommodates 20 adult missionaries. W' by not name Walker Missionary Homes, Incorporated, of Auburndale, Mass., in your will? LLL Lume HoUse (a gift in honor of Rev. Dr. Robert / Hume of India), lARDING EAsT and HARDING WES provide furnished homes for families. VALKER House (named in honor of the founde [rs. Eliza Harding Walker) is for children; also f transients. It accommodates thirty-five.
Gifts for Endowment are a con- stant and rewarding means of belp- ing the missionary when be needs it most. HoWARD House (a gift by her daughters, in memory of Mrs. Ruth L. Howard of Worcester, Mass.), is for the use of a missionary family on furlough. VF-IAceri APR 2| 1992 BEOR The Grove Street corner of the Walker House, with Superintendent LeRoy NTO this Home are gathered missionaries from Arica, China, Japan, India, Turkey and the Iilands of the Pacific wcho are on furlough with The Lodge, described elsewhere The Harding duplex apartments for tua families, completed in 1926 1 tomis court and playgrounds hevond their familics; also children whose parents re on the mission lields, and single mirozonaries on fur- lnugh. A reritable refuge and resting place for all APR 2 1 1992 c.938 VF: Jackson Homestearl APR NV 1992 Newton, Mass. MRA - 1988 - Walker Missionary Home, Inc.
Street Address 161-63 Grove Street 165 Grove Street 167 Grove Street 136 Hancock Street 138 Hancock Street 144 Hancock Street Hancock Street Historic Name Date Style Harding East & West Hume House Eddy House Howard House Barton House Walker House Garages Status C1850 Italianate 1926 CR 1957 Cape 1927 CR 1925/1937 CR C C NC C C 1913 CR 1927/1937 Utilitarian NC UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Walker Home for Missionary Children NAME: MULTIPLE NAME: Newton MRA STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 1/02/90 2/02/90 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 1/17/90 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 2/16/90 REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000047 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER: N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: Y NATIONAL: N N COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 7/14/50 DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: See attached commenta.
RECOM./CRITERIA Xeturu REVIEWERL DISCIPLINE UClGF ecual9 DATE 2116/90 DOCUMENTATION see attached comments N see attached SIR Y/N CLASSIFICAIION count resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION historic current DESCRIPTION architectural classification materials descriptive text SIGNIFICANCE Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA acreage UTMS verbal boundary description boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION _sketch maps OTHER COMMENTS USGS maps photographs presentation Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone 202) 343-9540 signed BerafSaage - Date 2//6/90 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES REVIEW COMMENTS Walker Home for Missionary Children (Newton MRA) Middlesex County, MA This documentation is confusing and it does not include a cogent, justified statement of significance.
Please reevaluate the information provided which is primarily descriptive and general and develop a compelling, substantiated statement concerning the property's importance. Please back this up with sufficient photos (one photo of one building is not enough) and a sketch map labelled with building names and their contributing or noncontributing classifications to convey a clear understanding of the property's historic character. Please specify an approriate period of significance for the property. The property is not justified for exceptional importance through 1954 (as indicated on page #1 and the construction date attributed to the Eddy House at the end of the arch. sig. statement) nor through1957 (as indicated in the beginning of the arch. sig. statement)- Please specify and justify applicable area(s) of significance for eligibility under criterion A.
What particular, integral role did the institution play in Auburndale's historical growth and development? Architecturally what exactly does this property represent? its importance under criterion C merely for the individual importance of the Walker and Harding buildings? When was Walker House constructed?--post-1911 is the only clue provided. Why is the Walker House unusual for retaining domestic character at an institutional scale? Many early 20th-century institutional buildings were rendered in primarily domestic modes; for this reason it seems representative rather than unusual. It is confusing that the property located at 161-163 Grove Street is first referred to by its street address in the hist. sig. statement, and then by its historic name (Harding East and West) without cross references.
In addition, 2 different dates are indicated for this property's previous individual listing in the National Register, 9-4-86 is correct. Please revise the incorrect reference to 9-12-86. BarkSarse NPS Form 10-900-s (8-00) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 Section number .
Page NEWTON MRA Middlesex County, MASSACHUSETTS Walker Home for Missionary Children 90000047 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: RESUBMISSION PROPERTY Walker Home for Missionary Children NAME : MULTIPLE Newton MRA NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 4/21/92 DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000047 NOMINATOR: STATE DETAILED EVALUATION: Y ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 6/4/92 _DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: 6/05/92 Small destrict porall foeuste destrori torally otable work and fo representative exomples of Colonial Rewal decigu. Duitial retur commente have been addressed, corrections made, isues plarified. RECOM.
/CRITERTA Accept axC REVIEWER* uar DASCTLINBOrce DATE_ 14/9 Hstry DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y see attached SLR Y CLASSIFICATION count _resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION historic _current DESCRIPTION _architectural classification materials _descriptive text SIGNIFICANCE Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) _summary paragraph _completeness _clarity _applicable criteria _justification of areas checked _relating significance to the resource context _relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception _other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA _acreage _UTMs _verbal boundary description _boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION sketch maps -USGs maps - photographs OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone _presentation Signed Date NeUTon, MA wacker tome ho Tussirayy Che 144 Hancakst Octubes 1991 QUALITY PAPER MADE IN GERMANY OCT-91 08799 NNNAA Nswtn.
MA Barton House 138 Hancallst Getober 1991 AGli OCT-91 08799 NswRh. M Hardig Ecest+ ceco 141-163 Grovestreet October 1991 QU MADE PAPER I GERM 0CT-91 08799 UALITY PAP INNARIN GERN NswTen. on Hrard, thuse 13le Hancock st October 1991 AGFA : OCT-91 08799 NNNNA NseUTON. MA Hume House leo gronest oltobe 1971 GERMA Ga 0CT-91 QUALITY PAPER 2079 GERMANY INNNA, Newton, Mass, MRA - 169 Grove St, Aubur Walker Missionary H 77-D-17 (2) SECTION 43 BLOCK 32 STREET SECTION 43 BLOCK 31 FerIL ATHLETIC FIELD APR 2 1'992 Newton, MA-MRA 144 Hancock Street SBL: 43-31-1, 43-31-16 Engineering Map - 1979 Page: 51 Scale: 1"=1000" Reduced 74% AVENUE 16 MYRTLE 17 E91-191 Handing Ecest enal loest = Eelty HUME N qarages Howard 136 Barton walker 138 RECEOVE APR 2:1992 NATIONAL REGISTER * COMMISSIONT * Cornon Walth to ke) * April 6, 1992 Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places National Park Service P.O.
Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed you will find the following resubmitted nomination: Walker Home for the Missionary Children, Newton MRA, 144 Hancock Street, Newton (Middlesex County), Massachusetts. The enclosed information addresses all the concerns raised in Beth Savage's National Register Return Sheet, dated February 16, 1990. If you have any questions regarding the enclosed information please do not hesitate to contact me at this office. Sincerely, Betay Fredlerg Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure cc: Gretchen Schuler, Newton Historical Commission Massachusetts Historical Commission, Judith B. McDonough, Executive Director, State Historic Preservation Officer 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470 Office of the Secretary of State, Michael J. Connolly, Secretary