BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING AAVI ALAIUU VUKYEI JAN & 4 1900 2-08 FORM NO. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 19 PHOTOGRAPHS : Town Essex 58:01 front and right facades Address 189 Johin Wise Avenue 58:00 rear and right facades Historic Name Benaiah Titcomb House 58:10 58:16 'longitudinal summer beam into chim- girt in left first-floor 100m longitudinal summer beam into chim- girt in right first-floor room Use: Present residence 58:11 staircase in vestibule entryway Original DESCRIPTION Iesidence 58:13 staircase in vestibule entryway'. Date shortly after 1700 58:22 bladed scarf joint in upper hallway Source Abbott Lowell Cummings 58:20 front-end corner post, end tie, front Style First Period plate, summer tie, and joists of left chiamber Sketch Map: ! Architectunknown Exterior Wall Fabric_clapboards Outbuildings shed/garage - 20th c..
GUEST HOUSE GATE HOUSE) AVENUE FIRST PERIOD HOUSE DORMER WISE 1980s guest house - 20th c. attabhed by hyphen Major Alterations (with dates) 1917: 1ar rear dormer designed by N. M. Isham 20thc.guest house attached to house .- late 1980s Condition good N DOMN -- - dismantled in Newburvport - 191 Moved yes re-erected in Essex - 191 Acreage 8.8 acres Setting. amid open fields and wooded areas; a rural setting though not authentic to this urban house TM REFERENCE IGS QUADRANGLE ALE- Z E N 19 / 352-700 / 4723-450 Ipswich 1:23,000 Recorded by Organization James Kyprianos Boston Universitv Date December 1985 / 1989 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Cammumity: ESSEX Form No: 19 Property Name: Beniah Titcomb House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
SIGNIFICANCE The Benaiah Titcomb House retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, association, and feeling in its First-Period frame which embodies distinctive characteristics of form and construction under criterion C. Its central chimney, double-cell plan evolving into a leanto form is very typical for many First-Period Houses in Massachu- setts. This house is particularly significant for its original, First-Period staircase possibly the finest of a surviving few, the surviving evidence for the exterior plaster cove cornice, the com- pletely intact and exposed interior frame from both its first and second phase, and the hewn overhangs which were continued along the sides when the second-phase leanto was added. EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION The Benaiah Titcomb House is a five-bay, two-and-a-half story, central chimney, clapboarded structure.
It was originally one bay deep with a double-cell, center chimney plan, and had a full leanto added by the end of the First Period. The principal rafters of the rear leanto were abutted directly to the ridge purlin in order for the rear slope of the roof to maintain an even pitch. At the time of reconstrectede-erection tn embel Iisned configuration of flat the simple chimney was pilasters applied to each face above the roof. Two-inch hewn overhangs extend along the front and both sides of the second story and attic levels.
The lines of the overhangs are continued along the sides of the added On the main facade, the base of a plaster cove cornice con- of a wooden transition molding shaped in a cold reverse cyma curve with a rabbetted groove on its lower edge which receives the upper edge of the top course of clapboards and also the tenons of the The present wide casement windows are modern, but occupy approximately the original window openings, which were preserved despite the eighteenth century transition to On the rear slope of the roof, a large dormer with perpendicular gables at either end enlarges the leanto attic to near- 1y the full breath and wiåth of addition does not extend the ground floor. -Since this 1917 to the edge of the roof, the original slope of the leanto is uninterrupted. Above the large dormer are two very small dormers over each of the gables.
MAJOR FIRST PERIOD FEATURES Built sometime after 1700, the first phase of the Benaiah Titcomb House was originally double-cell in plan measuring 20' × 44' with a central chimney and two-and-a-half stories in height. The framing of the first floor room (16' x 19'6") to the left of the front entry is completely exposed. The posts have flat chamfers which might have -1- Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : ESSEX Form No: 19 Property Name: Beniah Titcomb House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ended with lamb's tongue stops as indicated by the rear corner post. four girts and the small post at the right of the fireplace sup- porting the chimney girt have continuously running wide guirk beads (1.25").
The longitudinal summer beam (11" X 11" x 16') is decorated with flat chamfers and lamb's tongue stops (which are now missing at the end wall side). The ceiling joists are 21" apart. Above the lintel of the reconstructed hearth is a large plaster cove rising up to the chimney girt. raised-field panelled chimney wall and door are possibly original and transitional to the Second-Period. Over the modern casement of the end wall is a cut into the girt indicating that it had previously received Second-Period sash. This is also substantiated by old photographs taken in Newburyport before the house was dismantled in 1911. The frame of the right first-floor room (17' x 19'6"), also entirely exposed, is decorated identically as its counterpart in the left room except for the longitudinal summer beam.
This beam is chamfered with wide quirk beads (1.25") which strangely terminate before reaching the girts with tiny, narrow lamb's tongues placed directly upon the arrises of the beam. The joists average 21.5" apart. The chimney wall has the same possibly original Second-Period treatment. .is a plaster cove again over the reconstructed fireplace and the same cut appears in the end girt. Old photographs show that this room's end wall originally faced Green Street in downtown Newburyport. (The house was formerly located at 4 Green Street in Newburyport.) Houses forced to be oriented perpendicularly to streets because of narrow urban lots upon which they were built, as was Benaiah Titcomb's, usually had their parlors look onto the street. could help explain the special though unusual treatment of the summer beam in a room which probably originally served as a parlor.
In the front entry vestibule is a First-Period staircase built as a solid unit of more open proportions than usually done at this time. It has three unusually wide winders and short stubby balusters with a molded handrail. Below the closed string staircase is a sheathed wall with applied moldings to create the visual effect of panels. Cut into this wall is a door which origtnally led to the cellar. The joists in the entry are late examples of tusk tenon joist joints. The upper hallway shows a bladed scarf plate, proving the structure was origi- nally of two-room plan. Both chambers have ties with flat chamfers and lamb's tongue stops and have joists at 23" on centers at the widest. Corner posts are flared. The roof is principal rafter and purlin construction, with surviving rear rafters showing beneath the addition of the leanto roof.
Collars are found only on the rafters on either side of the chimney. -2- Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : ESSEX Form No: 19 Property Name: Beniah Titcomb House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued belor. LATER SIGNIFICANT FEATURES The addition of the rear dormers, the chimney restoration and the exterior features of the building are important additions by the noted restoration and Colonial Revival architect, Norman M. Isham. It is unclear whether the raised paneled fireplace walls are original, alterations of the Second Period, or introduced by Isham. SETTING The house sits amid eight acres of open fields and wooded areas.
In 1917, when the house was re-erected on this site, it was oriented to the north in order to take advantage of the view of salt marshes and of Castle Hill, the Crane Estate, in Ipswich across the inlet. The southeastern corner of the structure faces John Wise Avenue, (Route 133 - originally called Northern Avenue), which has connected Ipswich A shed used as a garage, a stockade fence, and a covered gateway nearly hide all view of the house from the road. A non-contributing large guest house, built in the mid twentieth century was built very close the house at its northeastern corner, and has recently been attached The natural landscape of this property as well as the buildings on it, are well maintained. HISTORICAL INFORMATION son of immigrant William Titcomb (d. 1676), Benaiah Titcomb (1653-1729) married Sarah Brown (1653-1741), daughter of Richard Brown, Sr. (d.
1661), and granddaughter of immigrant dyer Edmund Greenleaf (1573-1671). A merchant, military officier, seacaptain, ship owner, Benaiah Titcomb was an active and aggressive entre- preneur of the second generation - a virtual archetype resident of Newbury's waterfront community. In 1695, Benaiah Titicomb purchased a half-acre of land at what is now the corner of Green and Merrimack Streets in Newburyport and built this house shortly after 1700. His son Edmund Titcomb (1682-1723), who was a turner and joiner, may have provided interior finish woodwork such as stair balusters and panel- ling. (1) In 1911, the city of Newburyport decided to build a Georgian Revival police station at 4 Green Street, the original location of this dwel- ling. "It was then that Ralph W.
Burnham, of Ipswich, bought the house from the city, took it down with the utmost care, and trans- ported it to Ipswich with the object of re-erecting the house there." In 1917, Langdon Warner, Esq., purchased the dismantled house from Burnham to use it as a summer residence on an estate in Essex and hired Norman M. tion to include additional ALETE space needed (the large rear dormer). (3) Isham was selected because he earlier had been asked by the city of - 3- Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORI CAL COMMISSION Essex Office of the Secretary, Boston Form No: 19 Property Name : Beniah Titcomo House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued belor.
Newburyport "to make careful measurements of the house" (4) before it slated for demolition, information which was in book he wrote on "Early American Houses." (5) FOOTNOTES 1. Peter Benes, Old Town and The Waterside, (Newburyport: Histo- rical Society of Old Newbury, 1986), p. 192. Old Time New England (Bulletin of the Society for the Perserva- tion of New England Antiquities), vol. III, no. 2, Boston: June, 1912), p.16. 3. Original linen restoration drawings of the Benaiah Titcomb House of Newburyport) by Norman M. Isham for Langdon Warner, Esq., Archives of The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquites; original blueprint copies in possession of Eric Jostrom, current owner of the Benaiah Titcomb House. 4. Old Time New England (Bulletin of the Society for the Perserva- tion of New England Antiquities), vol. II, no. 2, (Boston: August, 1911), p. 17. 5.
Norman Morrison Isham, Early American Houses: The Seventeenth Century, (The Walpole Society, 1928), p. 32 and fig. 28 on p. 34. REFERENCES Benes, Peter. Old-Town and the Waterside. Newburyport: Historical Society of Old Newbury, 1986. Grady, Anne Andrus. "The Architectural Museum: An Exhibition." Boston: Society for the Preservation of New England Anti- quities, 1981. Isham, Norman Morrison. Early American Houses and A Glossary of Colonial Architectural Terms. New York: Da Capo Press, 1967. (An unabridged replication of two works published originally by The Walpole Society in seperate volumes in 1928 and 1939 respectively). Old Time New England (The Bulletin of the Society of the Preserva- tion of New England Antiquities). Boston. Vol. II, no. 2, August, 1911, serial no. 4; Vol. III, no. 2, July, 1912, serial no. 7: Vol. IX, no. 1, November, 1918, serial no. 18.
-4- Staple to Inventory form at bottom (PSom 109000 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 1/24/40 Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR State Nomination/Type of Review 71. Putnam, Deacon Edward, Jr., House Entered in the Hat1onal Register 72. Putnam, James, Jr., House antered in the Natlonal Register 73. Ross Tavern Redussteritien Borsener Date/Signature fReoper AlluuBgu 3/9/90 Attest AReeper AeluuByu 3/9/96 Attest Ja Keoper BetloX. Sauzse 3/%/70 74. Sawyer House Entered in the National Register 75. Smith House Entered in the Hational Regtater IxeeperAelomBye 3/9/90 Attest VReeper_ Aelouaßyu 3/9/90 Attest 76. Smith, Hazadiah, House Entered 1nthe Hat1onal Regiater FReeper AiloresBgun 3/9/90 Attest 77.
Thorndike, Capt. John, Hpuffred 1n the CReeper_ AlresByun 3/9/90 National Register Attest Entered in the 78. Titcomb, Benaiah, House Natlonal Register (keeper Shlusßzun 3/9/90 Attest 79. Tufts, Rev. John, House Entered 1n the National Register KeeperSulvuaByc 3/9/90 Attest 80.
White--Ellery House Entered in the / Keeper_ National Register Aelauebgun 3/9/40 Attest NITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIO NATIONAL PARK SERVIC NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Titcomb, Benaiah, House NAME: NAMETPLE First Poriod Bulldings of Bastern Massachusetts IR STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Essex DATE RECEIVED: 1/24/90 DATE OF 16TH DAY: 2/23/90 DATE OF 4NH DA LIST: 2/00/90 3/10/90 DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000208 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: COMMENT WAIVER: N LACCEPT _RETURN ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: REJECT 3/2/92 DATE Batorod in 430.
Natlonai Begister RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see : attached SLR Y/N 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 OTHER COMMENTS _USGS maps .
photograpns Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone _presentation Signed Date R0: 89 ESSEX, MA Benalah Titeomb the 184 John luise Avenue reas+righfacades 1985 Ist Perid Bulllys d/ E. Ma, TR Benaiah Titcomb, 189 John Wise e Essex frant rrigh fucades 1985 Ist Perid Buldigs af E. Ma, bean 1985 Ist Perid BuldlinsdfiE. Ma., TR 1985 Sot Porcel Buldings of E. Ma., TR vestbule 1985 Ist Porcil Buldingso/ E, Me., MR 58:13 ESSEX, MA Benarah Titeumb Ho 184 John Wise Avesce congitudmal sammer chimnggot 1985 Ast Periad Buleliys a FE. Ma, TR ESSEX, 7A Beraiah Titeamb House 189 John lurse tuenne front-end corner past. e front platt Ete. 1985 Ist Peried Buldigs o E. Ma, TR ESSEX, TA Benaiah Titemb Khuse 189 Jehn Lurse Averce bladed scauf gount 1985 Ist Poicd Buldnysd E.
Ma., TR Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000281