Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: _ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 X State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested _ Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register Federal agency _ previously determined eligible by the National - Local government Register _ University _ designated a National Historic Landmark Other _recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: # Massachusetts Historical Commission _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Hagerty House Name of Property Norfolk County, MA County and State 10.
Geographical Data Acreage of Property 33,600 square feet (less than one acre) UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1. 19 Zone 351260 Easting 4679850 Northing 3. Zone Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing 4. Zone Easting _ See continuation sheet Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11. Form Prepared By David H. Wadsworth, Cohasset Historical Commission with Lisa Mausolf, NR Edit.
Consultant and name/title Betsy Friedberg, National Register Director, MHC organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date April 1997 street & number_220 Morrissey Boulevard _ telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state MA zip code_02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property. Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Dr.
Richard King Anderson street & number357 Atlantic Avenue _telephone (617) 383-6276 city or town_Cohasset state MA _ zip code_ 02025 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.). Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burdenfor this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form.
Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Section number -1 Page - 7. DESCRIPTION Constructed in 1938, the Hagerty House is an oceanfront International Style residence designed by Walter Gropius, in association with Marcel Breuer. The flat-roofed, three level building combines steel and wood frame construction.
Displaying a characteristic lack of ornamentation, the house is sheathed in vertical board siding which has always been painted white, contrasting with rubble stone taken from the site and steel columns and railings. Roughly L-shaped in plan, the house consists of a main longitudinal section extending in a north-south orientation and punctuated by large, floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows and bands of windows designed to maximize views of the Atlantic Ocean and partially suspended on lally columns to allow for the high tides. Projecting to the west is an additional three story box containing the main entry with a two car garage in the basement. Extending toward the ocean from the east end of the longitudinal section is a two story sun deck.
Cantilevered overhangs and stair treads, projecting decks, stone chimneys and the suspension of part of the house on lally columns lend drama to the box-like design. The house is setback approximately 250 feet from Atlantic Avenue and the view from the road is largely obscured by evergreen trees. The rear of the property is just twenty feet from the ocean. The property is in excellent condition and alterations to the structure have for the most part been limited to the replacement of deteriorated materials, accelerated by the oceanfront site. Facing the road, the west elevation of the house is punctuated by minimal and unbalanced fenestration. The projecting section to the north displays a wide, horizontal board, garage door. The adjacent front entrance is marked by a cantilevered overhang sheltering the single pane door.
A large single pane transom is located over the door with a single pane window rising the height of the door, to the right of the opening. The large single step in front of the door is constructed of rubble. To the left of the entryway and above, at the first floor level, is a narrow, vertical window located approximately at the center of this projecting section. The second floor level is punctuated by a ribbon window of three At the point where the two building volumes meet there is a rough cut stone chimney with terra cotta cap, extending slightly above the level of the flat roof. The longitudinal section to the south is open beneath the first floor level, suspended above a concrete terrace by lally columns. On the first floor level there is a large single pane window with a narrow vertical casement window located immediately adjacent to the chimney.
The second floor level is lit by a ribbon window of five sections. The remainder of the west facade is without window openings. The narrow south end of the building is devoid of windows. A mortared stone wall extends to the top of the first floor level, serving as a foundation for the second floor and the deck that extends beyond the house. An exterior stone chimney projects from the south wall, extending slightly above the roofline. On the ground floor patio level, the chimney accommodates a stone fireplace with a fireback and opening constructed of yellow brick. (continued) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Section number - Page - 2 The long east elevation of the house, facing the ocean, is characterized by an extensive use of glass. As has been described previously, the northern end of the house rests on a rubble foundation, while the southern end is open under the first floor and suspended on lally columns. Projecting from the south end of the house toward the ocean is a two story sun deck at the first and second floor levels. The upper deck consists of an open sun deck having a two tier pipe railing and an elevated pipe frame structure which appears to have been designed to accommodate an awning or canopy.
The wood roof deck covering of the second floor acts as the ceiling for the first floor deck below which features identical railings. The first floor deck was at one time enclosed by screens. The entire deck structure is supported by a stone wall and lally columns. An exterior staircase constructed of rounded, welded and galvanized steel pipes with cypress treads extends to the west from the first floor deck to the concrete patio below. A continuous series of full height single pane glass windows and a glass door punctuate the south section of the first floor, corresponding to the location of the living room over the open ground floor level. To the right there are two tri-part windows consisting of central fixed glass flanked by two casement sashes.
The second floor of this elevation has four large tri-part windows, unevenly spaced but corresponding to the placement of the first floor openings and the two second floor bathrooms. A glass door and adjacent plate glass window open onto the second floor sundeck. Rising from the flat roof are two shed roofed clerestory dormers lit by horizontal glass windows and providing light to the two bathrooms. The narrow north end of the house displays two levels of fenestration over a mortared stone basement level. The service entry is marked by a cantilevered roof like that on the main entry and shelters a single pane glass door with a small glass transom. The stairs are constructed of precast concrete slabs which cantilever from the stone wall. A tri-part window is located adjacent to the entry on the first floor while the second floor above is window less.
To the right on the first and second floors are longer tri-part windows, in perfect alignment. Alterations to Original Appearance Photographs of the property appearing in Architectural Forum in 1940 as well as several contemporary architectural books provide excellent coverage of exterior and interior features as well as plans. The most visible exterior alterations to the building relate to the replacement of windows. As described in an article published by John Hagerty in 1949, the harsh realities of the New England climate necessitated various changes to the house just ten years after its construction. By the end of the first year more than half of the original metal windows were no longer operable due to rust. After years of water damage all the original windows and flashings were removed in the late 1940s, replaced with double hung wooden sash.
At the same time, the sliding glass door which led from the porch to the living room was removed and replaced by a conventional glass and wooden door. The stone walls on the property were originally laid with a lime mortar which quickly washed out, loosening stones from the walls and the chimneys. The stonework was repointed with a salt resistant cement. The original specially designed exterior (continued) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 3 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Section number Page lighting fixtures also were unable to stand up to elements and were replaced with marine bronze ship lights at the same time.
In the 1960s, during the ownership of the Harkness family, the upper deck at the northwest corner of the house was enclosed for an additional bedroom. As originally designed, the house walls enclosed the deck, which was open to the sky. During the 1960s alterations, the long rectangular cut-out in the facade at this level, balancing the ribbon window on the second floor facade to the east, was filled with continuous windows. On the adjacent north elevation, the formerly blank wall on the second floor saw the addition of a single tri-part window. Severe winter storms in 1978 and 1992 caused considerable damage to the property and most of the windows on the building were replaced again in 1992. In general, the alterations to the windows have followed as closely as possible the original design and use of space.
On the facade (west elevation), the original ribbon windows on the second floor were replaced by individual sashes fitting the same space. Whereas the original windows were a mixture of fixed pane and casement openings on the ends, the replacements are individual hinged windows, closely spaced. The living room picture windows facing the ocean originally consisted of floor-to-ceiling glass panes interspersed with two sets two tier casement windows. The wall now consists of plate glass units, lacking casement companions, but occupying the same basic area. The remaining windows on the elevation contain tri-part windows with central plate glass flanked by casements, which appear to be virtually identical to those originally on the structure. The long casement window adjacent to the front entry has recently been replaced and is now somewhat longer than the original unit.
The window adjacent to the service entrance was expanded from a single casement to the present tripart unit. Window and door openings punctuating the stone basement level have been stoned in. Doors to the house which originally appear to have been solid wood or metal, have been replaced with doors with large single panes of glass. Additional alterations to the property completed in 1992 include the replacement of the original vertical board siding with new wooden siding, the replacement of the exterior staircase leading to the deck and the lally columns supporting the upper level. The freestanding stone wall to the northeast of the house was toppled in the storm and was rebuilt using the same stones.
In all cases materials have only been replaced when necessitated by deterioration and construction has been carefully guided to preserve the structure's integrity of design and replicate detailing whenever possible. Interior Description On the inside of the structure, International Style ideals are expressed in the simplicity of detailing and the open floor plan. The main staircase consists of simple oak treads which cantilever out from sidewalls sheathed in natural vertical board sheathing and are supported on the other side by a vertically continuous grill-like railing truss. Originally, a fresco of St. Francis of Assissi, painted by Alfonso Ossorio, was originally located in the stairwell.
John Hagerty became acquainted with the artist when (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Section number Page - Hagerty was a student at the Harvard School of Design. Ossorio's mural was painted over by subsequent owners and there is no longer any trace of the painting. The 15 x 40 foot living room is dominated by a stone wall and fireplace on the south wall. Photographs indicate that a freestanding cabinet was originally mounted onto the north wall although this is no longer extant. To the north of the living room, the adjacent galley style kitchen has recently been expanded and modernized.
The walls which originally separated the pantry, kitchen and maid's room (to the south) have been removed, resulting in a larger kitchen and eat-in area. The original sliding walls, designed to close the entries to the study and first floor bathroom, are still operational. A built-in wood and chrome pipe bookshelf designed by Marcel Breuer, lines the southern wall of the study. Other original furnishings include several bent cane and chrome Breuer chairs. The floors are primarily sheathed in oak flooring. Upstairs, the bedrooms were originally arranged in a uniform line of five cubicles measuring roughly 9 x 12 feet, interrupted by two bathrooms and all opening onto a main corridor running the length of the longitudinal section of the house. The present owner has removed the partition between the southernmost two bedrooms, creating a larger bedroom, opening onto the second floor deck.
At the northwest corner of the house, the former deck was enclosed in the 1960s, creating an additional bedroom. All of the bedrooms are painted an identical off-white now although originally each one had one vividly colored western wall (red, blue, yellow or green) against which the bed was set, with the remaining three walls painted white. The hollow core doors feature original chrome and porcelain door knobs and are capped by metal louver transoms. Built-in cabinets are located in the closets, designed to obviate the need for dressers in the rooms and reducing the furnishings in each room to a bed and a desk. The two white-tiled, second story bathrooms are lit by individual upper clerestory windows with a metal radiator mounted on the east wall, above the tub/shower. The bathroom fixtures appear basically unchanged from their original appearance.
The basement level of the house features rough stone walls and a concrete floor and originally was subdivided into spaces for a garage, laundry, dressing room/bathroom and furnace room. The walls separating the garage and laundry and the laundry and dressing room have been removed to provide larger and more easily-heated spaces. Site Description The property consists of a 33,600 square feet shoreland lot located between Atlantic Avenue and the ocean on a rounded upland promontory known as Kimball's Point. The topography of the land slopes gently northeast from a high point at Atlantic Avenue to the northern boundary at the ocean's edge. The house is at a lower altitude than the street and is located near the low end of the property.
Granite ledges form much of the shoreline in the vicinity but an indentation in the line of ledges forms a small beach between the Hagerty House and the water's edge. (continued) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page - Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts The house is setback about 250 feet from Atlantic Avenue and is largely obscured from the street by low evergreen trees. A gravel driveway extends to the house, terminating at a two car garage beneath the northern section of the house. The area between the street and the house consists of a sloping lawn area with an uneven surface marked by low outcrops of granite.
Extending from the southwest corner of the front projecting section of the house is a rubble wall, original to the house and approximately seven feet high. The wall encloses a square shaped front garden area, terminating at the southwest corner of the longitudinal section. Plantings within the front garden include rosa rugosas, hydrangea and forsythia as well as a small grassy area. The lower terrace wall within the garden area appears from original photographs to be a later addition. Beyond the concrete patio, the land slopes downward toward the ocean, becoming a small stony beach behind the house. Constructed just twenty feet from the ocean, the rear elevation of the house is unusually low in altitude for a beachfront property and in comparison with the adjacent beachfront properties and is at the level of the gently sloping small beach.
During severe ocean storms the ocean floods into the concrete terrace beneath the longitudinal section of the house which is supported by piers. The yard and beach are separated by a low concrete sea wall running approximately parallel to the water's edge. Photographs taken of the house just after construction indicate that this was originally a mortared stone wall although a photograph appearing in a 1940 publication indicates that by this time the stone wall had already been replaced by the present concrete wall. A narrow freestanding stone wall approximately seven feet high is located to the north of the house, serving as a shield protecting the service entry from wind and seaspray. Toppled by the 1992 storm, this stone wall has been rebuilt and buttressed.
Today, just as when the house was built, a wooden stockade fence separates the house from its northwest adjacent neighbor at 365 Atlantic Avenue. Scrub growth and rocks mark the southern boundary of the property. Archaeological Description Although no prehistoric sites have been recorded on the nominated property, it is possible that sites are present. Three sites have been recorded in the general area (within one mile) and additional sites are expected because of the property's favorable locational criteria for prehistoric settlement/subsistence activities. The house occupies high ground on a seacoast lot. Most of the shoreline is granite ledge with nearby beach areas. Land surfaces range from nearly level to excessively sloped. Soils are shallow but excessively drained containing exposed bedrock.
Prehistoric sites in the area may be limited to smaller type sites associated with resource extraction activities which probably focus on fishing and marine gathering activities. Given the above information, the potential for prehistoric resources in the area is high, however, because of the small lot size (less than 1 acre), construction of the existing house and two earlier hotels, one (continued) OMB Approval No. 1021-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - 7, 8 Page - 6,1 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts of which may also have been on this lot, the potential for significant prehistoric survivals on the property is at best moderate.
Historic period landuse of this area has undoubtedly impacted any prehistoric resources which may have been present. There is a high potential for historic archacological resources on the property. Two mid to late 19th century shoreside hotels, both known as the Pleasant Beach House, were located in the Kimballs Point area. The earlier hotel was located near the northwest edge of the point and was destroyed by fire in 1881. The second hotel was located to the east of the first near the site of the Gropius House and was also damaged by fire in 1909 and later demolished. Structural remains from the second hotel may survive on the nominated property. The remains of outbuildings or other related facilities associated with both hotels many also survive near the house. Occupational related features (trash areas, privies, wells) related to both hotels may also be present in the area. (end) 8.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Constructed in 1938, the Josephine Hagerty House is an excellent example of International Style architecture, designed by architect Walter Gropius, in association with Marcel Breuer. The structure is one of the first four dwellings designed by Gropius and Breuer, following their arrival in the United States in 1937, introducing the Bauhaus/International Style to America. The house which Gropius designed for Josephine Hagerty in 1938 is the first of Gropius' International Style houses built outside of the town of Lincoln and was the first in the United States he designed working on a commission. It is the second Gropius-designed house constructed in this country, only his own house in Lincoln is earlier. In keeping with the International Style, the Hagerty House is characterized by a plain geometric form and simplicity of detail.
Unnecessary detail and adornments are omitted and functionality and views of the coastline are stressed. With its use of native stone for foundations and walls and wood-sheathed exterior, the Hagerty House is also a unique adaptation of the International Style to the rockbound coast of New England. The Hagerty House meets National Register Criterion C in the area of Architecture, on the local level. In 1937 Walter Gropius came to the United States to accept a position teaching at Harvard's School of Design. It was there that John Hagerty, son of Josephine Hagerty, took courses taught by the architect. John Hagerty subsequently suggested having Gropius design his mother's new summer home in Cohasset. Josephine Hagerty purchased the former Kincaide property in Cohasset for the purpose of building the house, and the building site was approved by the architect himself.
During the construction of the house John Hagerty served as clerk-of-the-works, dealing with the architect. The Hagerty House took a year to complete. There were numerous delays during the work, apparently due to differences of opinion between the architect, the clerk-of-the-works (John Hagerty) and the contractors doing the work (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Section number . Page - Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts (their identities are not known). The house first appears in Cohasset Assessors Tax Commitment books in 1939 and in Architectural Forum in 1940.
Following the completion of the new house, Josephine, her three adult sons and a maid occupied the house for a few summers until their house on West Cedar Street in Boston's Beacon Hill was rented and the Gropius-designed house became a year-round home for the family. During the late 19th and early 20th century numerous wealthy Boston families built large summer houses along Cohasset's shoreline roads. Although the heyday of Cohasset's summer colony had been partially curtailed by World War I and the Great Depression, houses of substance were still being built when the Hagertys acquired this building site. The introduction of such a radical departure from Cohasset's more traditional New England architecture apparently met with little acclaim from local residents.
It is said that the owners of the neighboring house to the west sold their property shortly after the Hagerty house was completed. John Hagerty wrote that friends said that the house "looked like the ladies' wing at Alcatraz or a fruit crate that had washed up on the beach. But it was our pride and joy and we loved it dearly." In its early days, the house was a popular destination point for field trips by students from the Harvard School of Design and the Rhode Island School of Design. Despite all good intentions, however, living in the house initially proved difficult and costly. In an article appearing in Interior Design and Decoration in August 1949, John Hagerty details the original design intent of the house as well as the trials and tribulations his family experienced living in a "functional" house which was not well-suited for the New England climate.
He writes: "The house was to be focused like a camera toward the magnificent expanse of ocean with its granite ledges. Blank walls would cut out the view of neighboring houses, and the East side, facing the sea, was to be all windows...the main body of the house would be elevated to allow for the high tides that rolled up in the Autumn. It would stand on Lally columns, and substantial stone walls, all planned to offer little resistance to a head-on attack of the sea." But when the ribbon window frames were installed, "I carried over a chair and put it in what eventually would be the study. I discovered, to my great surprise, that when I sat down the window sills were so high from the floor that all the view was completely obliterated.
The height of the kitchen sink determined the height of the windows on the first floor, not only in the kitchen and pantry, but in the study, maid's room, bathroom and the only south window of the living room. The view was nonchalantly sacrificed to design so that the band of windows would run around the house in a rigid ribbon, all the same height from the floor...This was my first run-in with "functionalism"." Hagerty writes that "the architect" (Walter Gropius) was "joined by an associate" (Marcel Breuer) who was captivated by the new materials available in America, such as the terra cotta pipe he wanted to use for chimneys and the cylindrical beauty of pipes and radiators which he strung by the yard in front of the large living room windows that faced the sea.
Hagerty's loudest criticisms were directed at the architects' inability to accommodate the wind and weather-related problems inherent in the site. In short, "the beautifully proportioned arrangement of (continued) OMB Approval No. 1021-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _ 8 Page Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts cubes" leaked like a sieve and the family lived in mortal terror of rains and winter storms. By the end of the first year more than half of the large, metal windows had rusted shut. Because Gropius insisted that the flashings over the window frames be cut back so they wouldn't show, water leaked into the house.
"Rain ran through the partitions, and flowed from the light fixtures in the ceilings and the outlets in the walls", short-circuiting the electrical system and ruining plaster throughout the house. As a result of an incorrect specification for the mortar used on the stonework, the lime mortar dissolved, leaving pyramids of white powder on the living room and loosening stones on the walls and chimneys. "Rivulets of a nasty brown color trickled from the rusting metal frames and ran their irregular course over the white siding". Yet, because "the house was the first of its kind" and a landmark for sightseers, students and architects, the family continued to maintain the house, as designed, each spring calling in painters and plasterers to repair the previous season's damages. After living in the house for a decade, the family finally set about correcting as many of the problems as possible.
"At one third the original cost of the house, we tore out all the flashings and the windows, replacing those with old fashioned, double hung wooden ones". Stone walls were repointed with a salt resistant cement. Hagerty concluded his criticism noting that "some critics have shuddered at the change, and I must confess we have lost the wiry, electric, about-to-take-off charm that our European beauty had. However, in her place, we have a weather-proof, ship-shape naturalized American home." Gropius reportedly never spoke to the Hagerty family again. Despite changes to the house necessitated by the effects of its coastal location, the Hagerty House remains an excellent example of International Style architecture. Subsequent changes to the windows, although not replicating the original metal units, have restored much of the original design intent and the house's airy quality.
The house exhibits the three major distinguishing aesthetic principles of the International style: a sense of volume as opposed to solidity; regularity as opposed to symmetry; and detail achieved through intrinsic elegance of materials, technical perfection, and fine proportions as opposed to applied ornament (Hitchcock and Johnson: 13). The structure embodies key elements of the International Style including a lack of ornamentation and flat roof; ribbon windows and floor-to-ceiling plate glass windows contrast with large, blank expanses of exterior wall. The non-supporting nature of the walls, made possible by the structural steel skeleton, are highlighted by cantilevered projections and decks. The beauty of industrial design is highlighted by the extensive use of piping for railings, the constructive simplicity of the interior stairwell and built-in bookcases.
The house is a showcase for mass produced yet aesthetically pleasing hardware and an equal interest in the arts, epitomized by the inclusion of the Ossorio mural. In its use of native stone for foundations and walls, the Hagerty House is also a unique adaptation of the International Style to the rockbound coast of New England. The desired smooth wall surface is achieved through the use of vertical wood sheathing, more in keeping with New England traditions than themore prevalent stuccoed surfaces initially favored by International Style designers. There is an emphasis on openness to the outdoors and an integration with the landscape through decks, terraces and gardens. Taken together with the three houses they designed in Lincoln in (continued) OMB Approval No.
1021-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (3-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - 8 Page 4 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts 1938 and 1939, the Hagerty House helps define Gropius and Breuer's regional expression of the International Style once they arrived in America and serve as prototypes for subsequent American residential designs. Josephine Curry Hagerty (1878-1950) was a graduate of Radcliffe College. Her husband, John, had been associated with Harvard School of Design and was a Harvard graduate. Like her deceased husband, Josephine Hagerty enjoyed an appreciation of nature and of art and was a collector of paintings. The choice of Gropius as architect and the modernist painter Ossorio to paint the stairway mural is indicative of her interest in "avant garde" art.
Josephine continued to live in the house until her death in 1950. Josephine and John Hagerty were the parents of three sons, John, Robert and Frances Willard. John Hagerty, executor of Josephine's estate, sold the property to Vincent and Margaret Roberts in 1951. He subsequently died in 1958. Frances Willard Hagerty married Mary Frances Connolly in the 1940s and when their sons were toddlers, moved out of the Gropius House and into the larger and more conventional adjacent house, also owned by Josephine Hagerty, who conveyed it in that year to Francis and Mary Frances. Francis died in 1977; his wife continues to live at 355 Atlantic Avenue. A long-time and well-known Cohasset resident, Francis Hagerty was the owner of the Hagerty Company, manufacturers of bonded plywood rowing shells before World War II and later, racing sloops.
Born in Berlin, Germany in 1883, Walter Gropius was an internationally known architect by the time he joined Harvard's faculty in 1937. After studying architecture in Germany, Gropius initially worked in the office of Peter Behrens from 1907 to 1910. Maintaining a private practice for several years, Gropius became well known for his Fagus Factory at Alfeld (1911). Revolutionary for its time, the Factory incorporated various elements that were to eventually define the International Style, including the use of glass curtain walls, unrelieved cubic blocks and corners which were free of visible supports. During World War I, Gropius served as an officer in the German army.
In 1919, Gropius was responsible for merging the state's academies of art and applied art at Weimar into a single institution known as the "Bauhaus" (House of Building) and served as director from 1919-1925 at Weimar and from 1925-1928 at Dessau. During Gropius' tenure, the emphasis of Bauhaus training shifted from craft to industrial design. Gropius' design for the new school building at Dessau (1925) is a landmark in the fusion of architecture and industrial design, epitomizing the creation of a purely functional structure, without unnecessary adornment or elaboration. With himself and the Bauhaus Institute under increasing attack from the Nazi regime in Germany for their non-conformist ideas, Gropius left Germany for England in 1928. He practiced with architect Maxwell Fry after 1934 but designed little of distinction before he left England to teach at Harvard in 1937.
Gropius and his Bauhaus colleague Marcel Breuer accepted teaching positions at Harvard at the invitation of Dean Joseph Hudnut and almost immediately began to revolutionize architecture in this country as chief pioneers of the International Style. Gropius teamed up with Breuer on a number of architectural designs between late 1937 and 1941. The earliest of these were four houses in Massachusetts in 1938 and 1939, including both Gropius' and Breuer's own résidences (continued) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a 8-86 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - 8 Page - 5 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts and that of their neighbor James Ford in Lincoln and the Hagerty House (the first three were listed to the National Register in 1988 as part of the Woods End Road Historic District). Gropius served as the chairman of the Department of Architecture at Harvard from 1938-1952. In 1945 he was a founding partner of The Architect's Collaborative (TAC) in Cambridge, with which he was actively involved until his death in 1969. Marcel Breuer was born in Hungary in 1902 and came to study at the Bauhaus in 1920.
After his graduation in 1924, he served as the Master of the Bauhaus carpentry shop from 1924-1928 and is perhaps best known for his experiments in the design of tubular steel furniture. Breuer moved to London in 1935, where he briefly partnered with architect F.R.S. Yorke. Breuer emigrated to the United States after receiving Hudnut's invitation to teach at Harvard in 1937. He continued to teach at Harvard until 1946 at which time he moved his architectural practice, known as Marcel Breuer and Associates, to New York City. Breuer retired in 1976 and died in 1981. During the mid to late 19th century this oceanfront land belonged to the Kimball family and was the site of two hotels, both of which were known as the Pleasant Beach House. The first hotel was located near the northwest edge of the point and was destroyed by fire in 1881.
After the fire a second hotel was constructed further east near the side of the Hagerty House. It was severely damaged by fire in 1909 and later demolished. Kimball's Point was subsequently subdivided into large house lots. The easternmost shoreside property was purchased by Henry L. Kincaide, a Quincy, Massachusetts furniture store owner who apparently built the adjacent stuccoed Craftsman-Spanish eclectic style house at 355 Atlantic Avenue. In 1937 the trustees of the estate of Henry Kincaide sold a 1.75 acre lot of land to Josephine M. Hagerty, including the early 20th century residence. The 1.75 acre parcel was subsequently subdivided by the Hagerty family in 1946 to its present configuration with the older house located on the slightly larger section and the newer Gropius-designed house occupying the smaller northern section containing 33,600 square feet.
John Hagerty, executor of his mother's estate, sold the house, including furnishings, to Vincent and Margaret Roberts in 1951. During their brief ownership, the Roberts apparently discarded the furnishings; the few Breuer chairs which remain in the house today were among the objects rescued by the Hagerty family. The property was purchased by Arthur and Elizabeth Klonower in 1952 who subsequently sold it to Morris and Bette Leff in 1959. Robert and Sarah Harkness acquired the property in 1960 and sold it to the present owner, Richard King Anderson, in 1971. Archaeological Significance Since patterns of prehistoric occupation in Cohasset are poorly understood, any surviving sites would be significant.
Prehistoric sites in this area may offer the potential to further document the extent and effects of Native settlement in the Boston Harbor/Boston Bay locale and the relationships and/or differences between (continued) NPS Form (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. Section number 8, 9 Page _6.1 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts that area and coastal Native settlement to the south in the North River and Plymouth Harbor locale. Potential prehistoric sites on the nominated property can contribute to a greater understanding towards the effects of sea level rise on Native settlement and subsistence through time. Possible quarry sites in this area also indicates the potential for technological studies during the prehistoric period.
Historic archaeological remains described above have the potential to further document patterns of 19th and early 20th century recreational landuse which characterized the Kimballs Point and Cohasset locale. Archaeological survey and testing can locate surviving components of the first and second Pleasant Beach Houses and their related facilities. This information can be used to document the layout of 19th century shoreside hotels and the activities which occurred around them. Detailed analysis of occupational related features associated with the hotels can provide social, cultural, and economic information on individuals who frequented the hotels. In total, the above information can document the extent to which the Pleasant Beach Houses were characteristic of mid to late 19th century recreational trends which characterized New England coastal locales.
This information may also contribute data on the extent to which the Pleasant Beach Houses laid the basis for 20th century coastal development which included the Gropius House. (end) 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Cohasset Historical Society, Archive Documents and photographs. Cohasset Historical Commission, Survey of the Historical Assets of the Town of Cohasset. Cohasset, Town of. Public Records of the Board of Assessors, Tax Collector and Town Clerk, including annual lists of persons residing, Property Tax Commitment Books, Deed Records, Abstracts, Property Record Cards and Vital Records. Egan, Robert, Building Inspector of Town of Cohasset, Conversations with David H. Wadsworth. Fitch, James Marston. Masters of World Architecture, Walter Gropius. New York: George Braziller, 1960. Ford, James & Katherine Morrow Ford. Design of Modern Interiors.
New York: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1942. [lllustration of staircase, Hagerty House] Ford, James & Katherine Morrow Ford. Classic Modern Homes of the Thirties. New York: Dover Publications, 1989. (continued) OMB Approval No. 1021-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number _2 Page -2 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Ford, James & Katherine Morrow Ford. The Modern House in America. New York: Architectural Book Publishing Co., Inc., 1940. Giedion, Sigfried, Gropius - Work and Teamwork. New York: Reinhold Publishing Co., 1954. Gropius, Ise. Walter Gropius: Buildings, Plans, Projects 1906-1969. 1972. Gropius, Walter. "The Small House of To-day", Architectural Forum, v. 54, November 1931, pp. 266- Hagerty, John.
"From the Rock Ribb'd Shores", Interior Design and Decoration, August 1949, pp. 54- Hagerty, Mary Frances (Connolly), Audio tape of interview with George M. Goodwin, October 12, 1992. [Subject: The Gropius-Hagerty house in Cohasset]. Hitchcock, Henry-Russell and Philip Johnson. The International Style. New York: W.W. Norton, 1966. [Originally published in 1932 under the title The International Style: Architecture Since 1922. ] "The House Divided", Architectural Forum, April 1940, v. 72, pp. 295-301. [lllustrations of Hagerty House]. Isaacs, Reginald. Gropius: An Illustrated Biography of the Creator of the Bauhaus. Boston: Bulfinch Press, 1991. McAndrew, John, editor. Guide to Modern Architecture, Northeast States. New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1940. McSweeney, Catha. "On the Rocks: Walter Gropius house a Cohasset legacy", The Patriot Ledger, February 26, 1987.
Nelson, George & Henry Wright. Tomorrow's House: A Complete Guide for the Home-Builder. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1945. Pratt, Burtram J. Narrative History of the Town of Cohasset, Massachusetts. Committee on Town History, 1956. Lubow, Arthur. "The Creeks Revisited", Vanity Fair, August 1992, p. 148. [about Alfonso Ossorio]. (continued) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a 8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9, 10 Page 3,1 Hagerty House Cohasset (Norfolk County) Massachusetts Who's Who in American Art. 17th edition, edited by Jacques Cattell Press, publ. by R.R. Bowker Co., New York. Who Was Who in America with World Notables, vol. VIII, 1982-1985, Marquis Who's Who, Inc., Chicago, 1985. (end) 10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Verbal Boundary Description: The nominated property occupies Map 22, Lot 23 in the local tax assessors' records (see enclosed copies of tax maps). Boundary Justification: The boundary of the nominated property is drawn to include that acreage which survives from the original parcel and which is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The property was formerly an integral part of a 1.75 acre lot which included the adjacent property at 355 Atlantic Avenue. The parcel was subdivided to its present configuration by the Hagerty Family in 1946.
(end) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Hagerty, Josephine M., House NAME: MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Norfolk DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 5/06/97 6/04/97 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 5/19/97 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 6/20/97 REFERENCE NUMBER: 97000529 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER : N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: N N N COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 6-4.97DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS : Intered in the latlopal dogiBteP RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N Josephine Hagerty House 357Atlantic Avenve cohasset MA Robccet Fiatofeal comm comm' +2 6 Northwest end Josephine Hagerty House 357 Atlantic Ave.
cobasset MAI Dovid Wadsworth April 1995 cohosset Historical Commission #50F 6 Southwest side Josephine Hagerty House 357 Atlantie Ave Cohasset MA Dorid Wadsworth. April 1995 Cohasset Historica/ Commi #6046 Southwest side- dose Missing Core Documentation Property Name Hagerty, Josephine M., House County, State Norfolk, Massachusetts Reference Number 97000529 The following Core Documentation is missing from this entry: Nomination Form X_ Photographs (#s 1 and 3-4) USGS Map The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission April 24, 1997 Ms. Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior Vational Park Service P. O. Box 37127 Washington, D. C. 20013-7127 RECEIVED 2280 MAY - 6 1997 PAT RE ROFH NATIONAL PARK Dear Ms. Shull, Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Josephine M.
Hagerty House, 357 Atlantic Avenue, Cohasset (Norfolk County), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property within the district were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30 to 75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, etay 3etsy Friedber Friedherg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission cc: Mr. Richard King Anderson, Owner Mr. Noel Ripley, Chair, Cohasset Historical Commission Mr. Merle S. Brown, Chair, Cohasset Board of Selectmen Mr. David H. Wadsworth, National Register Coordinator, Cohasset Historical Commission Ms. Lisa Mausolf, Preservation Consultant Enclosure 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 - (617) 727-8470 Fax: (617) 727-5128 TDD: 1-800-392-6090
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