From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by Lenox Historical Society
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
This was originally a Federal-style house that has been altered over the years. The paired brackets under the eaves, round-arched window in the front gable, and round-arched door hood are all features of the Italianate style, indicating that a major remodeling took place during the period of that styles popularity (c.1850 – 1880). There are relatively few Italianate houses in Lenox, making this earlier house an interesting example of a later style.
This Italianate style building has two stories and an asphalt shingle roof which is intact. It consists of 3-bays, with a front gable roof with double scroll sawn modillions on the eaves. The two brick center chimneys are corbelled to create flared tops. It is sided with wood clapboards and the arched entrance canopy contains scroll sawn console brackets. The door surround has an arched transom and the window headers have cornices. The windows on the upper floors are 6-o-6. There are authentic window blinds, an arched attic window and a stone foundation. There is a wood picket fence around property.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
This house was built in 1815 for Dr. Worthington, who may have practiced medicine here. It remained in the Worthington family until 1919, when the property was willed to the Church on the Hill by Mrs. Mary H. Barrett. Mrs. Barrett was a grand-daughter of the original owner, who had been a deacon of the church. From 1925 to 1975 the house was used as a parsonage and a gathering place for social events. In 1975 it was returned to use as a private home. Robert M. and Cynthia A. Taylor were the owners in 1979.
The property was acquired by Arthur A. Autorino in1989 and then by Thomas B. Sherman in 1997 and then by Steven M. Fortuna in 2001.
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
This Federal style building has two stories, an asphalt shingle roof and is intact. It has a three-bay center entrance; six bays deep; wood frame; front gable roof w/dentiled pediment; bell-tower at front of gable peak with a tall, square, balustraded base with large clocks on front and rear sides (clock replaced in 1899). It has Palladian window on left (West) side, topped by an octagonal belfry with Roman-arched vented openings and smaller balustrade and an octagonal cupola with bell-shaped roof and weather vane atop it. It has wood clapboard siding; corner pilasters; 1-bay wide. The entrance pavilion is one-bay deep with dentiled pediment, corner pilasters; Palladian window with tracery, door surround with pediment (short returns), modillions, entablature, paneled pilasters. It has double front entrance doors, wood paneled w/small window high up on each. The two-story square apse on rear facade has a rose window. There is a brick right side wall chimney and an exposed brick left side wall chimney. There are 12-over-12 windows with molded window headers and authentic window blinds. The foundation is large cut stone.
Isaac Damon was born in 1781. At age 30, he moved from Weymouth (MA) to Northampton (MA). His wife died the following year, and he married Sophia Strong (pictured), who delivered eight children. Over the course of his career, Damon built at least 13 churches, 14 other buildings, and 25 bridges. Most of his buildings were constructed in the Connecticut River Valley, but his bridge work took him farther afield. His fully-enclosed bell towers and steeples are easily recognized throughout his region of influence. He retired in 1852 at the age of 71 and died ten years later.
Following From: Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) by Henry F. Withey, AIA & Elsie Rathburn Withey. (Los Angeles, CA: Hennessey & Ingalls, Inc., 1970).
“Damon, (Captain) Isaac
“Architect-building in western Massachusetts for more than three decades, his work included a number of public buildings, mainly churches. It is believed that Damon was one of the junior draftsmen in the Town & Davis office in New York, and when in 1811 he was called to Northampton to build the First Congregational Church, it seems probable that Ithiel Town helped prepare the plans (*). The church, one of the largest and most elaborate in New England at the time of its erection stood until 1878 when it was destroyed by fire. In Northampton Mr. Damon also designed the Town Hall built in 1823 (*).
“In the course of years he executed many important commissions, and the drawings, some of them in India ink, showed skill in draftsmanship. In his work as builder he was one of the first to understand the use of a truss and incorporated it in the bridgework of a number of buildings. Thirteen or more churches in the western part of the state are ascribed to him among which should be named the First Church at Lenox, dating from 1814; the First Church at Springfield, 1818 (**); the old Meeting House at Ware, 1820 (**), and the Unitarian Meeting House at Greenfield. In addition he was architect of the county Court House at Lenox (an early building from 1814); and probably designed (at least he was paid for making the plans) the oldest group of buildings at Amherst College, including the North and South halls and the Chapel between 1821 and 1827 (***).
“- References: Dictionary of American Biography; “Town and Davis, Architects,” by Roger Hale Newton (*); “Greek Revival Architecture in America,” Talbot Hamlin, 1944 (***).”
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
In 1803, a special town meeting was called in Lenox, and it was voted to begin construction of a new church to replace the meeting house which had been built about 1770. The new church was to be built on or near the same site. The church was completed in 1805, and on the first day of 1806 it was dedicated in a service led by Rev. Samuel Shepard. As the official town and state church it held an important place in the political and social, as well as religious life, of Lenox. Although other churches were incorporated in the early nineteenth century, and their members exempted from paying taxes to support the Congregational Church, this church was not disestablished until 1834, and even then it retained its important position in the town.
“The Church on the Hill,” as it came to be known, was prized by visitors to Lenox for its picturesque beauty and its embodiment of New England tradition. Guide books never failed to mention it, and its white steeple became a landmark visible for miles around. Even the wealthy summer residents who belonged to the Episcopalian Church took a special interest in the Church on the Hill, and contributed to its restoration.
The Church on the Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places Sept. 30, 1982.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Church records
“The Church on the Lenox Hilltop…”, New England Magazine. October 1900
Lenox – Massachusetts Shire Town. David H. Wood 1969
This is a fine example of the Queen Anne style, and displays the eclectic decorative elements characteristic of the style. The cut shingles and half-timbering provide surface interest, while the varied window shapes are another decorative feature. This is perhaps an unusually ornate residence for a Congregational minister, but it reflects the prosperity of Lenox at the time of its construction.
This Queen Anne style building has two stories, a slate roof and is intact. It is a two bay, wood frame house with a cross-gable roof. There is a gable dormer on the front and gabled wall dormers on the left and right sides. There is a Palladian attic window in each dormer and the cladding is wood clapboard and decorative shingle.
The organization is asymmetrical and there is an irregular footprint. The enclosed front porch is glazed with turned posts and a gable feature over the entry. There is a two-story box bay on the front facade to the right of the entry with sunburst decoration on corner brackets supporting a gable roof overhang.
There is a two-story faceted bay window on the right side. A right-side porch extends from the bay window and has a hipped roof, slender Doric columns and spindled balustrades. There are 2-over-1 and 2-o-2 windows and a stone foundation
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
This house stands on the site of the original Congregational parsonage, a brick building dating from 1852. By the 1890’s it had fallen into disrepair and the congregation elected to build a new house on the same site.
According to a turn-of-the-century magazine article, “Few Congregational Churches in Massachusetts have so fine a home for their ministers”. This reflects the prosperity of Lenox during this period.
This house was used as a parsonage until 1925, when the Congregational Church was given the Worthington House on Cliffwood Street which became the home of the minister. For many years it was the home of Edith O. Fitch, a long-time Lenox Librarian. The old parsonage was acquired by the Toole family and then in 1978 by the Biancolo family. It has since been used as a private residence.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Church records.
New England Magazine, “The Church on the Lenox Hilltop and Round About It” by Frederick Lynch. October 1990.
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
This Queen Anne style building has two stories, an asphalt shingle roof and has been minimally altered. It has a three-bay, center entrance; wood frame; hipped roof; hipped dormer on the right side; and a brick end-wall chimney on the left side. It has a full front porch with six Doric columns, spindled balusters. There is a three-story faceted bay window with a hipped roof left of the center entrance and a two-story faceted bay window with a hipped roof to the right of the entrance. It has Queen Anne-style windows with small square lights surrounding a large one. The two hipped roof pavilions on the right side of the house have an enclosed/ glazed balcony between them. Below this balcony, a previous open porch was altered and enclosed after 1939 (per Sanborn Map).
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
The initial structure was built as a rectory for the original St. Ann’s (1871), and used as such until 1912, when Father Grace moved into The Willows, which had been purchased by the church in 1905. After that, the house was sold and converted to use as a funeral home. Later it was once again converted for church use.
First depicted on 1893 and 1939 Sanborn Maps
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
1893 Sanborn Map
Historical Sketch – Centenary of St. Ann’s Church, Lenox, Massachusetts 1870-1970.
Old St. Ann’s132 Main St., St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church – 1911
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
This Norman Gothic Revival style building has one plus stories, a slate roof and is intact. It has a front gable roof with graduated slate shingles, and parapets on gable ends. There is a Greek Cross at the front peak. The church has fieldstone cladding, cast stone trim which is also known as “Case Cement”, a three-bay front façade with center entrance over which is a large rose window. There are four bas relief plaques depicting evangelists Mathew, Mark, Luke and John surrounding the rose window. There are arched oak double doors with elaborate decorative wrought iron strap hinges. They have Roman-arched door surrounds that are heavily carved with geometric and curvilinear designs springing from engaged columns. A crenellated square tower extends to the right of the front facade and incorporates a porte-cochere with gargoyles at corners. There are lancet windows with slate louvers at the belfry level. There are five-bay side elevations defined by buttresses with Tudor-arched stained glass windows between. There are projecting entrance bays on both the left and right sides proximate to the rear. There are lantern light fixtures in the yard.
Architect Francis Burrall Hoffman,
undated (c.1980) uncited obituary from newspaper:
LENOX – Francis Burrall Hoffman, 98, former summer resident here who was the architect of the present St. Ann’s Church, died last Thursday at his home in Hobe Sound, Fla.
Born in New Orleans, La., March 6, 1882, he was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hoffman. He spent most of his life in New York City, where he was a professional architect. While a summer resident here, he designed the granite St. Ann’s Church structure that was built in 1912 to replace the former wooden church on Main Street.
He was a 1903 graduate of Harvard. During World War I, he served with the 42nd Infantry Division in France.
He leaves two brothers, Albert Hoffman of Florida and Murray Hoffman of New York City.
A funeral mass was held Saturday at St. Christopher’s Church in Hobe Sound. Burial will be in St. Ann’s Cemetery tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Roche Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.
Following FROM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Burrall_Hoffman
Francis Burrall Hoffman (March 6, 1882 – November 27, 1980) was an American born architect best known for his work with James Deering’s Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Florida.
Francis Burrall Hoffman
Biography
Francis Burrall Hoffman ( March 6, 1882 in New Orleans, Louisiana – November 27, 1980 in Hobe Sound, Florida) was an American born architect best known for his work with James Deering’s Villa Vizcaya in Miami, Florida.
Francis Burrall Hoffman, Jr. was born to a wealthy and socially prominent New York family line that began with the emigration of Martin Hermanzen Hoffman from Sweden in 1657. The family remained closely tied to the history and politics of the state, with Hoffman’s great-grandfather, Murray Hoffman serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court of New York and his grandfather, Wickham Hoffman acting as the United States Minister to Denmark from 1883-93.[1][2]
In 1912, Hoffman was hired by James Deering as an associate architect for Villa Vizcaya. Collaborating with Paul Chalfin and Diego Suarez, the bayfront Italian style villa would become the largest and most notable project of his sixty year career.
Hoffman left the Villa Vizcaya project five years later in 1917 to enlist in the Army. During WWI, Hoffman served as Captain with the Corps of Engineers and later directed camouflage operations with the Second Corps, A.E.F. During WWII, Hoffman served overseas as a Lieutenant Commander in the Navy[4].
In 1927, Hoffman married Virginia “Dolly” Kimball. Kimball was from a wealthy Virginia publishing family and quickly established a career as an interior decorator, and was often enlisted in the design of her husband’s projects. After the stock market crash in 1929, Hoffman closed up his firm in New York and he and Dolly spent a majority of their time traveling between New York and Paris. Upon his returns to New York, Hoffman rarely engaged in more than one architectural project a year [5][6].
Hoffman completed many commissions, mostly designing large houses for wealthy clients. Hoffman’s last project was completed in 1974, when he was nearly ninety-eight years old . Hoffman died in 1980 in Hobe Sound, Florida[7].
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
Lenox was organized as a mission of the Roman Catholic Church in 1852. Mass was said in Town Hall until 1871, when Father Brennan led his parish to build the first St. Ann’s Church. The parish included some influential members of Lenox society; Rose Hawthorne (daughter of Nathaniel Hawthorne), who was born in Lenox in 1851 and was a convert to Catholicism, Grace Sedgwick, a member of the locally prominent Sedgwick family, and Mrs. Samuel Ward, both converts to Catholicism. Mrs. Ward’s husband built a chapel for her at his estate, Oakwood, and Mass was often said at that location.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Old Form B
Historical Sketch- Centenary of St. Ann’s Church – Lenox, Massachusetts 1870-1970
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
This Queen Anne style building has two stories, a slate roof and has been altered. It has a three-bay, center entrance that is wood framed. It has a gable roof, double bracketed eaves and two shed-roofed dormers with 18-light windows on the front over outer bays. There is a one gable-roofed rear wall dormer, a brick endwall chimney on the left side. The exterior is wood clapboard (1st fl.) and decorative shingle (2nd fl. and dormers) siding. There is a two-story front entrance pavilion with modillions. There is a Palladian window on the second floor with tracery in the center, an arched window, embellished with entablature complete with a dentiled cornice, and pilasters flanking smaller side windows. Modillions and six turned posts remain from the original porch. There are large Queen Anne-style 29-over-1 multi-pane sash windows that flank the pavilion on the second (small square lights in the upper sash). There are 15-light French windows on the side of the pavilion and a one-story box bay window on the right side. There is a one-story rear lean-to; original double front doors; and a stone foundation.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
John M. Cook*, identified in an 1885 directory as a farmer and manager for E.J. Woolsey, purchased this lot from Elizabeth Bangs* in 1883 and built this house soon after. Cook resided here for a year or two, but by 1886 the house was rented out to Ambrose Kingsland of New York, and was thereafter rented to “distinguished summer visitors.”[1] In 1905 it was purchased by Father William F. Grace, acting on behalf of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield, for use as a rectory for St. Ann’s. The Willows continued to be rented out until 1912, when the new church had been built and Father Grace took formal possession. It was used as a rectory until it was sold and converted to a funeral home currently owned by Edward J. Roche.
*”Henry Cook” on 1854 Clark Map; “C. Bangs” on 1876 Beers Map
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
1854 Clark Map, 1876 Beers Map
Old Form B
Town Assessor’s Report
Lenox Assessor’s database 2012
[1] Historical Sketch – Centenary of St. Ann’s Church, Lenox, Massachusetts 1870-1970
From Surveys Completed 2011-2012 by the Lenox Historical Commission
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
This Gothic Revival style building has one plus stories, an asphalt shingle roof and is intact. It is two-bay. It has a wood frame; cross-gable roof with exposed rafter ends, and a steeply pitched front gable. It has a stone-clad octagonal bell tower with hipped “witches hat” roof with wood shingles and exposed rafter ends. It has a one-story entrance pavilion that extends along the right side to the rear wing and forward of the main building with a series of six 18-light Tudor-arched windows on the right side, one on the left side with a wood shingled kneewall below. The front door surround has dentils on a slightly peaked header, exposed rafter ends, and a paneled verge board with king post on its narrow front.
There is a brick side wall chimney on the right side at the inside corner of the main and right wing sections. The front facade of the main section has set of three stained glass windows. The left side facade features three paired windows with double gable/peaked headers. The rear cross wing is two bays deep, and has an exposed basement with ground-level access. There is a one-story rear ell at the basement level. A stone retaining wall extends and curves forward from the front rightt corner of the entrance pavilion.
Designed by Pittsfield architect, J. F. Rathbone [Rathbun?]. More research needed to clarify architect information on original Form B. Can’t find record of J. F. Rathbone and Rathbun’s initials are C. T. (Charles T. Rathbun).
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE:
This was originally the site of the Lenox Library which was housed in an octagonal building. The Congregational Society purchased the property after the library moved to the Second County Courthouse building in 1873. Construction of the Chapel was authorized by the Congregational Society in 1876, “in response to a felt need for a center for social activities.” The foundation of the chapel was constructed from the brick and stone of the old library building.
The Chapel was used primarily as a meeting place until the turn of the century, when it was modernized. Following this modernization, the Chapel was used for Sunday services, as the Church on the Hill was inadequately heated and the congregation had become quite small. The Chapel was damaged by fire in 1930 and then restored. In the 1950’s oil heat was installed at the Church on the Hill and services returned to that building. A Church School held in the Chapel had increased its enrollment to the point that it overflowed the building by 1968. The interior of the Chapel was remodeled at this time to accommodate the school activities.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES:
Old Form B
Town Assessor’s Report
The Congregational Chapel, Rev. Harris B. Hinchliff
