PilgirmRd_41.html

<p><strong>FORM B − BUILDING</strong></p>
<p><span class="smallcaps">Massachusetts Historical Commission</span></p>
<p><span class="smallcaps">Massachusetts Archives Building</span></p>
<p><span class="smallcaps">220 Morrissey Boulevard</span></p>
<p><span class="smallcaps">Boston, Massachusetts 02125</span></p>
<p>Photograph</p>
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<p><strong>Locus Map</strong> (<em>North is up</em>)</p>
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<td><strong>Recorded by: Jennifer B. Doherty</strong></td>
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<td><strong>Organization: Medford Historical Commission</strong></td>
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<td><strong>Date:</strong> <em>March, 2015</em></td>
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<p>Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number</p>
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<td>L – 08 – 58</td>
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<td>Boston North</td>
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<td>MDF.M</td>
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<td>MDF.1120</td>
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<p>LHD 2002</p>
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<td><strong>Town/City:</strong> Medford</td>
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<td><strong>Place:</strong> Medford Square</td>
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<td><strong>Address:</strong> 41 Pilgrim Road</td>
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<td><strong>Historic Name:</strong> Vittorio Forcellati House</td>
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<td><strong>Uses:</strong> <strong>Present: Single-family Residential</strong></td>
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<p><strong>Original: Single-family Residential</strong></p>
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<td><strong>Date of</strong> <strong>Construction:</strong> 1989</td>
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<td><strong>Source:</strong> Assessor’s records</td>
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<td><strong>Style/Form:</strong> Garrison Colonial</td>
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<td><strong>Architect/Builder:</strong> Unknown</td>
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<td><strong>Exterior Material:</strong></td>
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<p><strong>Foundation: Poured concrete</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Wall/Trim: Vinyl clapboard siding</strong></p>
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<p><strong>Roof: Asphalt shingle</strong></p>
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<td><strong>Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:</strong> None</td>
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<td><strong>Major Alterations:</strong> Unknown</td>
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<td><strong>Condition:</strong> Excellent</td>
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<td><strong>Moved: no</strong>  <strong>yes</strong>  <strong>Date:</strong></td>
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<td><strong>Acreage:</strong> 0.19 A</td>
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<td><strong>Setting: In a densely-settled residential neighborhood developed during the 1920s and 1930s. Most neighboring houses are smaller Colonial Revival and Tudor single-family houses.</strong></td>
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<p> Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.</p>
<p><em>If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.</strong></em></p>
<p><strong>ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:</strong></p>
<p><em>Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.</em></p>
<p><em>The Vittorio Forcellait House is typical of the late 20<sup>th</sup> century Colonial Revival style houses that have been built in suburbs throughout Massachusetts. It is a two-story side-gable Garrison Colonial building, with its second story projecting slightly over the first, also known as a ‘jetty.’ The plan appears to be double-pile with rooms on either side of a center entry, as evidenced in the five-bay-wide façade with a center doorway. Extending from the west gable end is a single-story side-gable wing with a garage in the basement. The wing appears to be a single room, possibly an additional living room. The garage is a single-bay, two-car garage. An open porch capped by a shallow hipped roof covers the main entry. Paired Tuscan-order columns support the porch. The main entry door is a traditional six-panel door framed by half-height sidelights. The one-over-one sash windows have false muntins to give the appearance of six-over-six sash, and are framed by shutters.</em></p>
<p><em>The Forcellati House sits on a cul-de-sac at the end of Pilgrim Road, facing north. The house is elevated above the street slightly, as evidenced by the garage in the basement level and the long set of brick stairs leading up to the main entry. The lot is open, and the rear is fenced in.</em></p>
<p><strong>HISTORICAL NARRATIVE</strong></p>
<p><em>Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community.</em></p>
<p><em>The Vittorio Forcellati House was built on a lot that was not subdivided until the 1980s, which was unusual for this densely-developed residential neighborhood. The land the house sits on was once part of 35 Hillside Avenue (MDF.26), which sits behind the Forcellati House to the south. Domenic Alto purchased the large 51,725 square foot lot of 35 Hillside Avenue from Josephine D. Bono and Mary Bono in 1968. No further information has been found on the Bonos, their relationship, or when and how they purchased the property. The same year, Alto sold a half-interest in the property to a group of men doing business as Zamparelli and White, while maintaining the other half-interest for himself.</em><a href="#fn1" class="footnote-ref" id="fnref1" role="doc-noteref"><sup>1</sup></a> <em>Zamparelli and White was composed of John F. Zamparelli, David R. White, Anthony J. Diperna, and David Berman. Little information has been found about most of the men in the group, but John F. Zamparelli was a politically active and well-known Medford resident.</em> He served in the Navy during World War II and graduated from Tufts University and Boston College Law School. Zamparelli was elected Register of Deeds for Middlesex County in 1969, and held that position for many years. No information has been found connecting him to the other men in the Zamparelli and White group, nor has any information been found on his real estate interests. Zamparelli sold his interest in the land to David R. White in 1978, removing him from the ownership group. A later deed notes a court case for the dissolution of Zamparelli and White, but no other information has been found on the company. The occupations of the other men are unclear. The group filed a plan with the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds in 1983 dividing the large lot into two smaller lots. Lot A, to the south, had 22,397 square feet and the house of 35 Hillside Avenue. Lot B, to the north, was an empty lot of 29,512 square feet.</p>
<p>In 1984, the group sold their shares in the undeveloped Lot B to Frank J. and Charlotte A. Scuderi. Mrs. Scuderi is the daughter of Domenic Alto. The Scuderis are real estate agents in Medford with an office at 12 High Street. In 1985 the Scuderis filed a subdivision plan with the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds and the Medford Planning Board, showing the creation of three lots and a cul-de-sac at the end of Pilgrim Road. It is unclear if the Scuderis built houses on the three lots before they sold the lots to new owners. The deeds between the Scuderis and the new owners do not mention buildings although the construction dates of the buildings are generally the same year the Scuderis sold the lots.</p>
<p>The Scuderis brought in a partner to sell this lot, and possibly to build the house. In 1989 they sold the lot to Pilgrim Realty Trust; the trustees were Charlotte A. Scuderi and Joseph J. Maggiore Jr., who had just purchased 39 Pilgrim Road from the Scuderis. The following year the trust sold the lot to Vittorio and Erminia Forcellati. The Forcellatis created a trust for their property in 1997, with Vittorio as the trustee.</p>
<p><em>Even though it was recently constructed, the Vittorio Forcellati House is part of the Hillside Avenue Historic District because it was built on land included in the district. The district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 1975 and was made a local historic district on February 15, 1985. This property was included in the expansion of the Hillside LHD in 2002.</em></p>
<p><strong>BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES</strong></p>
<p><em><span class="underline">Published Sources</span></em></p>
<p><em>"CofC selects John Zamparelli as ‘Citizen of the Year,’" undated article in Medford Public Library clippings file.</em></p>
<p><em><span class="underline">Unpublished Sources</span></em></p>
<p><em>Middlesex South Registry of Deeds Book 12709, Page 84; 13391/444; 15856/272; 15866/26; 15931/87; 15931/88; 15975/30; 19893/494; 20732/228; 26979/323; Plan 69 of 1985; Plan 1177 of 1983.</em></p>
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<li id="fn1" role="doc-endnote"><p>Although the deed was signed in 1968, the same year Alto purchased the property from the Bonos, the deed was not recorded until 1974. The reason for this delay is not clear.<a href="#fnref1" class="footnote-back" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
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