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Home My Public Portal AboutRobbinsHillRd_336, BRE.427Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.12/12 FORM B  BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Photograph Locus Map N Recorded by: Eric Dray, Preservation Consultant, for Organization: Brewster Historical Commission Date (month / year): June, 2017 Assessor’s Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number 38-77-0 Dennis BRE.427 Town/City: BREWSTER Place:(neighborhood or village): Robbins Hill Beach Address: 336 Robbins Hill Road Historic Name: Greenleaf, Carrie House Uses:Present: Residential Original: Residential Date of Construction: [1899-1910] Source:Deed research, 1910 Barnstable County Atlas Style/Form: Vernacular cottage Architect/Builder: Unknown Exterior Material: Foundation: Piers (presumably concrete block) Wall/Trim: Wood shingle/ Wood Roof: Asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: None Major Alterations (with dates): Replacement windows (dates unknown) Condition: Demolished, 2017 Moved: no yes Date: 1978 (on same parcel) Acreage: 0.81 acres Setting: This house is located in a region of Brewster that was developed in the late-19th through the 20th century, first with modest beach cottages built either individually or within subdivisions, some of which have been replaced with larger houses. This cottage is set on a bluff above Cape Cod Bay. It is the second to last house on the ocean side before the land slopes down to the west to Robbins Hill Beach parking lot (now also known as Mants Landing). Most of the other ocean front cottages have been replaced by later 20th century houses. This lot is left in a natural state except for an informal lawn around the house. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 336 ROBBINS HILL ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 BRE.427 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. This is an intact example of a modest vernacular summer cottage. The 1 ½-story main block has high stud walls, and a gable- front orientation to the street and the ocean. There is a one-story ell with shed roof extending along the east side elevation; and there is a screen porch, also with shed roof, extending across the south elevation. This porch spans across both the gable-front elevation and the side ell, and has shingled half-walls. The house rests on a pier foundation (likely concrete block). The elevations are clad in wood shingles with plain cornerboards. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles and has projecting open eaves with exposed rafter tails visible on the porch roof – this detail is one of the character-defining features of early-20th century seasonal cottages. Visible fenestration consists of replacement 1/1 and 2/1, double-hung sash set in flat casings with projecting sills, and a small, square casement window in the gable peak on the south elevation. 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. Residential development did not occur in this coastal region of Brewster until the late-19th century, when families began building small cottages for summer recreation. The shallow tidal areas around Robbins Hill Beach were also used in the 19th century for making salt from sea water, employing large vats into which sea water was pumped for evaporation. Five cottages are shown on the 1880 Barnstable County Atlas in this location (see attached detail of 1880 Atlas). However, as will be discussed below, by the time of the 1910 Barnstable County Atlas was published, only this cottage is shown in the same location (see attached detail of 1910 Atlas). This cottage does not appear to have been one of the cottages shown on the 1880 Atlas, as is explained below. In 1899, this parcel, land only, was conveyed by Sophia Freeman, and Ann and Bartlett Winslow, all of Brewster, to Carrie E. Greenleaf of Belmont, MA (Book 239/Page 375). It seems likely that this cottage was built shortly after Carrie Greenleaf purchased the land, but was certainly in place by 1910 when it is shown on the 1910 Barnstable County Atlas. As noted above, what is curious is that the 1880 Barnstable County Atlas shows five cottages in this location; but by 1910, they are no longer there. Some or all might possibly have been relocated to the east of Robbins Hill Road where a series of cottages are shown on the 1910 Atlas, at least one of which shares a surname (Young) with a cottage shown in this location on the 1880 Atlas. Carrie E. (Whipple) Greenleaf (1863-1936) was born in Rhode Island and married George H. Greenleaf, who had moved to Rhode Island from California. George (1859-1926) worked as a teamster in Providence (1900 US Census) and they lived with their five children in a house they owned. By 1910, however, the family appears to have been divided. George was living as a boarder in a house in Providence and was working as a machinist in an auto factory. Carrie was living in a rented house in Boston with multiple members of their family, and she had no occupation. George and Carrie do not appear to have lived together again. Carrie continued to live with members of her family in Somerville and then Bedford. Carrie sold the cottage in 1922 to Frank B. and Alice Bassett of Salem, MA (Book 386/Page 508). Frank registered the land in 1926, based on a plan he had prepared in 1923 (see attached Land Court Plan 9894-A). Looking at the footprint and location of the cottage on that plan, it appears that the house was subsequently moved to the southeast and turned 180° so that the porch was no longer facing Cape Cod Bay. Brewster Building Department records indicate that the house was, indeed, moved in 1978. Frank Bassett was born in Brewster in 1879 to Burgess and Ella Bassett. Frank and his wife Alice lived in Salem with their three children (two daughters and a son), and he owned a bond brokerage business. In 1965, Frank conveyed this cottage to his son, Gardiner W. Bassett, who was living in Glastonbury, CT (Cert. of Title 36416). He, in turn, conveyed the cottage to his son, Gardiner Bassett, Jr. of Coventry, CT in 1995 (Cert. of Title 138284). It remained in his family until 2016, when it was conveyed to S. Ming and Jennie Lee of Yarmouthport (Cert. of Title 210273). The cottage is slated for demolition. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 336 ROBBINS HILL ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 BRE.427 BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 1858 Map, Map of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, & Nantucket, Walling, Henry. 1880 Map, Atlas of Barnstable County, Boston, MA: George H. Walker & Co., 1880. 1910 Map, Atlas of Barnstable County, Boston, MA: Walker Litho. & Publishing Co., 1910. Barnstable County Registry of Deeds www.ancestry.com - Vital records, US Census (1900, 1910, 1920, 1930) The Brewster Historical Society, Images of America, Brewster, Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC, 2002. Brewster Assessor sketch. Photo 2. Assessor photo, looking northeast (2016). Photo 3. View from Robbins Hill Beach, looking southeast. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 336 ROBBINS HILL ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 3 BRE.427 Detail of 1880 Barnstable County Atlas. Detail of 1910 Barnstable County Atlas (arrow added). Detail of Land Court Plan 9894-A.