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Home My Public Portal AboutStonyBrookRd_1179, BRE.309Follow 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 47-3-0 Dennis BRE.C,G,I BRE.309 Town/City: BREWSTER Place:(neighborhood or village): West Brewster Address: 1179 Stony Brook Road Historic Name: Wixon, Jeremiah R. House Uses:Present: Residential Original: Residential Date of Construction: [1875-1880] Source:Deed research, 1880 Barnstable Atlas Style/Form: Gothic Revival Architect/Builder: Unknown Exterior Material: Foundation: Parged fieldstone Wall/Trim: Wood clapboard/ Wood Roof: Asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: Barn [1880-1910] Major Alterations (with dates): Rear ell altered/expanded (dates unknown) New siding, new windows (2009, 2011) Condition: Good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage: 1.12 acres Setting: This house is located on the north side of Stony Brook Road just west of the intersection with Main Street. The surrounding area retains its rural character with historic and contemporary houses set close to the street on large lots. This house is set relatively close to the street on a level parcel A large clamshell parking area is located in front of the barn. The house is surrounded by lawn and foundation plantings and the yard is dotted with mature deciduous trees. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 1179 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 BRE.C,G,I BRE.309 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 house is one of two Gothic Revival-style houses on Stony Brook Road (the other being 770 Stony Brook Road, BRE.304). The house consists of a 1 ½-story, side-gable main block with a rear ell/addition. The house rests on a heavily parged fieldstone foundation. The elevations are clad in wood clapboard siding and have corner pilasters with recessed panels. The front roof slope has a prominent center cross gable with a steeply-pitched roof. This roof pitch is the main feature which characterizes this house as Gothic Revival in style, a style which incorporates details that emphasize a building’s verticality. Original, matching tall, narrow brick chimneys have since been removed. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles and has a deeply-projecting molded box cornice with two-part frieze (trim) boards below. The front elevation is symmetrically arrayed with a center entrance flanked by matching hexagonal bays. Fenestration consists primarily of replacement 2/2 windows (the original windows were likely wood 2/2 windows). The front entrance is set underneath a portico with a shallow hipped roof and wide cornice supported by square posts. The wood door has four molded panels, the upper two of which are infilled with etched glass. A screen porch extends along the right, east side elevation (see Photo 2). A version of this porch, with more elaborate supports can be seen in an early- 20th century photograph (see Photo 3). The rear ells appear to have been altered and expanded over time. Interior framing suggests that the rear gable-roofed ell was added sometime after the main block was built. As can be seen on the 1880 and 1910 Barnstable County Atlas maps (see attached), this ell, and possibly other components, were in place by that time. The west side of the ell was expanded in the later 20th century. There is a large barn located to the northwest of the house (see Photo 5). This barn is not shown on the 1880 Atlas map but is present by 1910. The barn was built with the same steep gable dormer on the front elevation, reflecting the Gothic Revival style. The barn is clad in wood shingle siding, has a projecting roof with open eaves, and 2/2 wood windows. An unusual feature is the stained glass window on the east side elevation. There is also an organ inside the barn. It has been speculated by local residents that the barn was used for Catholic services prior to the church being built. 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. This house is located in West Brewster, on a road that was originally part of Old King’s Highway. Laid out in 1665, Old King’s Highway, also historically referred to as King’s Highway and County Road, was the region’s major east/west corridor. In Brewster, the original route followed Stony Brook Road, avoiding the wetlands and marshes associated with Quivett Creek and Stony Brook. By the mid-19th century, causeways and bridges were built across tidal and wetland areas allowing for the straightening of Old King’s Highway, including northwest of this house near the Dennis town border. Mill sites on Stony Brook became an important economic engine and led to early development in West Brewster, including extant residential resources from the 18th and 19th century along Stony Brook Road. The name “Stony Brook Road” was in use by the early-20th century. The house was built on land that Deborah Foster, widow and executor of the estate of Elisha Foster, sold to Jeremiah Wixon of Brewster in 1875 (Book 120/Page 383). Note: there is a marker on the house identifying it as the Wixon House with a date of ca. 1861; the attribution of this date is unclear. By 1880, a house is shown in this location on the Barnstable County Atlas belonging to J. R. Wixon (see attached detail of Atlas). The footprint suggests that a large rear ell was in place at that time. In 1881, Jeremiah married Betsey Murphy (1858-1933). They had two children, Margaret and Rhoda. Jeremiah worked as a cooper (1900 US Census) and as an employer in a tannery (1910 US Census). Jeremiah took out a mortgage with the Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank in 1922 that was foreclosed upon. In 1934, the bank sold the property to J. Laurence McCormick of Brookline (Book 506/Page 88). McCormick (b. ca. 1908) worked as an importer (1940 US Census). The property has changed hands numerous times since then, often to families who did not live in Brewster at the time of purchase and sale, indicating that INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 1179 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 BRE.C,G,I BRE.309 the property was used as a second home. The property was most recently purchased by William S. and Katherine G. Atwater of Allendale, NJ in 2015 (Book 29062/Page 41). The Atwaters have since moved to Brewster. This property is located within the Old King’s Highway Regional Historic District (adopted 1973) and the house, barn and shed are contributing resources in the Old King’s Highway National Register District (listed 1996). BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 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 Brewster Historical Society, Images of America, Brewster, Arcadia Publishing: Charleston, SC, 2002. www.ancestry.com - Vital records, US Census (1900, 1910, 1940) Brewster Assessor sketch. Detail of 1880 Barnstable County Atlas. Detail of 1910 Barnstable County Atlas. Photo 2. View looking northwest. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 1179 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 3 BRE.C,G,I BRE.309 Photo 3. Early-20th century view (Images of America, Brewster) Photo 4. View looking east. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 1179 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 4 BRE.C,G,I BRE.309 Photo 5. View of barn, looking northwest.