'''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:''' ''March, 2015'' |
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Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
{| | L – 08 – 33 | | Boston North | | M | | MDF.383 |}
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:''' 32 Hillside Ave. |
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| '''Historic Name:''' Lawrence M. Tura House |
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| '''Uses:''' '''Present: Single-family Residential [[Category:Single-family Residential]]''' |
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'''Original: Single-family Residential [[Category:Single-family Residential]]'''|- | '''Date of''' '''Construction:''' 1947-1948 |- | '''Source:''' Deeds |- | '''Style/Form:''' Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]], side-entry Colonial |- | '''Architect/Builder:''' Gerard P. Friel [[Category:Gerard P. Friel]], builder |- | '''Exterior Material:''' |- |
'''Foundation: Poured concrete'''|- |
'''Wall/Trim: Vinyl clapboard siding'''|- |
'''Roof: Asphalt [[Category:Roof:Asphalt]] shingle'''|- | '''Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:''' None |- | '''Major Alterations:''' Addition of an open porch at the main entrance; vinyl siding and vinyl replacement sash, recent |- | '''Condition:''' Fair |- | '''Moved: no''' '''yes''' '''Date:''' |- | '''Acreage:''' 0.15 A |- | '''Setting: In a neighborhood of earlier houses, most built in the 1890s, in the Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]] and Queene Anne [[Category:Shingle Style/Queen Anne]] styles. The neighborhood is densely-settled, with small lots and few mature trees. The hillside location provides views of Medford and Boston.''' |}
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 Lawrence M. Tura House is a simple post-war Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]] single-family house identical to its neighbors at 30 and 36 Hillside Avenue. The two-story, side-gable, double-pile house sits on a poured concrete foundation, is covered in vinyl siding, and has an asphalt shingle roof. Attached to the south, left elevation at the basement level, accommodated by the steep downward slope of Hillside Avenue, is a single-bay, single-car garage, also with a side-gable roof. Visible in aerial photographs at the rear of the house is a single-story enclosed porch with a shed roof that covers the south half of the rear of the house. The original plot plan, included below, demonstrates that the garage was part of the original build.''
''The Tura House, in contrast to the earlier larger and more elaborate Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]] and Queene Anne [[Category:Shingle Style/Queen Anne]] style houses in the rest of the neighborhood, is notably simpler and smaller in scale. Its form is a smaller side-entry variant of the more popular symmetrical center-entrance Colonial Revival [[Category:Colonial Revival]] type prevalent throughout the 20th century. The main entry is located in the north bay of the main façade, and is sheltered by an open porch with a gabled roof supported by turned columns. This porch is not shown in the assessor’s photograph of the building, or on older street view images from 2007, indicating it is a recent alteration. Instead, the Tura House had a shallow pediment above the door, like the one found on 30 Hillside Avenue immediately to the south. The modern vinyl one-over-one sash windows have false muntins to give the appearance of six-over-six sash. Shutters frame the windows on the main façade and the sides of the house. The first floor is highlighted by a group of three windows left of the main entry. The façade’s fenestration and entrance pattern suggests a side hall plan with living and dining room spaces on the left and a kitchen behind the main stair on the right. On the front pile of the north elevation is a secondary entrance. Its placement, partially in the building’s foundation at grade, suggests it leads down to the building’s basement.''
''The Tura House sits on the west side of Hillside Avenue facing southeast across the street. The steep slope of Pasture Hill rises across the lot, with the garage on the south end of the house sitting slightly below the main level of the house. The lot is open, with no major plantings or mature trees.''
'''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 Lawrence M. Tura House is part of the Hillside Avenue Historic District [[Category:Hillside Avenue Historic District]], it was built much later than the neighboring houses. The Tura House, as well as the two neighboring houses at 30 and 36 Hillside Avenue, were part of a parcel of land that was not developed until 1947. Charles H. Webster owned the land in 1898, and lived nearby for a time at 15 Hillside Avenue (MDF.388). It is unclear how he acquired it from the Magoun estate; the Magouns owned much of the land in the area during the 19th century. At some point in the 20th century, Angelina Gange acquired the land; it was divided into two parcels, one 9,141 square feet and the second 9,818 square feet. Gange was an Italian immigrant who arrived in the United States with her husband Adolfo in 1895. While census and directory records from the early 20th century list Adolfo as a sole sorter for a leather company, by 1938 he had established a real estate and insurance business with an office on Main Street, near Medford Square [[Category:Medford Square]]. A. Gange & Sons, Inc. is still based in Medford, and is operated by Adolfo and Angelina’s grandson.''
''After Angelina Gange’s death, Adolfo Gange sold the land on Hillside Avenue to local builder Gerard P. Friel [[Category:Gerard P. Friel]] in 1947, with some legal maneuvering. The deed includes the phrase “with the buildings thereon,” but it seems likely that Friel built the three houses himself, possibly during the period when the deed was signed and recorded: the deed between Gange and Friel was signed October 24, 1947, but was not recorded until December 18, 1947. In addition, the Gange-Friel deed was for two parcels (totaling the amount of land the three parcels occupy) for $3,400. Friel recoded a plan on December 18, 1947, showing three lots with three buildings (see below for plan). Friel also took out mortgages on the three properties on December 18, for $7,500 each. The change in the number of lots and the change in value between October and December suggest that Friel was building the houses at that time. Friel is listed in census records and directories from the first half of the 20th century as a builder living on High Street. Friel then sold each lot in 1948, the year after he acquired them.''
''Friel sold the center house and lot to William Ray and Barbara W. Berger in 1948. The Bergers were in the house only a few years before selling it in 1953 to Lawrence and Lena Tura. The Turas were living in Somerville when the 1940 census was taken; Lawrence was a waiter in a hotel, while Lena was an assembler in a radio factory. Lena Tura died in 1972, and her husband Lawrence in 1988; his estate sold the property to new owners the following year.''
''The Lawrence M. Tura House is part of the Hillside Avenue Historic District [[Category:Hillside Avenue Historic District]], which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 1975 and which was made a local historic district on February 15, 1985.''
'''BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES'''
''Maps''
1898 Geo. W. Stadly & Co., ''Atlas of the City of Medford, Middlesex County, Mass.''
''Published Sources''
''Medford City Directories 1938''
''Unpublished Sources''
''“About Us,” A. Gange &Sons, Inc.'' http://gangeinsurance.com/about_us.html
''Middlesex South Registry of Deeds Book 7231, Page 173''
''Book 7269, Page 41''
''Book 8040, Page 148''
''Book 19786, Page 303''
''Plan 1930 of 1947, Book 7231, Page 173''
[[File:media/image3.png|573x381px]]
''The main façade and north elevation of the Lawrence M. Tura House''
[[File:media/image4.jpeg|632x818px]]