The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My Public Portal AboutStonyBrookRd_178, BRE.429Follow 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 15-6-0 Dennis BRE.429 Town/City: BREWSTER Place:(neighborhood or village): West Brewster Address: 178 Stony Brook Road Historic Name: Conlin (Connolly), Thomas House Uses:Present: Residential Original: Residential Date of Construction: 1850-58 Source:Deed research, 1858 Map of Cape Cod Style/Form: / ½ Saltbox Architect/Builder: Unknown Exterior Material: Foundation: Unknown Wall/Trim: Wood shingles/ Wood Roof: Asphalt shingles Outbuildings/Secondary Structures: One-car garage Major Alterations (with dates): 12’ x 14’ addition (2001) Condition: Good Moved: no yes Date: Acreage: 2.12 acres Setting: This house is located on a large parcel on the south side of Stony Brook Road. The surrounding area has a rural character with early and later 20th century houses set on large lots and a small subdivision to the west. The house is set back from the street on a slight rise, and a broad lawn extends between the house and a privet hedge by the street. A clamshell driveway leads to a garage to the east of the house, and a second clamshell driveway extends from the street to the northwest of the house. INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 178 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 1 BRE.429 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 modest house is a rare example of a ½ Saltbox (a more detailed example is found at 524 Stony Brook Road, BRE.62). Similar to a ½ Cape, this two-story house is three bays wide with an off-centered entrance and evenly-ranked windows. The saltbox roof form extends down to the first story on the rear elevation. The foundation material is unknown. The building elevations are clad in wood shingles with plain cornerboards. The roof is clad in asphalt shingles and has a very simple cornice, comprised mainly of narrow trim boards. A narrow cement block chimney rises up the right side elevation, but it appears that any original brick chimneys have since been removed. The front entrance has a replacement door set in a flat surround with a slightly wider lintel. Fenestration consists primarily of wood, replacement 6/6 double-hung sash set in flat casings with narrow, projecting sills. There is a shed-roofed, one-story addition (built 2001) that extends from the rear of the left side 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. 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 Brewster Assessor date of this house is 1890, but there is a house shown in the location on the 1858 Map of Cape Cod belonging to T. Conlin (see attached detail of map), and on the 1880 Barnstable Atlas map belonging to T. Conly (another version of the name) (see attached detail of 1880 Atlas map). Deed research confirms that this property was owned by one Thomas Connolly (a third spelling of the name). In 1895, James Connolly of Los Angeles, CA sold 25 acres of “cleared and bush land with all buildings”… being the homestead of the late Thomas Connolly (Book 220/Page 361). This deed goes on to state that this land was assembled by Thomas Connolly in conveyances from Joseph H. Sears, the heirs of Isaac Crowell and, interestingly, the Selectmen of the town. Thomas Conly was born ca. 1812-22 in Ireland and emigrated to the US in ca. 1850. Since the house is shown on the 1858 Map of Cape Cod, this would mean the house was built sometime between 1850 and 1858. Deed research has yet to locate transactions confirming this timeline. In the 1870 US Census, Thomas Conlin is listed owning a house whose neighbors are consistent with those shown in this location on the 1880 Atlas Map. Namely, to the east was Calvin Sears, a laborer, and to the west was James Conly (age 43) his wife Alice and their four young children. Thomas was also listed a as laborer, and living with him were Howard Conly (age 40) who is listed as a keeping house, and another James Conly (age 29) who was a seaman. Presumably, it was this younger James Conly (now Connolly) who was living in California in 1895 when he sold the property, as noted above, to Frank (Franklin) P. Ellis of Brewster (Book 220/Page 361). Frank Ellis (b. ca. 1862) married his wife Mercy W. (b. 1860) in 1884 and they had five children. Frank is listed as a laborer in the US Census records. In 1950, Frank Ellis sold this property, still 25 acres, to James and Lillian Scott of Brewster (Book 740/Page 50). The land included a swamp known as Berry’s Hole. The Scotts subsequently sold off portions of the property, but this house remained in the extended family until 1993 when Joseph S. Cotell of Yarmouth sold the property to Elbert C. Ulshoeffer, Jr. of South Dennis (Book 8972/Page 196). INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET BREWSTER 178 STONY BROOK ROAD MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Continuation sheet 2 BRE.429 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 (1870, 1910, 1920, 1930) Brewster Assessor sketch. Photo 2. View looking southwest. Detail of 1858 Map of Cape Cod, arrow added. Detail of 1880 County Atlas, arrow added.