[MassHistPres] MassHistPres Digest, Vol 59, Issue 9

[Anne Cody]

At a quick glance this building looks as though it was a product of a disagreement among owners, or fire.  Be careful to find out if the building looks as though it were cut, and the other half "lives" somewhere else (or was destroyed).  Frequently two siblings after the death of a parent couldnt decide who would keep the building and they cut it in half, and moved one half away as a solution.  Go down in the cellar and look to see if the building were cut, and whether the foundation wall under the cut side is different from the other three -- indicating that the cut-end foundation was rebuilt after the other side was removed.  If all four foundation walls match, it is possible that this section was removed from another site on to the present location.  Hint:  does the house show up on early maps, or not until later maps?  That can tell you if this part was original or moved to this site.
 
There is another example of this kind of structure in Princeton, on Rte 62 in the center of town.
 
Lee Tavares
Old House Institute
Oakham
 
From: kholmes at newtonma.gov
To: masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2011 13:00:23 -0500
Subject: Re: [MassHistPres] MassHistPres Digest, Vol 59, Issue 9

Hello MassHistPres Community,
 
I write seeking help with an unusual Georgian house type in Newton's Upper Falls village.  
I've attached a photo.  The house stands on a stone foundation and once had an interior 
brick chimney extending from the rear roof slope, left side.  Any thoughts?  It's generally 
categorized as a 'half-house' for reasons that will become obvious.  Are there similar 
examples in your communities, and if so, do you know when they were built?
 
The City of Newton is working to identify the provenance of this building (and others) as part 
of its effort to update its B Forms.  We appreciate any guidance you may provide.
 
Katy

****************************** For administrative questions regarding this list, please contact Christopher.Skelly at state.ma.us directly. PLEASE DO NOT "REPLY" TO THE WHOLE LIST. MassHistPres mailing list MassHistPres at cs.umb.edu http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/listinfo/masshistpres ******************************** 		 	   		  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.cs.umb.edu/mailman/private/masshistpres/attachments/20110119/e3c05871/attachment.htm>