BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING FIRST PERIOD SURVEY MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Photos 25:9 lean-to, 1ooking left 25:12 staircase 25:16 left-hand chamber showing 18th century graining on fireplace wall 25:15 right end wall, right-hand chamber 25:18 door, left-hand room 25:19 summer beam at chimney girt, right-hand room 25:22 front, left-hand corner of rear rOOm 25:27 Sketch Map: exterior ROTE /ASHINGTON ERANT CIRCLE POPLAR ST 216 INAN 2 4 1990 FORM NO. 26 Town Gloucester 009 Address 244 Washington Street Historic Name White-Ellery House Use: Present Unoccupied Original Residence DESCRIPTION Date 1710 Source Abbott Lowell Cummings Style First Period Architect_Unknown Exterior Wall Fabric Clapboards Outbuildings None Major Alterations (with dates)E11 to the left side, before ca.
1825 Condition Good Moved Yes Date 1947 Acreage Setting less than 1 acre Bus y residential street, adjacent to Route 128 rotary. 12g UTM REFERENCE USGS QUADRANGLE SCALE ROUTE 128 WASHNGTONST 19 / 362-540 / 4720-090 Gloucester 1:25,000 Recorded by Anne Grady Organization Boston University Date September 1985 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity: GLOUCESTER Form No: 26 Property Name: White-Ellery House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. SIGNIFICANCE The White Ellery House has integrity of design, materials, workmanship and feeling. It embodies distinctive characteristics of form and construction in its plank frame and many suriviving First Period and transitional features and, therefore, meets Criterion C. Built in 1710 by the Rev.
John White, an influential minister, the house exhibits a certain elegance and refinement commensurate with the owner's position in the community: the framed overhang, the very elaborate chamfering, particularly of the first floor frame (it is the only example in the survey where all of the horizontal beams, not just the summer beams, are decorated with the costly quarter round chamfer), and the size of the structure with its integral lean-to. rare survival of three kinds of painted decoration adds significantly to our limited knowledge of less permanent forms of enbellishment of First Period houses, while the incorporation of Renaissance-inspired features places the house among the earliest examples of transitional architecture in the study area, comparable in significance to the Parson Barnard House.
The somewhat tentative use of Renaissance forms illustrates their newness to the carpenters who built the The elaborately chamfered first frame is combined with a plaster ceiling dropped to hide the joists; the staircase with turned balusters, newel posts and drops is plainly sheathed entry; and the paneled doors have some of the feather edges on record at 3 inches. The building is an example of the development of the restoration/- preservation movement in the post World War II period. The sort of careful stabilizing and preserving of the house in which archaeologi- cal evidence was purposely retained at the expense of a cosmetic restoration is a recent development. The house ranks with SPNEA'S Gedney House in Salem as an important study tool. EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION The White Ellery House is a five bay wide, 2 1/2 story plank frame structure with central chimney and integral lean-to.
There is a framed overhang on the facade and hewn overhangs on the ends under the gable. Built in 1710 by the Rev. John White, the house received only one enlargement over the years: the lean-to was extended to the left rear to form a small shed. The building was moved from a nearby site in 1947 to make way for a traffic rotary on Rte. 128. The Cape Ann Scientific, Literary, and Historical Association carried out a "non-cosmetic" above-ground restoration under the direction of Mansfield Brooks in which much archeological evidence was left intact. The association operated the site as a historic house museum for a few years. Now the White Ellery House is boarded up, awaiting a decision about its future use.
The simple clapboarded exterior was -1 - Staple to Inventory form at botton INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Canmmity : GLOUCESTER Form No: 26 Property Name: White-Ellery House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. renewed at the time of the restoration. Windows were returned to their original locations. Drops at the overhang, for which there was some documentary and physical evidence, were not restored, however. The single chimney is at the center of the ridge. MAJOR FIRST PERIOD FEATURES Many First Period and transitional features are exposed throughout the house. During the restoration of 1947, later finishes were removed, revealing framing of oak and pine, early plaster, areas of decorative painting, and portions of the plank walls.
In the downstairs rooms, all of the horizontal framing members have wel1-crafted guarter round chamfers, flat collars and stops composed of two concave sections. Summer beams are longitudinal and 12 inches chimney girts have the additional refinement of collars stops on either side of the summer beam. Posts and exposed sills have inch wide flat chamfers and taper stops. In both downstairs rooms there is a heavy paint line half-way up the summer beam. joists (spaced 21-22" on centres), and ceiling boards above the paint line are absolutely clean, making it highly likely that the ceiling was plastered below the joists from the beginning. Doors between the downstairs rooms and the lobby, although part of the original construction, are very early examples of the second period style raised-field paneled doors.
In these two-panel doors, the room sides have raised panels with three inch wide feather edges, while the lobby sides have flat panels. On both sides, a broad bolection moulding is applied at the edges of the panels. Like these doors, the staircase is original and exhibits early Second Period style features: squat turned balusters, turned newel posts with ball finials and drops, a hand rail moulded on just one side and a broad cyma moulding on the closed stringer. The balustrade continues up to the first run of the attic stairs; the second run is enclosed with plain sheathing. In the chambers, the summer tie beams are finished with quarter-round chamfers, narrower than those on the downstairs beams, and lamb's tongue stops. Fireplace walls in both chambers have original plain, vertical board sheathing on either side of the fireplace.
braces are exposed on the outer walls of the chambers consistent with the plank frame construction of the house. Several of the rear braces have been removed to allow access to the lean-to garrett. Between each chamber and the stair hall, there are vertical doors. On the chamber side of the door to the south chamber, bolec- tion moldings have been applied to suggest a paneled door. chamber side of the door to the north chamber, the illusion was carried still farther by the application of molded boards to 1ook 1ike the actual stiles and rails. Staple to Inventory form at bottom -2- INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Commumity: Form No: MASSACHUSETTS HISTORI CAL COMMISSION GLOUCESTER 26 Office of the Secretary, Boston Property Name: White-Ellery Hous Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
Several other refinements of finish suggest that the north chamber was the better chamber: While the end and chimney girts are finished with flat chamfers and taper stops, the front and rear plates are covered top to bottom with a board molded along the lower edge with a delicate cyma molding. In the north chamber, the ceiling was, like the downstairs ceilings, plastered from the beginning. In the south chamber, the ceiling was exposed and white washed slightly chamfered. Here, there are no cover boards on the plates. Plates, girts and posts have flat chamfers and taper stops. Although the chimney was greatly rebuilt at the time of the restoration in 1947, an attempt was made to rebuild along earlier lines. An unusual feature of the chimney is the small fireplace in the lean-to attic.
Original clay plaster with hair and eel grass and a skim coat of lime plaster is preserved im many areas of the house including in the right-hand, south room (on the rear wall, south east the front wall, south west corner); in the left-hand, north room - (fireplace wall and outer wall); throughout the north chamber; in the northeast corner of the south chamber; in the northwest and southwest corners of the lean-to; and in the lean-to attic. In the lean-to are three distinct areas of different decorative painting. The ends of the lean-to were once separated off into small rooms. Each of the three rooms of the lean-to had a different style of decoration. In the room at the south end of the lean-to, black sponge daubs were applied to plastered walls, the white washed ceiling and the joists.
In the center room, black commas were painted on white washed surfaces and survive now primarily on joists. In what was originally the north room of the lean-to, there is a small area painted charcoal grey and daubed with white spots. In the north wall of the lean-to, there may be an original window opening, a small, nearly square opening, now covered with solid board shutter. The door from the lean-to to the south room is another example in which stiles and rails are applied to a vertical board door to suggest paneling. In the lean-to garret there is a small fireplace. The cantilevered tie beams of the integral lean-to framing are readily visible in the unfinished garret. Also, the ends of the plank partition between lean-to and main house are visible above the door to left hand chamber. They show the characteristic ripping of the last few inches of a sawmill-sawn board.
The attic shows a purlin roof. There are lapped collar beams on the intermediate rafters. The left end gable retains vertical planks, while the right gable end has recent horizontal boarding. Staple to Inventory form at bottom -3_ INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Conmuni ty : GLOUCESTER Form No: 26 Property Name: White-Ellery Hous Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. LATER SIGNIFICANT FEATURES The entire fireplace wall in the north chamber, including the original sheathing on either side and the later vertical feather edged sheathing over the fireplace, on it. There is also 18th c. grain soratn parinteng on the eu has 18th century grain painting painting on the reverse of this sheathing in the upper lobby. REFERENCES Chamberlain, Narcissa G.
"History in Houses: The White Ellery House at Gloucester, Massachusetts." Antiques , 78 (1960), 570-573. Cummings, Abbott, Lowell. The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725, 1979, pp. 86-90. Cummings, Abbott, Lowell - Notes on examination of the White Ellery House. Sept. 9, 1957. In posession of the Cape Ann Scientific, Literary and Historical Society. Cummings, Abbott, Lowell. - Massachusetts and its First Period Houses, pp. 142-143; 192. Little, Nina Fletcher. "The Old White Ellery House." in Old-Time New England, January, 1947. -4- Staple to Inventory form at bottom (NPS Form 10800 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 Nat1onal Register 72. Putnam, James, Jr., House antered in the Nat1onal Register Date/Signature AeluusByu 3/9/90 73. Ross Tavern BedustenitSom Sorion Attest HReeper AeluneBgun 319/50 Attest Jo keopor BetAX Sauzje 3/9/90 74. Sawyer House Entered in the Mational Register IKeeperAelouByen 3/2/40 Attest 75. Smith House Entered 1n the Hatlonal Register VReeper _ AeluaByu 3/9/90 Attest 76. smith, Hazaddah, House Batorad IReelatos /Keeper AulousByu 3/9/94 Attest 77. Thorndike, Capt. John, Hontfred 1n the CReeper AllresByan 3/540 National Register Attest Entered in the 78. Titcomb, Benaiah, House Natlonal Register /Keeper Allußjur 3/9/90 Attest 79. Tufts, Rev.
John, House Entered in the National Register Keeper C Xulousbyeu2 3/9/90 Attest 80. White--Ellery House Entered in the National Register / Keeper_ Almebyer 3/9/90 Attest UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY white--Ellery House NAME: MULTIPLE First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Essex DATE RECEIVED: 1/24/90 DATE OF 16TH DAY: 2/23/90 DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000216 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: COMMENI WAIVER: N YACCEPT RETURN ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: REJECT 3/9/260A8 Entered in the Hationai Registes RECOM.
/CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SIR 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 photographs Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone _presentation Signed Date Gloucester, MA White-illery thuse 244 kaskghn Stree lean-to, lookeny left 1985 Goucestir, 1A White.
Ellery touse 244 haskritmn Sree sturcase 1985 Ist Porad Buleliys of E. Ma., TR Glaucesten, MA white-Ellery thouse 244 kuslingtin stree ryle end wall 1985 Ist Peric/ Buldings of t. Mc., TR Gloucesten. MA White-Ellery thouse ay4 laskigghn Street eft-hand ch 1985 Ist Percil Duldinso/ E. Ma, TR Whits. Ellery touse 244 waslengtn Sreu door, Left-hand rom 1985 Ist Porcd Buleligs dE.Ma, TR Gloucester, Th whits. Ellery touse 244 weaglenghn Stree summer bean at c 1985 Ist Percl Buldings Y E. Ma, TR Gbucester, MA White-Ellery Hhuse 244 Waslenghn Sree front, left hand carr rearrum 1985 Is Pocó linidinsa Ence,T2 cese 244 Washington Sh Mloucester,' Exterior 1985 Iot Porid Bullagso 5. Mr, TR 25 Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000281 NPS Form 10-900 (Rev.
10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 90000216 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet First Period Buildings of E. Massachusetts TRA White-Ellery House, Gloucester (Essex), MA Section number 2009 supplemental information Page Re-evaluation of construction date due to dendrochronology The results of dendrochronology testing of the White-Ellery House indicate that the house was framed no earlier than 1710, and that the frame was probably prepared during the winter-spring of 1709-1710. Testing of the barn timbers indicates that the structure was built in late 1739 or in 1740. William Flynt, Architectural Conservator at Historic Deerflield analyzed the samples, which he collected on August 29, 2007. In the house, eleven samples were collected from studs, girts, planks, and posts.
In the barn, six samples were collected from tie beams and posts. The samples were of white oak, hemlock, and white pine. While most of the samples from the house correlate with a ca. 1710 date of construction, one from the kitchen fireplace mantletree indicated a felling date of 1742, suggesting modifications to the firebox around that time. As an aside, the report noted that the extraordinary number of rings in the mantletree sample indicated that the tree from which it came was about 400 years old. The full results of the analysis are presented in: Flynt, William A. "A Dendrochronological Study of Select Timbers from the White-Ellery House and Barn, Gloucester, MA." Historic Deerfield, Inc., Deerfield MA. September. 2007. The report is on file at the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
A note on dendrochronology dating In recent years tree-ring chronologies have been developed for eastern Massachusetts and adjacent regions, and a number of buildings or parts of buildings have been evaluated and given new construction dates due to tree-ring dating, or dendrochronology. The principle behind tree- ring dating is a simple one: the seasonal variations in climate produce variations in growth which are reflected in the varying width of the annual rings of the tree. The rings in timbers from historical houses are compared with previously dated ring sequences from old-growth trees and from timber from structures with well-established dates to allow precise dates to be ascribed to each ring. Computer comparisons quantify how good the match is between the two. A dendrochronologist then analyzes the results and establishes the date the tree was felled.
Some caution must be used in interpreting these dates to determine the construction date of a building. Sometimes timbers from the same construction phase of the same building have been felled one, two or more years apart. However, it was common practice to build timber-framed structures with green or unseasoned timber, and it is likely that construction was completed within twelve or eighteen months from the felling date.
(end) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION PROPERTY NAME: White--Ellery House MULTIPLE NAME : First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Essex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 4/28/11 DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: 6/13/11 REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000216 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N OTHER : N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: N COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS : Additional Documentation Approved REVIEWER DISCIPLINE Pbiet TELEPHONE - DATE 6.13:4 DOCUMENTATION see attached comments J/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, the nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.
CASE PETIO VER TIBEATATD OTETE The Commonwealth of Massachusetts April 19,2011 William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission Mr. J. Paul Loether National Park Service National Register of Historic Places 1201Eye Street NW, 8" floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Mr. Loether: Enclosed please find supplementary information for 34 properties previously listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reflecting recent scholarship regarding their dates of construction, based upon dendrochronological techniques.
These properties include: Boston (Suffolk County): James Blake House (NRIND, 5/1/74) Pierce House (NRIND, 4/26/74) Cambridge (Middlesex County): Cooper-Frost-Austin House (NRIND 9/22/72) Dedham (Norfolk County): Fairbanks House (NRIND, NHL, 10/15/66) Deerfield (Franklin County): All properties are located within the Old Deerfield Village HD (NRDIS, NHL 10/15/66) Allen House (MHC #20) John Ashley House (MHC #31) Eldad Bardwell House (MHC #23) Bull-Williams House (MHC #47) Childs House (MHC #53) Frary House (MHC #13) Eliezer Hawks House (MHC #58) Hinsdell-Williams House (MHC #24) Jonathan Hoit House (MHC #9) RECEIVED 2280 APR 28 2011 NAT.
REGISTER CT HISTORIC PLACES HATIONAL PARK SERVICE 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc Little Brown House (MHC #79) Moors House (MHC #39) Nims House (MHC #12) Russell House (MHC #49) Saxton House (MHC #48) Severance House (MHC #19) John Sheldon - Hawks House (MHC #32) Stebbins House (MHC # 36) John Williams House (MHC # 50) Essex (Essex County): Cogswell's Grant (NRIND 4/19/90) Gloucester (Essex County): White-Ellery House (NRIND, NRTRA 3/9/90) [First Period Buildings of Eastern MA, TRA] Ipswich (Essex County): Paine-Dodge House (NRIND, NRTRA, 3/9/90 First Period Buildings of Eastern MA, TRA Merchant-Choate House (NRDIS, NRMRA, 9/17/80) [High Street HD] Lexington (Middlesex County): Hancock - Clarke House (NRIND.
NHL, 7/17/71) Millville (Worcester County): Chestnut Hill Meeting House (NRIND 11/13/84) Newbury (Essex County): Tristram Coffin House (NRIND, NRDIS, 5/24/76) [Newbury HD] Salem (Essex County): Eleazer Gedney House (NRDIS, 10/1/74) [Gedney and Cox Houses HD] Pickering House (NRDIS 8/28/73) [Chestnut Street HD] Sandwich (Barnstable County): Wing Fort House (NRIND 6/3/76) Winthrop (Suffolk County): Deane Winthrop House (NRIND, NRTRA 3/9/90) [First Period Buildings of Eastern MA, TRA] Please add the enclosed continuation sheets to the existing National Register nomination files. Sincerely, Betay tuedkey Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosures