'''FORM B − BUILDING'''
Massachusetts Historical Commission
Massachusetts Archives Building
220 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Photograph
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'''Locus Map''' (''North is up'')
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| '''Recorded by: Jennifer B. Doherty''' |
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| '''Organization: Medford Historical Commission''' |
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| '''Date:''' ''April, 2015'' |
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Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
{| | L – 08 – 3801, 3802, 3803 | | Boston North | | M | | MDF. 395 |}
NRDIS (4/21/1975); LHD (2/15/1985)
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| '''Town/City:''' Medford |
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| '''Place:''' Medford Square [[Category:Medford Square]] |
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| '''Address:''' 35 Grandview Avenue |
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| '''Historic Name:''' Nicholas White House |
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| '''Uses:''' '''Present: Condominiums''' |
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'''Original: Single-family Residential [[Category:Single-family Residential]]'''|- | '''Date of''' '''Construction:''' 1893-1895 |- | '''Source:''' Directories, maps |- | '''Style/Form:''' Italianate |- | '''Architect/Builder:''' Nicholas White, builder |- | '''Exterior Material:''' |- |
'''Foundation: Not visible'''|- |
'''Wall/Trim: Cut stone'''|- |
'''Roof: Slate'''|- | '''Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:''' Garage |- | '''Major Alterations:''' Addition of a large sunroom, northeast corner, post-1950; removal and alteration of full front porch; vinyl replacement sash, recent. |- | '''Condition:''' Fair |- | '''Moved: no''' '''yes''' '''Date:''' |- | '''Acreage:''' 13,407 sq. ft. |- | '''Setting: In a densely-settled residential neighborhood with other houses of a similar age, although most are done in the Queene Anne [[Category:Shingle Style/Queen Anne]] or Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]] styles.''' |}
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
''If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.''
'''''Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets.'''''
'''ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:'''
''Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.''
''The Nicholas White House is an impressive stone building likely constructed as a showpiece by its owner, who was a mason by profession, in the early 1890s. Constructed of dark cut stone, the house has lighter gray quoining at the corners and window reveals. The house is a large two-and-a-half story gabled building with two gabled cross-gable wings halfway down each side elevation. On the southeast corner is a three-story rectangular tower capped by a pyramidal roof, placed to take advantage of views into Medford and Boston. The tower is canted at a 45 degree angle to the main mass of the house. The main entry is in the left bay of the main façade. It is highlighted by a two-story rectangular projection capped by a crenelated parapet. Extending out in front of the projection is a single-story gabled entry porch supported by columns of cut stone. The house has several shed dormers on the roof, adding additional space on the third story. A large single-story sunroom was added to the building after 1950; it is located on the east elevation, between the tower and the cross gable on that side. The windows on the house are modern replacement one-over-one sash. The depictions of the building on Sanborn atlases demonstrate that it originally had a full-width front porch that extended beyond the right corner of the façade terminating in a round pavilion that was located at the base of the tower. Although not generously embellished with architectural elaboration, one could call the house a naïve interpretation of the Italianate style, especially with regard to the rectangular tower combined with the surviving eave returns in the west (left)-facing projecting cross gable.''
''Set back from Grandview Avenue, the White House has a large lot that separates the property from the main road. A modern fence marks the driveway entrance, and the grounds are well maintained, with a large evergreen growing in front of the house. Between 1910 and 1936 a garage was added to the extreme northwest corner of the property. It is typical of detached residential garages of the 1920s and 1930s, constructed of molded concrete block and capped by a hipped roof.''
'''HISTORICAL NARRATIVE'''
''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.''
''Although the Nicholas White House appears as a cohesive part of its neighborhood, it was actually built within a separate subdivision from many of the neighboring houses in the district. Built between 1893 and 1895, the Nicholas White House was one of three houses on a parcel of land on the east side of Grandview Avenue owned by Nicholas White. The land to the west, including the west side of Grandview Avenue and all of Hillside Avenue, was a separate subdivision laid out around the same time White had his three houses built by the heirs of Thatcher Magoun and Frank Hervey.''
''An Irish immigrant who came to Boston when he was 19, White (Dec. 24,1821 – Feb. 24, 1907) was taught road building by his grandfather, and worked on the Old Colony Railroad when he first arrived in Boston. He came to Medford in 1850 and was employed by Gardner Brooks as his estate’s head gardener. He later worked with a local firm building foundations and drilling wells. For a time he operated a livery stable, and later returned to foundation building. It was at this that he succeeded, becoming a prominent stonemason and laying the foundations of a number of prominent buildings around the city and state.''
''Grace Episcopal church, the foundation for the Opera house building and Odd Fellows’ hall, the public library [this likely refers to the 1890s addition in brick], the First Baptist church, of Malden, and the old St. Mary’s church, of Malden, were built under his supervision. He also constructed the water and sewer systems of the towns of Hull and Nantucket [almost certainly an error; should instead read “Nantasket”], and many buildings for Engineer Bowditch, of Boston. He was employed in the laying out of the large estates and land in the wealthy residential section of the town of Lenox. For several years he was road commissioner when Medford was a town.''''“Aged Contractor Dead; Nicholas White, 85 Years, the Oldest Irish Resident of Medford, Dies as the Result of a Fall on Washington’s Birthday,” Medford Mercury. 1 March 1907. Pg. 1''''White was also active in various community organizations, particularly Irish groups like the Ancient Order of the Hibernians and the Fenian movement. White married first Hannah Doyle, a Medford resident; the two had a daughter, also named Hannah. After his first wife’s death, White married Julia Morrison of Lenox on April 19, 1884.''White’s obituary gives his second wife’s name as Sarah, but census and marriage records all give her name as Julia. ''The couple had no children. While attending events marking George Washington’s birthday in 1907, White took a short fall down a set of stairs. Although he was expected to recover, he died several days later.''On his death certificate and in his obituary White’s place of residence and place of death are listed as 34 Salem Street. However all of the census and directories checked list White as living at the house on Grandview Avenue. The reason for such closely-placed residences is unknown.
''Between 1855 and 1875 White acquired a large piece of land set back from High Street in Medford Square [[Category:Medford Square]] between Brooks Lane, which would become Governors Avenue during the early 1890s, and the Estate of Thatcher Magoun. A building is shown in the southeast corner of the property in 1875, but its location and scale make it unlikely that it is the large stone house that today stands at 35 Grandview Avenue. Later maps show other buildings on the property, but the stone house was likely built between 1893 and 1895; in 1893, White and his family were still listed in directories as residing at 13 Union Street in Medford. By 1895, however, White was listed as living on Grandview Avenue (no number given). Given White’s occupation and the impressive construction of the house, he likely built it himself as a showpiece of his work and a sign of his success. Around the same time, two large Queene Anne [[Category:Shingle Style/Queen Anne]]-style houses were built on his property to the south of the main house at 27 Grandview Avenue (MDF.286) and 31 Grandview Avenue (MDF.394). It is unclear if White built these as well (they are wood frame rather than stone) and what their purpose was, whether for sale or rent. Maps show that the two properties were divided from the larger White property between 1903 and 1910.''
''Walter S. Moody (b. c. 1872) purchased the property shortly after White’s death. He was listed in the 1910 census as living in the house with his sister, Hattie E., and her husband, Jesse C. Rollins. In 1914 Moody married Mary Pierce (b. c. 1889) in Chelsea, and the couple continued to reside in the White House. They are listed there in the 1920 census along with their daughter Louella K., and Mary’s parents, Harry C. and Jennie Pierce. Moody’s sister and brother-in-law had moved out by this time. Moody was a dentist by profession with an office in Boston. In 1920 the Moodys sold the property to Nina W. Morgan (b. c. 1885). The 1930 census records Mrs. Morgan at the address along with her husband Charles (b. c. 1878), five children, and a Canadian maid. Charles Morgan was a physician with an office in Boston. Although some of the children were quite young at the time of the 1930 census, only ten years later they appear to be out of the house, as the only residents listed are Charles and Nina Morgan. The Morgans sold the house in 1947, and it has passed through several owners since then. The building was converted into three condominium units in 2000.''
''The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Hillside Avenue NR Historic District April 21, 1975 and included in the Hillside Local Historic District February 15, 1985.''
'''BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES'''
''Maps''
1875 F. W. Beers, ''County Atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts''.
1889 Geo. H. Walker & Co., ''Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts.''
1898 Geo. W. Stadly & Co., ''Atlas of the City of Medford, Middlesex County, Mass.''
1900 Geo. W. Stadly & Co., ''Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Volume 1''.
Sanborn Insurance Atlas 1903, 1910, 1936, 1950
''Federal Census 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940''
''Medford City Directories: 1893, 1895, 1909, 1920, 1938''
''Published Sources''
''“Aged Contractor Dead; Nicholas White, 85 Years, the Oldest Irish Resident of Medford, Dies as the Result of a Fall on Washington’s Birthday,” Medford Mercury. 1 March 1907. Pg. 1.''