National Register of Historic Places

Butterfield-Whittemore House

Arlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Listed
March 29, 1978
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
78000429

About this property

The Butterfield-Whittemore House, is a historic colonial house at 54 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington, Massachusetts. With its oldest section dating to c. 1695, it is one of the town's oldest houses, and may be its oldest. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Butterfield-Whittemore House stands on the south side of Massachusetts Avenue in East Arlington, between Fairmont and Lafayette Streets. It is set back from the street relative to the flanking multifamily buildings, and is set slightly askew from the current alignment of the road. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof, clapboarded front, and brick sidewalls. The roof is pierced by interior chimneys. The main facade is five bays wide and symmetrical, with the centered entrance sheltered by a gabled porch supported by fluted columns. The earliest part of the house was built about 1695 by Johnathan Butterfield, a field driver in Menotomy, as Arlington was then called. It was sold in 1749 to Samuel Whittemore III, son of the local American Revolutionary War hero of the same name. The locally famous Whittemore was long thought to own this house, but was actually living in a house across Massachusetts Avenue. Greek Revival modifications were made about 1845, and a new porch added circa 1920. Restorations began in 2006 and have since completed. The house's position relative to Massachusetts Avenue is unusual because it is reflective of the road's early 18th century alignment. National Register of Historic Places listings in Arlington, Massachusetts Wicked Local: Resurrecting the past by post and beam, by Les Masterson, Wed Apr 11, 2007.

Location

54 Massachusetts Ave.
Arlington, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
42.40181, -71.13780

Categories

EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENTPOLITICS/GOVERNMENT
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Robindreau, Alfred E., House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Almshouse
Industrial
0.3 mi
House at 5-7 Winter Street
Industrial
0.4 mi
Capitol Theater Building
Industrial
0.4 mi
Kimball, W.W., House
Industrial
0.4 mi

Nearby Battles

Skirmish at Menotomy (Arlington)
1775Revolutionary War
1.3 mi
Battle of Menotomy
1775Revolutionary War
1.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Butterfield-Whittemore House listed on the National Register?

Butterfield-Whittemore House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 29, 1978.

What type of historic resource is Butterfield-Whittemore House?

Butterfield-Whittemore House is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Butterfield-Whittemore House?

The period of significance for Butterfield-Whittemore House is recorded as the industrial era.

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