Flint Homestead

Transcription

Flint Homestead

Flint Homestead
Lincoln, Massachusetts
Conditions Assessment
May 2014
spencer & vogt group
architecture preservation
Spencer & Vogt Group, Inc.
1 Thompson Square, Ste. 504
Charlestown, MA 02129
www.spencervogt.com
CONDITIONS ASSESSMENT
FLINT HOMESTEAD
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & METHODOLOGY
PART 1: HISTORY & SIGNIFICANCE
A) Building History & Architectural Significance
Page 7
B) Building Descriptions
Page 9
C) Character Defining Features
Page 13
PART 2: EXISTING CONDITIONS & TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
A) House Exterior
– Chimneys & Roofs
– Walls
– Windows & Doors
B) House Interior
– Basement
– First Floor
– Second Floor
– Attic
Page 18
Page 27
C) Barn Exterior
Page 35
– Roof – Facade
– Side & Rear Elevations
– Windows & Doors
D) Barn Interior
Page 41
– Cellar
– First Level
– Second Level
E) Structural Assessment Page 47
PART 3: PRESERVATION COSTING & MAINTENANCE PLAN
A) Preservation Costing
Page 57
B) Maintenance Planning
Page 63
Spencer & Vogt Group
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APPENDIX
A) Historic Documentation of Flint Homestead
– National Register of Historic Places Nomination (2003)
– Massachusetts Historical Commission Inventory Form B
– “The Old Colonial Flint Barn” by Gwen S. Flint
B) Preservation Restriction on Flint Homestead (2004) C) Historic Preservation Resource
– The Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties
D) Community Preservation Act Funding for Private Properties
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Prepared for:
Prepared by:
1 Thompson Square, Suite 504
Boston, MA 02129
617.227.2765
www.spencervogt.com
Lynne Spencer Principal, Historic Preservation
Patrick Guthrie Project Architect
Nicholas Curtis Architectural Designer
Margaret Flint
PO Box 6214
Lincoln, MA 01773
Affiliated Consultants:
Structural Engineer:
Structures North Consulting Engineers
John Wathne, PE
60 Washington Street, Suite 401
Salem, MA 01971
978.745.6817
With special thanks to the following individuals for their invaluable assistance and
access to the historic buildings at the Flint Homestead:
Margaret Flint
Gerard O’Doherty
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & METHODOLOGY
It has been a privilege to study and provide recommendations for the preservation
of the farm house and barn at the historic Flint Homestead, a direct link to the early
agrarian traditions and founding of the town of Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Spencer & Vogt Group was engaged by Margaret Flint in 2013 to conduct a comprehensive assessment of physical conditions at the building and to provide prioritized recommendations and estimates for the preservation of the house and barn.
Part One of the report, Existing Conditions & Treatment Recommendations,
begins with a brief history of the house and barn. The National Register of Historic
Places Nomination for the Homestead is included in the appendix and provides
in-depth physical descriptions and historical narrative. A list of character defining
features is included; these are the physical elements that define the buildings’ architectural significance and must be retained in any restoration scheme. The structures’
important historic features are also described in the Preservation Restriction on the
property, which is included with this report and serves as legal guidelines for the
protection of this historic property.
Part One continues with an examination of conditions at the house and barn, both
exterior and interior, from roof shingles to framing to the foundation, and recommendations for repair. The treatment recommendations are consistent with the
requirements in the Preservation Restriction to preserve and protect all the elements
that contribute to the historic significance of the Flint Homestead. A structural assessment is provided for both the house and the barn.
Part Two, Preservation Costing & Maintenance Plan, includes a description, outline specifications, and cost estimates to complete the recommended preservation
work. In this section of the report we suggest a budget of about $184,000 for the
necessary preservation repairs at the house. Work at the barn totals $155,000. This
includes professional fees and a fifteen percent construction contingency.
For the house, almost half of the cost is related to doors, windows and painting.
Roofing and new siding account for most of the cost at the barn. These costs are
focused on structural and building envelope repairs. Scope and costs related to mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and any updating at kitchens, bathrooms
and finishes are not addressed in this study.
The Appendix includes historical documentation on the Homestead and resources
to guide preservation work and assist with funding.
Moving Forward
With an understanding of the current physical state of the building fabric, the stewards of the Flint Homestead now have a framework to guide the building’s restoration and preservation and a platform for pursuing funding support.
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METHODOLOGY
The Conditions Assessment report represents a collaborative effort between Spencer & Vogt Group (SVG), Structures North Consulting Engineers, and the stewards
of the Flint Homestead. The homestead was represented by Margaret Flint.
The project team was assembled and coordinated by Lynne Spencer, partner and
preservation principal at Spencer & Vogt Group. Lynne directed onsite investigations with the assistance of project architect Patrick Guthrie and architectural
designer Nick Curtis.
SVG assessed the building envelopes and interior conditions and documented them
with narrative and photographs. John Wathne of Structures North Consulting Engineers conducted the structural engineering assessment of the building and prepared
a report explaining the actions needed to bring the structure into compliance with
good preservation practice and related building code requirements.
All photographs were taken by Spencer & Vogt Group unless otherwise indicated.
The final report was issued both as a printed document and in electronic format as a
portable document format (pdf). One hard copy was delivered along with a compact
disc.
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HISTORY & SIGNIFICANCE
The Flint Homestead is significant to Lincoln for its association with nine generations of the Flint family, whose original land holdings formed the core of what
became the Town of Lincoln at its founding in 1754, and who helped shape the
development of their community over a period of over 300 years.
The house and barn together serve as the centerpiece of the farm that occupies the
area northeast of the town center. They are the town’s best illustrations of the long
evolution of local agrarian culture that began in the mid-17th century with the grain,
hay, and livestock tenant farms of Lincoln landowners and progressed through
general, then more specialized, dairy and market garden farming until the end of the
Second World War.
The extant homestead buildings, an evolved First-Period (pre-1725) house and Colonial barn are significant architectural resources. In spite of the loss of its central
chimney in the mid-19th century, the house retains significant architectural character. The changes to the house over time show a broad range of periods and styles,
from its early Colonial roof framing system and partially chamfered First Period
frame, through a wealth of 18th-century Georgian-inspired woodwork and 19thcentury Victorian interior renovations, to its final Colonial Revival enlargement of
1901.
The barn, though relocated onto a new foundation in 1918, is a rare example of a
Colonial outbuilding that has survived with minimal alteration into the 21st century.
The location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association of
the property express three centuries of a single use and represent a remarkable Flint
family legacy and a treasure valued by the larger community. This legacy is acknowledged by the property’s individual listing on the National Register of Historic Places
and its protection by a Preservation Restriction. The National Register of Historic
Places nomination prepared by architectural historian Anne Forbes, which provides
a comprehensive physical and developmental history of the property and descriptions of its architectural and cultural significance, is included as an appendix to this
report.
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Flint farm house facade (south elevation).
East and north elevations.
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BUILDING DESCRIPTIONS
HOUSE
Exterior
The facade of the house faces south. It is comprised of a main block constructed
in the 18th century that doubled in width in the mid-19th century and a series of
extensions toward the north.
The main block consists of a one-room deep, 2 1/2 -story, 38 by 18 foot house with
a steeply pitched side-gabled roof and a 53-foot-long, L-plan, 2-story rear wing. On
the east elevation, the wing steps back in two stages: a 15-foot-long section that is
set 3 feet in from the east gable wall of the front part of the house, and a 38-footlong rear section set in another 14 feet. A continuous hipped roof covers both rear
sections. The entire length of the west side of the wing continues the plane of the
west gable-end of the main house.
That side of the house has two appendages: a 2-story, flat-roofed porch that was
added to the west end of the main block ca. 1905, and a small hip-roofed privy,
probably part of the 1901 renovations, which stands on a brick foundation toward
the rear of the building.
A pair of corbeled brick chimneys are aligned on the main roof ridge slightly west
of center. Another brick chimney is located midway along the ridge of the rear part
of the wing, just above a narrow gable-roofed dormer located low on the east roof
slope.
Interior
The main block is a two-room plan with single rooms at each story flanking the central stair and hall. There is a second pair of rooms behind the original two rooms
on each floor.
The north extension the first floor has a series of through passage rooms including
a kitchen, laundry and wood shed space. On the second floor a corridor on the east
side connects two bed chambers and ends at a final chamber that spans the entirety
of the wood shed.
A full height basement runs beneath the entire house.
The attic is divided into two parts by the roof framing of the earliest two- room
deep main block. The remainder of the attic is under the roof framing of the 1901
modifications to the various additions to the house.
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South (facade) and west elevations.
North elevation.
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BARN
Exterior
The Flint barn, believed to have been built before 1750, was relocated from across
the road in 1918. The facade faces south. The barn is bank-built with the south
gable entry at the upper level and the north gable entry on the north face.
The barn is a long three-level building, 31 by 68 feet, sided with wood shingles and
roofed with asphalt shingles. The foundation is fully mortared field stone.
The barn had a high wagon opening, now filled with vertical board siding, in what is
now the east wall of the second bay from the north. A second wagon entry located
in the east wall of what is now the fourth bay from the north is also filled with vertical board.
A pair of high, slightly off-center exterior mounted sliding wagon doors in the south
end give access to the main level. There is a line of six 6-pane windows along the
east and west elevations at the main level, and four at the loft level – one high window under the north gable peak, one on the west side and two toward the rear of
the east side. A 6-over-6-sash window in the front gable, and another in the north
end wall, are high in the gables. Six more 6-pane windows are set into the west cellar
wall. There is a side overhang on the roof slopes supported by added exposed rafter
tails. There are two more early 20th-century vertical-board doors: a narrow sliding
door at the north end of the east side, and a large door in the center of the foundation wall at the north end.
Interior
The roof structure of the entire building is a system of principal and common
rafters, without purlins, which supports horizontal roof boards. All the framing is
exposed to view.
There is a series of three overlapping lofts around and above the main floor. All
have plank floors and are supported on systems of posts, lintels and joists.
The main house floor is plank construction. An enclosed stairway leads to the lower
level at the southwest corner. Several interior enclosures along the west side of the
barn remain from the building’s agricultural use during most of the 20th century.
They include a sheathed grain room in the fourth bay, a pair of open horse stalls in
the third bay, a box stall in the second, and a pig pen in the first.
A double row of concrete piers down the long axis of the barn in the lower level
supports the wood frame of the floor above. The floor is concrete.
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CHARACTER DEFINING FEATURES
Every old building has a distinctive identity and character. Character-defining features are the significant observable and experiential aspects of a building that define
its architectural power and personality. These are the features that should be retained
in any restoration or rehabilitation scheme.
Character-defining elements include the overall shape of the building and its materials, craftsmanship, decorative details and interior spaces and features, as well as the
various aspects of its site and environment. They are critically important considerations whenever building work is contemplated. Inappropriate changes to historic
features can undermine the historical and architectural significance of the building,
sometimes irreparably.
This survey of the Flint Homestead house and barn identifies some of the exterior
and interior elements that contribute to the unique character of the original buildings and their site. They are also described in the preservation restriction on the
property, which provides detailed direction on acceptable and unacceptable alterations to the structures. The preservation restriction is included as an appendix to
this report.
EXTERIOR
Setting: The topography, population density and other influences that
are noteworthy to the property.
• The Flint Homestead occupies 1.84 acres of open
farmland and woods just northeast of Lincoln Center.
The house faces south and is located on the west side
of Lexington Road, set at an angle to a sharp curve.
• The relocated 18th-century barn stands about 50 yards
to the northeast of the house.
Shape: The form of the building. The massing that gives the initial
visual impression of the structure.
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The farmhouse is sited within six feet of Lexington
Road.
House: Two-story, L-plan structure comprising a main
house and several stepped additions to the north.
Barn: Two-story rectangular plan.
Roof and Roof Features: Typically the most dominant element
of a building. Often the element that most informs the shape of the
building.
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House: Steep side-gabled roof on the main house; additions spanned by hipped roofs.
Barn: End-gabled roof.
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Gable roof (left) and hipped roofs (center and right) at
the house.
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Openings: Windows and doors. These often reflect the hallmark
features of specific architectural styles.
House:
• A variety of 2-over-2 (ca.1895), 4-over-4, and 6-over-6
sash representing different periods of installation.
• Circa 1859 Italianate double entry.
• Carriage doors.
• Narrow Victorian door at east elevation of rear section.
• Privy door with tongue-and-groove panels and chamfered rails and stiles.
Barn:
• Single and double sash 6-light windows.
• Vertical board sliding wagon doors.
6-over-6 (left) and 2-over-2 (right) windows at the
house.
Trim and Secondary Features: Casings at windows and doors, moldings, cornices,
watertables and other additive features.
House: • Window casings with flat, ogee and beveled moldings.
• Italianate raised panel double doors with heavy cornice and molded surround at main entry.
• Double carriage doors with diagonal-boarded tongue-and-groove panels.
• Greek Revival era eave returns at main house.
• Narrow Victorian door with two tall glass panels.
• Narrow cornerboards.
• Overhanging eaves with integrated wood gutters.
• Oldest clapboards at main house are short and skived (tapered at one end) and narrow in exposure as they descend.
• Balustrade at rear two-story porch.
Italianate double entry with
Federal surround.
Barn:
• Simple flat window casings.
• Corner boards.
• Exposed rafter tails.
Materials: The visible kit of parts that comprise the exterior envelope of
the buildings.
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Sliding vertical board wagon doors. 6-over-6 sash
Wood (clapboards, shingles, windows, doors and trim). In
at gable.
particular, the wooden roof shingles on the north side of the
original structure and preserved within the attic space of the later addition.
Glass lights.
Fieldstone, granite and brick foundations and brick chimneys.
Wrought iron hardware including door hinges, handles, latches and shutter dogs.
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INTERIOR
The elements of the Flint house interior that are protected by
the preservation restriction include all structural and decorative
features of the following rooms:
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East parlor
West parlor
Front stair halls and their extensions on both floors
Front main stairs
Dining room
Sitting room
East chamber
The paneled doors and channelled molding are
West chamber
character defining.
Bedroom 1
Bedroom 2
Attic spaces above east and west chambers and above stair and hall between them
Also protected are the “Palace Crawford” model stove and soapstone sink in
the kitchen, the chimney and low brick set kettle with soapstone slab in the
utility room north of the kitchen, the board and batten interior door between
the north woodshed and its small vestibule, and the “one holer” box in the
west privy.
Guidance is provided in the preservation restriction for the protection and
preservation of existing interior and exterior finishes and wallpaper.
Framing elements at corner and
ceiling.
Boxed beam over fireplace.
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EXISTING CONDITIONS & TREATMENT RECOMMENDATIONS
This section describes specific building componants for the house and the
barn. Descriptions begin with a description of conditions and are followed with
recommendations. Each recommendation is classified as follows:
Critical = Immediate replacement or repair required.
Severe = Replacement or repair within one year of publication of this report required.
Conditions Color Key
= Critical
= Severe
= Deteriorated
= Weathered
Deteriorated = Replacement or repair within two to five years of publication of this report required.
Weathered
= Replacement or repair within five to seven years of publication of this report.
Fair
= Element is not new, but is in acceptable condition and can be maintained rather than repaired. Replacement or repair should be anticipated at end of 2/3 of typical service life.
Good = Element is new, or like new, and can be maintained rather than repaired. Replacement or repair should be anticipated at end of typical service life.
= Fair
= Good
The conditions color codes shown at right are used in the preservation cost charts
that begin on page 58 of this report.
Note that a Preservation Restriction on the Homestead identifies specific
character defining features that must be maintained to protect the historic merits
of the complex. Any of the recommended work that follows must also take into
consideration the requirements of the restriction relative to the work.
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HOUSE EXTERIOR
CHIMNEYS
Conditions
The two corbelled chimneys are in fair condition. The
mortar joints are moderately eroded but the coursing and
brick condition seems good. There is no cap on either
chimney and if there is a mortar wash at the cap, it is not
visible. The bricks seem well seated, but the skyward facing
joints seem unprotected from the weather. The counter
flashing at the base seems tight and intact.
The single chimney on the north extension is in similar fair
condition. The mortar joints are moderately eroded but
the coursing and brick condition seems good. There is no
cap and if there is a mortar wash at the cap it is not visible.
The bricks seem well seated, but the skyward facing joints
seem unprotected from the weather. The counter flashing
at the base seems tight and intact.
The two corbelled chimneys above
replaced the original single chimney mass.
Recommendations
• Severe - Install caps for chimneys.
• Severe - Investigate conditions from roof to confirm
no new leaking is occuring and that joints are closed
against rain.
• Deteriorated - Provide mortar wash over skyward
facing joints.
• Weathered - Repoint chimneys in 5-7 years (do at
time of re-reoofing - see next section). Single chimney on the north extension.
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ROOFS
Conditions
The three tab asphalt shingles on the house gable and
mansard roofs are in fair condition. The white aluminum
flashing is also in fair condition. Valleys are closed by
woven shingles so the condition of the troughs and
flashing, if the latter exists underneath, was not observed.
The paint on the wood gutters is failing. Several of
the corrugated metal leaders are missing. Observation
in winter showed extensive ice damming on the west
elevation where the extension and hip roof meet.
Recommendations
• Severe - Paint gutters.
• Severe - Confirm ice and wather membrane installed
at eave line.
• Severe - Replace missing rainwater leaders with
painted corrugated metal matching the existing.
• Weathered - Reroof in 5-7 years, preferably with
wood shingles.
• Good - Clean and treat wood gutters with boiled
linseed oil annually. Clean out debris from gutters
and downspouts. Install strainers to reduce debris
collecting in downspouts.
Missing rainwater leader.
Extensive ice dams on west elevation.
Typical roof scape for the house.
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FACADE
Conditions
Despite the age of the homestead, the house is weathering
well. The exterior siding is in good condition and has only
a modest level of paint build-up for the age of the house.
Trim is simple in keeping with the vernacular origins of
the house.
The facade best expresses the 18th century roots of the
house, although the divided chimney and trim at the door
surround tell of later alterations. The evergreen trees do
such a good job of concealing the double porch on the
west side from the road that it is almost invisible. The
down side of the tall trees is that they shade a quarter
of the building elevation and prevent proper drying of
woodwork when it gets wet. This makes maintaining paint
coatings even more important, since the paint protects
wood from moisture penetration.
Recommendations
• Critical - The deck of the porch on the first level is
unsafe. Replace the deck boards. Repair framing when
exposed.
• Severe - Trim trees and shrubs back away from facade.
Thin trees to increase air flow around the building.
• Fair to Severe - Loose trim, rotted gutter ends and
leader inlets, and open miters at the eave returns at
at the hood over the door should all be repaired as
necessary with wood dutchman or epoxy consolidant
and patching compound, secured with stainless steel
fasteners, primed and painted. Although the lower
edge of the watertable is worn and battered, the water
shedding surfaces are in good condition and the board
should be retained. Trim and cornerboards are old, but
vulnerable locations such as corner miters are tight and
show little deterioration. Paint preparation may reveal
further deterioration, but if the trim is maintained and
painted regularly it should last for generations. Check
fasteners and joints during painting.
• Weathered - Paint build-up is relatively limited and
it is likely that several more layers could be applied
prior to the need for full stripping. Current paint is
weathered and repainting should be planned. The
standard paint preparation and precautions against
lead paint should be used.
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Facade.
Shading trees and shrubs.
Trees enveloping porch. The flooring on the first level
is unsafe and should be replaced.
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SIDE & REAR ELEVATIONS
Conditions
The irregular expansion of the house to the north
has introduced many jogs, an inset porch and a privy
extension. While the woodwork is still well kept, there are
issues on these elevations that are likely tied to the more
complex geometries and weather exposures.
Similar to the facade, the paint accumulation on the
woodwork is noticeable but does not seem to be sufficient
to prevent several more generations of painting.
Trim is loose in some locations and there is localized rot
on some pieces.
The exposed rubble of the north elevation is missing
mortar.
Recommendations
• Severe - Loose trim, rotted gutter ends and open
miters at the eave returns should all be repaired with
epoxy, secured with stainless steel fasteners, and bare
wood elements primed and painted.
• Severe to Weathered - Paint build-up is relatively
limited and it is likely that several more layers could
be applied before the need for full stripping. Current
paint is weathered and repainting should be planned.
The west elevation has the most immediate need
and should be painted in 2014-2015. Standard paint
preparation and precautions against lead paint should
be used.
• Weathered - Repoint the rubble foundation. Use
chinking stones where joints are wider than 3/4-inch.
South elevation shows the carefully maintained
cornice line.
The west elevation reveals the sequence of additions
resulting in today’s house.
The east elevation facing the fields is more prosaic
than the west.
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WINDOWS & DOORS
Conditions
Only two windows appear to be old enough to date to an
early construction period and no doors from the first built
period remain on the exterior.
Doors are of various nineteenth century eras or the time
of the 1901 expansion. Certainly the main door and the
doors onto the kitchen porch are Victorian or later.
The 2-over-2 windows in the main block of the house are
also likely 19th century. The multi-lite window,s 4-over-4
and 6-over-6, also appear to be 19th century. Most first
floor windows have wood storm windows. Second floor
windows have aluminum storm windows which makes
pragmatic sense since it is much harder to install and
remove the storm windows at the upper floors.
Victorian door and Federal casing at the main entry.
Plywooded pane was vandalized in 2013.
Most windows have hardware for shutters and a number
of shutters are located in the cellar and in the barn.
Reinstallation might be considered.
Weathering varies based on elevation and exposure. The
recommendations reflect this.
Recommendations
• Severe - Windows on the west elevation have the least
paint. The windows and storms should be repainted
and reglazed in 2014.
• Severe - Replace the broken window in the front door.
If a match to the intact pane cannot be found, replace
both with similar glass. Apply shatter-proof film on
interior of glass to meet code requirements for glazed
doors.
• Deteriorated - Windows on the east, north and south
elevations should be painted with the next round of
painting for each elevation.
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Wood storm window and window casing detail at left,
casing showing shutter pintel at right.
One of the oldest windows (left) and conditions on
west elevation (right).
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• Deteriorated - Doors on remaining elevations should
be painted with the next round of painting for each
elevation.
• Deteriorated - The east doors into the wood shed
need to be repaired. Lower stiles should be replaced
and the vertical lock rail should be repaired with a
Dutchman.
Smaller window on north elevation of main block (left)
and double doors into the woodshed from the east
(right).
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Boiler under kitchen.
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HOUSE INTERIOR
BASEMENT
Conditions
A full height basement with rubblestone walls and a
packed earth floor runs under the entire house. The walls
were whitewashed in the past. There are masonry stacks
for the multiple house chimneys. Wood and steel posts
supporting floor beams are scattered throughout. The
exposed framing of the first floor changes direction several
times along the north south axis. Two wood stairs lead into
the basement and a bulkhead on the west elevation gives
access directly from outside. The floor is well compacted
dirt.
Stairs from kitchen into basement at left. To right is a
brick mass supporting the kitchen chimney.
Tide marks on the floor indicate some water infiltration
through the foundation walls, but it does not appear to be
pervasive.
Electrical service enters on the west wall. A modern
breaker panel is mounted near the kitchen cellar stairs. Oil
tanks for the two boilers and waterheater are also located
in the basement.
Basement boiler.
Overall conditions are Fair to Good but there are specific
items identified in the Structures North report that should
be addressed soon.
Recommendations
• Critical - Repair beam at main entry damaged by a
post punching through the flooring from above.
• Severe - Sill replacement on the east wall and
southeast corners of the original block.
• Severe - Correction of sill rotation on the west wall of
the original block by exposing the sill from the outside,
temporarily shoring the wall framing, cutting free the
sill and rotating back to square on the foundation and
replacing rotted portions before reattaching the wall
framing .
• Severe - Insert post and jack girt below south wall of
woodshed (northernmost room).
• Deteriorated - Miscellaneous framing repair, sistering
in areas identified in the Structures North report.
• Deteriorated - Repoint cracked mortar in the
northwest corner of basement.
• Fair - Basement utilities. Consider a reservoir under
the oil tanks since the floor is dirt.
• Fair - Steps. Treat with wood preservative along wall.
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Stairs up to kitchen from basement.
Note gray on steps where moisture has
leached from stones to wood.
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FIRST FLOOR
Conditions
Throughout the first floor of the homestead the plaster
ceilings show areas of cracking and limited areas of loose
plaster. Where the walls are not covered in wall paper there
are diagonal cracks consistent with settling of the framing. Paper and plaster at the south room chimney walls show
staining from past water infiltation. Paint is peeling at most
walls, probably due to variations in heating and cooling
over the years.
There are wood floors throughout of fir and oak cut in
wood strips; these are not the original floors, which would
have been plank boards. Finish is worn on the floors
throughout. In the kitchen a large linoleum area mat
protects the wood except at a border around the room.
A similar covering protects the mudroom floor off the
kitchen.
The northernmost room appears to be a woodshed.
The floors are plank approximately 1” thick, walls are
horizontal boards nailed directly to framing, and the ceiling
is plaster.
Wood strip floors and furnishing in the southwest
room.
Conditions at center hall (left). Doorway in-filled to
make cabinet north of fireplace in southeast room.
Recommendations
• Severe - Confirm chimney leaks are done.
• Weathered - Floor finishes should be renewed to
protect wood.
• Deteriorated - Plaster repairs and painting should
be done. Loose plaster should be repaired sooner.
Guidance for the treatment of plaster and wallpaper
finishes is provided in the preservation restriction.
Typical water staining at chimney walls.
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SECOND FLOOR
Conditions
The second floor is very similar to the first floor. The
plaster ceilings show areas of cracking and have limited
areas of loose plaster. The cracking is more extensive than
on the first floor. There is more prevalent plaster failure
at the southeast corner of the north hall beyond the
bathroom.
Where the walls are not covered in wall paper there are
diagonal cracks consistent with settling of the framing. Paper and plaster at the southern room’s chimney walls
show staining from past water infiltation. There are many
wall locations where radiator leaks have also damaged the
wall plaster.
Water staining.
Paint is peeling at most walls, probably due to variations in
heating and cooling over the years.
There are wood floors throughout, fir and oak cut in wood
strips at the four south rooms where higher levels of finish
were presumable desired. The remainder of the second
floor has original painted wood boards on the floor.
Left: Exposed corner posts and wall girts.
Right: Door onto second level of west porch.
Recommendations
• Severe - Confirm chimney leaks have been addressed.
• Severe - Repair cracked wall plate at summer beam of
southwest parlor - see Photo 3 in structural report.
• Weathered - Floor finishes should be renewed to
protect wood.
• Deteriorated - Plaster repairs and painting should be
done. Loose plaster should be repaired sooner.
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ATTIC
Conditions
The gable of the main block has a full attic that is
separated from the subsequent additions by overframing.
A hatch between the two attic areas provides some access
between the two spaces.
The attic framing in the main block consists of trusses,
purlins and rafters. The further away from the chimney
mass, the more load for the trusses, independent of the
support afforded by the chimney. There is some sagging
of the most distant truss members.
Main block original attic. Note the extensive history of
water staining on the chimney. But the brick appears
intact.
The newer (early 20th century) framed portions appear
sound. These form the hip roof. The load of the new
portion is transferred onto the original framing with posts.
Recommendations
• Severe - Investigate the trusses in the original gable
for attachment at the top chord to the sill plate.
• Severe -- Confirm roof leaks are fixed.
Wood lath and plaster keying viewed from the attic.
The space in the east end of the main gable attic was
finished as a playroom. This is the only finished attic
space.
In the overframed portion of the addition
attic the tar and gravel roof from the late
19th century can be seen (foreground
- circled). It predates the early 20th
century hip roof build-out, indicating
that there is an old roof forming the floor
of the attic.
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BARN EXTERIOR
ROOF
Conditions
The simple gable roof of the barn is covered in asphalt
shingles. The roof structure telegraphs its location in the
undulations visible from the exterior. This is typical of
older framed structures where the major roof framing
spacing distance allows sagging of secondary framing and
sheathing.
East elevation of the barn showing the worn roof and
siding and the undulations of the roof over the framing
Recommendation
• Severe -- Replace roof, examine sheathing and replace
rotted boards that will prevent installation of the new
roof.
FACADE
Conditions
The south gable elevation is at the upper level. A sloped
road bed leads into the upper level of the barn between
two tall, top hung, sliding barn doors. A single, double
hung window is centered in the gable peak. The facade is
clad in red cedar shingles and accented with white painted
wood trim. The gable rake mold is offset from the face of
the wall by about a foot.
The facade of the barn faces the south.
Recommendations
• Severe -- Replace the shingle siding. Install over a layer
of 15# building felt.
• Severe -- Scrape and paint the exterior trim.
• Severe -- Replace missing and broken trim on rakes.
• Deteriorated -- Scrape, paint, and repair wood on
door. Lubricate hardware. Flash the door hood.
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SIDE & REAR ELEVATIONS
Conditions
The side and rear elevations reveal
the random fieldstone walls of the
lower level and are punctuated by
square windows. Similar windows
punctuate the shingle cladding at the upper and loft levels on the sides.
Sliding wagon doors give access on
the east and south sides.
Recommendations
• Severe -- Replace the shingle
siding. Install over a layer of
Left: The northeast entry to the first level of the barn.
30# roofing felt.
Right: The exposed stonework walls on the west side of the barn enclose the lower
• Severe -- Replace the wall
level.
sheathing in the northwest
corner on the west wall with
sheating boards sized to match the existing.
• Severe -- Scrape and paint the exterior trim.
• Severe -- Cut down vines and shrubs along sides and
rear elevation. Carefully pull out root balls and fill void
with compacted gravel topped by loam.
• Deteriorated -- Replace missing trim at north rakes,
replace west side corner boards during siding work.
Flash behind replacement boards.
• Deteriorated -- Scrape paint, repair wood on barn
doors. Lubricate hardware and flash door hoods.
The south elevation shows the entry into the lower
level of the barn.
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WINDOWS & DOORS
Conditions
The barn windows are single glazed units with divided
lights. Twenty of the 23 units are fixed, 6-lite, square units.
The others are double hung 6-over-6 units. All three doors
are sliding doors with top attached, surface mounted
hardware. They are all faced with vertical wood boards over
a frame of dimensional lumber.
Recommendations
• Deteriorated - Rebuild sash and frames of four of the
square windows. Replace the sill of the north gable end
top window.
• Deteriorated - Replace approximately ten percent of
the vertical boards cladding the barn doors.
• Deteriorated - Replace the sloping cap board over the
barn door tracks. Install flashing over the entire slope.
• Deteriorated - Reglaze all 23 windows.
• Deteriorated - Repaint doors and windows.
Note condition of door cladding.
Typical square window.
Hood over rolling track for barn door, typical condition.
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BARN INTERIOR
LOWER LEVEL
Conditions
The lower level has an exterior door at grade on the north
end and an internal stair at the southwest corner that leads
to the first level. The foundation and concrete slab floor
are ca. 20th century; a double row of concrete columns
rests on the floor. The ceiling is the exposed framing
of the upper level floor and the walls are rubble stones
mortared in place.
Main block original attic. Note the extensive history of
water staining on the chimney. Stacked flower pots fill
the foreground.
Recommendations
• Fair -- Concrete slab, seal cracks to retard moisture
infiltration.
• Weathered -- Check bearing condiitons of loft post
from above and provide blocking underneath posts.
Wood lath and plaster keying viewed from the attic.
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FIRST LEVEL
Conditions
The first level is typical of a working barn. The floor is well
worn thick wood planking. The walls show the framing and
the interior face of the wall sheathing. The roof framing
is similarly exposed. The west set of bays is divided in
increments to enclose the stairway and make enclosed
spaces for barn storage and equipment. The center bays are
open and the mid bays of the east side are subdivided with
openings to the center bays.
Recommendations
• Severe -- Replace bottom chord of second truss,
reinstall missing knee braces at east post.
• Severe -- Tie east end of third north truss to top of
east post.
• Severe -- Lag screw split gun-stock shoulders of fifth
and sixth posts into position.
• Deteriorated -- Repair rotted areas of bottom parts of
framing members with Dutchmen - (six truss bottom
chords and seven rafters at the west slope of the gable.
Fair -- Floor boards are worn and uneven as befits a
heavily used barn. Eventual replacement should be
anticipated.
Interior view of the north east door.
Workspace and board enclosure around the interior
stair to the basement in the southwest corner.
Left: Typical framing of the south end of the the barn. Right: View north into the
interior from the south entry doors.
•
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Typical framing of the south end of the barn.
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Typical rafter end condition at top plate
Overview of rot at a portion of the western wall bent.
Gap between roof framing and wall framing.
Another deteriorated framing element along the west
wall.
Another location of disconnect between roof and wall
framing.
Scab at a failed connection between wall plate and
roof framing.
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LOFT LEVELS
Conditions
There are four tiers of open sided lofts roughly pinwheeled
around the center bays of the barn. Construction methods
vary, mostly being a pragmatic approach to framing.
Recommendations
• Severe - Provide lateral stiffening for lowest loft.
• Severe - Repair rotted areas of loft framing elements
at all levels.
Loft over the center bay.
Lowest loft on the east side at the mid-bays.
View south from the top most loft.
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STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT
John Wathne of Structures North Consulting Engineers conducted the structural
engineering assessment of the buildings in February 14, 2014, and prepared the following report. There are several areas of immediate concern which are included in
the recommended work in the preceeding section, but none of the findings should
be considered surprising given the age of the structures and the level of use each
has seen.
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18 April 2014
Spencer Vogt Group
1 Thompson Square, Suite 504
Charlestown, MA 02129
Attention:
Patrick Guthrie
Reference:
Flint Farm, Lincoln, MA
Dear Patrick:
On 14 February 2014 we observed the interior structural conditions of the Homestead at
Flint Farm in Lincoln, MA, and on 20 February 2014 we observed the interior structural
conditions of the Barn. The following is a summary of our findings and our
recommendations.
General Description
Barn
The barn is a timber-framed building with footprint of approximately 30 feet by 67
feet, with the long direction oriented in the northeast to southwest direction. For ease
of discussion, we will be referring to the long direction of the building in the northsouth direction, with the main driveway and barn door on the south end, which
corresponds with architectural drawings by Spencer & Vogt Group that were
provided before our site visit.
Internet research indicates that the property has been owned and farmed since the
mid-17th century, and that the barn was relocated to its present location in 1918. The
original date of the barn’s construction is not known.
The barn is approximately 24 feet tall from ground floor to peak of gable roof, and
has a walkable cellar below the ground floor. The cellar has square concrete
columns and a mortared (on the interior face, exterior face is unknown) fieldstone
foundation supporting the ground floor, indicating that it was built during the 1918
relocation. Above the ground there are at least two distinct loft levels: a mid-level
hay loft and an upper loft. The mid-level hay loft has multiple steps in elevation, and
there is an area of loft on the east side that was disconnected from the rest of that
level’s lofts.
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18 April 2014
FlintFarmBarn&Homestead
Lincoln,MA
The gable roof framing and loft levels are supported by a series of timber bents. In
the north-south direction the building is divided by seven bents oriented in the eastwest direction including the north and south exterior wall bents. We have labeled
these bents from south to north with bent numbers “F1” through “F7” on the attached
sketch SKS-1. Bents F2 through F6 correspond with architectural grids “A” through
“E,” respectively. In the east-west direction there are east and west exterior wall
bents as well as two main north-south oriented interior lines of post and beam
framing. One of these lines of post and beam framing corresponding with the
architect’s grid 2, however the other line appears to be offset to the east of grid 2.
The gable roof is framed with regularly spaced rafters, two opposing pairs per bent
bay, bearing on the east and west exterior wall bents, with the seven north-south
bents acting as collar tied rafters or trusses to resist the eave thrust. The south half
of the roof has a ridge beam at the peak of the roof, but the north half does not, and
opposing rafters have a half-lapped bearing connection to one another. Both of
these were common construction methods but the differences suggest the barn was
built in two phases.
Most of the exterior walls are sheathed with vertical boards spanning between
horizontal wall girts, and are the likely the only means of lateral load resistance for
the building. The north gable end, three bays on the west wall, and two bays on the
east wall are sheathed with horizontal boards. Timber connections were typically
observed to be traditional timber joinery connections utilizing various styles of
mortises, tenons, and wooden pegs.
Homestead
The homestead, located to the south of the barn, is a timber- and stick-framed
structure on a rubble stone foundation. It was constructed in two sections. The first
portion is a rectangular building at the south of the current layout with two chimneys
and a central stairway. The second part is an “L” shape where the short leg shares
the north wall of the original structure and the long leg extends north, aligned with
the west wall of the original structure.
The first floor is framed by heavy timbers supported by a combination of steel pipe
columns and peeled log posts in the interior space and a wood sill atop the stone
foundation walls. The timber girders run north-south and floor joists run east-west in
the original, southern bay of the homestead and in the small step out in the newer
portion, just to the north of this bay. The remaining area has timber girders running
east-west and floor joists running north-south.
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The interior finishes of the first and second floors include wood plank walls,
wainscoting with plaster walls, plaster walls with wall paper, and plaster ceilings.
There are summer beams running east-west in the ceilings of the south two rooms
and small room on the west side of the homestead. The summer beams in the
ceilings of the two south second floor rooms run north-south.
The attic of the original building is framed by four pairs of principal rafters, which act
as trusses tied within the attic floor. There are purlins spanning at mid-height of
these trusses that support two common rafters. The east end of the attic has a
plaster ceiling and knee walls. The roof over the newer section is framed in relatively
light dimensional lumber, over-framed above the original roof (creating the attic
space above it). There are three small wood posts (two 3x4s and one 4x4s) down to
the attic floor which support the roof at points of load collection. On three sides, at
the north end of the attic, the rafters land directly on the ceiling joists and are nailed
to them to create the necessary tying action that supports the roof.
Noted Conditions and Recommendations
Barn
The following conditions were noted during our investigation:
Overall building condition •
•
At the time of our visit there was a layer of snow on the roof obscuring the
condition of the roof covering. Based on our brief walk around the exterior of the
building and our observations inside the building, the building as a whole did not
appear to have any significant issues with leaning, racking, bowing, or warping.
Problems we observed were typically localized rather than on the macroscopic,
whole-building scale.
Within the cellar, the early 20th century foundation walls and concrete cellar
columns, appeared to be in excellent condition. It is unknown whether the
concrete columns were reinforced. In 1918 reinforced concrete was in its infancy,
so the columns may or may not be reinforced. Looking up at the underside of the
ground floor framing, many of the drop timber beams, which presumably align
with the timber bents above, had checks on bottom and side faces. The beams
appear to have been salvaged from other structures and re-used, as there are
numerous empty joist pockets, mortises, and other notches that do not appear to
correspond with anything in the present lumber joist-framed floor. The timber
beam that is believed to align with bent F3 appeared to have portions of its
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18 April 2014
•
•
•
•
Lincoln,MA
bottom edges/corners trimmed off, possibly due to former insect or rot damage,
but this does not appear to have caused structural problems. We would
recommend applying boric acid treatment to any wood surfaces that may have
been in contact with insect or rot damaged wood to prevent its further spread.
There are a few locations where empty mortises in framing correspond to
indicate that an original bracing member had previously been removed. Framing
at these locations should be analyzed to assure the removal of these members
has not weakened the structure.
There are numerous locations throughout the building where segments of
framing are insect or rot damaged. The locations seem to be relatively uniformly
scattered throughout the building rather than concentrated in any particular area.
Specific locations will be described in more detail below.
There are numerous locations throughout the building where the timber framing
has long checks. A "check" is a longitudinal crack that is the result of drying
shrinkage, but can sometimes be enlarged by high shear or tensile stresses. For
the most part checks caused by changes in moisture content are not of serious
structural concern, however, when they intersect connections between framing
members they can weaken them.
Some framing, mostly along the interior faces of the west exterior wall and east
exterior wall towards the middle of the wall, were hidden from view either by
interior finishes attached to the walls or by piles of storage materials. Not all
framing was readily observable and there may be hidden conditions not
mentioned in this report.
Insect or Rot Damage Timber Bents:
•
Bent “F2” has the most severe example of rot damage. Please refer to Photo 1 in
the Appendix. The east end of the roof truss bottom chord (collar tie) is missing
at least a 1 foot segment where it used to tie into the bottom of the truss top
chord at the top of the exterior wall. An attempt was previously made to partially
remedy this condition by installing a relatively slender wood post to temporarily
shore the bottom chord. A pair of horizontal 2x4’s were installed diagonally
between the bottom chord and the wall plate and fastened with a couple of nails,
however, this would not be sufficient to transfer thrust loads to the bottom chord
(collar tie), and makes the functionality of the roof framing questionable at best in
this area. This is also a location where there are empty mortises and a diagonal
knee-brace appears to have been removed, possibly to allow installation of the
temporary shoring post. Presumably, the temporary post aligns with a timber
beam under the drive level, but it is unknown whether the beam is strong enough
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•
Lincoln,MA
to take this additional load. The exterior wall post supporting the roof truss also
showed signs of insect/rot damage in the area of the empty knee-brace mortise.
The bottom chord should be replaced and re-connected to the truss rafter and
wall plate, the knee-brace should be reinstalled. Because of the tensile forces
expected in this framing member, the only reasonable way to replace a portion of
the bottom chord rather than the entire bottom chord would be to splice it over a
post using steel tie plates to transfer tension loads between pieces of the chord.
The exterior wall post should have damaged areas removed and replaced with
timber dutchman type repairs. The areas surrounding the damaged areas should
have a boric acid treatment to help prevent the spread of damage.
The West Exterior Wall Bent has severe insect/rot damage at the wall plate beam
between bent F5 (grid D) and the north exterior wall. This segment of wall plate
should be replaced with an appropriate splice connection to the remaining
undamaged timber, and with appropriate connections to rafters, trusses, and wall
framing that replicate existing connections.
Other Bents:
-
-
-
Bent “F1”, the south exterior wall bent, has insect/rot damage at the
underside of the west rafter, the underside of the roof truss bottom chord at its
east end, and at approximately mid-height of the west interior post (grid 2).
Bent “F3” has insect/rot damage to the bottom side of the roof truss bottom
chord at the center of its span, and at the underside of the west truss rafter.
Bent “F4” has insect/rot damage at the underside of the roof truss bottom
chord at approximately midspan, at a vertical web within the roof truss near
the west end of the truss, and along the bottom half of the west interior
column (grid 2).
Bent “F5” has insect/rot damage at both the west and east ends of the upper
level loft support beam, and at the east truss rafter.
Bent “F6” has insect/rot damage at the west interior post (grid 2) under the
hayloft level, and at the east hayloft support beam near midspan of the beam.
Bent “F7”, the north exterior wall bent, has insect/rot damage at the underside
of the roof truss bottom chord near the west interior post (grid 2).
All areas of damage for the above bents should be removed and dutchman
repaired and surrounding areas boric acid treated.
Rafters:
•
Localized insect/rot damage was noted at the following rafters:
-
The first rafter north of bent F1 near the top of the east rafter.
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-
Lincoln,MA
The first rafter north of bent F2 at the far west end of the west rafter.
The first rafter north of bent F4 along most of the west rafter.
The second rafter north of bent F5 at the far west end of the rafter. This rafter
may require sistering after removal of the damaged area, or complete
replacement with re-attachment to the roof sheathing.
The first rafter north of bent F6 at the far west end of the rafter. This rafter
already has been sistered with lumber framing, but the damaged area was
not removed.
All areas of damage for the above rafters should be removed and Dutchman
repaired and/or sistered, plus Boric acid treatment of surrounding areas.
Roof sheathing:
•
The roof sheathing had areas of water staining. The sheathing should be
inspected and repaired as necessary when the roof is replaced.
Other Conditions of Note Timber Bents:
•
•
•
At bent “F3” the east end of the roof truss has lifted up off of the exterior wall
plate. At the loft level there is a large notch in the side of the loft girt, and the girt
has a noticeable sag. This girt should be reinforced or replaced with a stronger
member.
At bent “F4” the upper loft beam has a noticeable sag. A board was hung from
the roof truss bottom chord and attached to the midpsan of the upper loft girt,
possibly in attempt to reduce further sag of the girt. This loft girt, the lumber
hanger, and the roof truss should be analyzed to determine if there are any
overstresses requiring reinforcing or replacement of framing. Empty or
abandoned (with framing sawed off flush with the face of column) mortises were
noted at both the east exterior wall post and at the west interior post (grid 2) just
above and just below the hay loft level, but it is unknown whether these once
served an important function. The roof truss bottom chord was noted to have
many empty bottom notches along the full length, possibly indicating it was
salvaged from another structure. It was also noted that the west exterior wall’s
top rim beam appeared to splice at the post at this bent, and a vertical gap had
opened between the end of the wall plate and the post, and the wall plate had
moved downward. The wall girt should have an additional connector fastened to
transfer loads across the top of the wall from wall plate beam to the next.
Bent “F6” had a large gap at the east end of the hayloft support girt between the
girt and the east exterior wall post. The girt is only bearing on a jack stud that is
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•
Lincoln,MA
sistered to the post. This condition should be analyzed to assure that there is
sufficient support for the girt. At both the west and east ends, the posts
supporting the roof trusses flare out around the wall plate to support the roof
truss like gunstocks, but have large splits where the gunstock is notched around
the wall plate. This could lead to the gunstock shearing off the post and the roof
truss losing support. The gunstock should be lag screwed back to the post and
wall girt to prevent further splitting. Empty mortises were noted at the underside
of both truss rafters indicating there may have been truss web members here at
one time. The roof truss should be analyzed. The roof truss bottom chord had
empty joist pocket notches along the top of the beam indicating there may have
once been a floor here, or the beam was salvaged from another structure.
Bent “F7”, the north exterior wall bent, has wall framing up from the roof truss
bottom chord that leans out approximately 6” at the top, bypassing the truss
rafters. This condition should be reviewed to make sure the top of the wall
framing is adequately connected to the roof diaphragm.
The East Exterior Wall Bent overall appeared to be in acceptable condition, but it
was noted that the original wall plate had been replaced with a newer, smaller
timber at the north end of the wall, possibly due to past insect/rot damage. The
south end of this replacement timber is butted into the remaining original timber,
with no connection. The north end of this replacement wall plate was not in
contact with the north exterior wall roof truss (bent F7), and the connections to all
roof rafters and the roof truss at bent F6 were either hidden or of questionable
capacity. This condition should be further reviewed on site and analyzed to
determine whether reinforcing or replacement is needed. The wall also had
localized water stains between bents F1 and F3 at the top of wall, and near bent
F6 at the loft level. Water stained areas should be probed for rot damage and
boric acid treated to help prevent future damage.
Lofts:
•
During our visit we were advised not to walk on the east hayloft (in the area
bounded by architectural grids B, D, 1, and the east exterior wall), which is
structurally separated from the rest of the hayloft level. This area has more
slender posts than the rest of the lofts, and there are no knee-braces or other
framing that would provide lateral load resistance or bracing. The posts likely
align with drive level floor girts, but not with cellar columns, meaning that loft
loads add stress to the drive level girts in this area. We advise adding lateral
bracing, such as rigid plate connections or knee-braces, to keep the loft floor
from racking, as well as checking to be sure that there is sufficient blocking within
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the ground floor framing to transfer loft post loads directly to the drive level floor
girt, and having the floor girt structurally analyzed for the loads.
Rafters:
•
•
Almost every rafter had a check in either the side face or bottom face.
The second rafter north of Bent F4 has bottom notches and side notches in the
rafters that may weaken them. These rafters should be analyzed for load
capacity.
Homestead
The following conditions were noted during our investigation:
Basement
•
•
•
•
•
The sill has rotated along the eastern half of the south wall and the full length of
the east wall in the south bay. Also, the sill has been replaced along the west
wall of the south bay. The joist ends are barely perched on the notched still and
are supported by cripples. The floor joists and exterior wall should be temporarily
supported and the displaced sills incrementally shifted into proper alignment so
that the joists can fully bear on the sill. Gaps below the sill should be shimmed or
packed with grout.
Two joists towards the north of the chimneys in the south bay are lapped and
discontinuous between floor girts. A properly sized joist should be installed that
runs the full span between the girts.
There is visible beetle damage in the joists to the south of the east chimney,
which is near the south entrance to the homestead. At the east end of this
damage, the wall framing from above has punched through the subfloor planking
along the front entrance hall of the house. Refer to Photo 2 in the Appendix. The
affected joists and planking should be removed and replaced and the area
treated with boric acid.
The first floor joists sag radically at the south end of the addition. Also, there is
moderate sagging in the east step-out of the addition. These joists should be
analyzed to assess their capacity and sistered with added joists if needed.
At each of the northern corners of the chimney at the north end of the
homestead, there are single joist trimmers, which are insufficient to transfer the
header loads. These should be sistered with additional members.
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•
•
•
Lincoln,MA
The eastern span of the northernmost floor girt is sagging significantly, with a
bearing wall and floor areas above sagging as well. A post and footing should be
added below the low point of the girt, which should be jacked back toward level.
There is a white fungus growing on the framing at the north end of the basement.
Any affected joists should be replaced, along with and weakened portions of
adjacent members. The surrounding area should be treated with boric acid to
control further spread of damage.
Water is entering through the foundation at the northwest corner. The area
should be inspected and any open joints cut and pointed. If cracks have formed,
these should be cleaned and grouted.
First Floor
•
•
•
•
•
•
The floor of the southeast room slopes down to the east. Also, the wall girt at the
east wall of the southeast room has a significant “crown” where the ends of the
beam are lower than the center. Also, the girt between the southeast room and
the room to the north slopes towards the east. This may be due to settling of the
corner posts as the sill has rotated below. The bottoms of all posts and wall
members should be inspected and dutchman repaired if found to be damaged
during replacement of the sill.
There is a radical slope in the girt over the door at the west side of the southeast
room. This corresponds to the location of the punching failure in the floor
planking that can be seen from the basement. After the floor is repaired as
described above, the girt should be jacked back to position and properly
supported.
There is a gentle dip in the south wall of the southeast room.
The bottom of the west wall of the southwest room is kicked out, and there is a
gap at the floor. This is due to the sill condition below the wall. The replacement
sill should be moved into proper alignment as described above so that the wall is
bearing directly on it.
There is water damage on the ceiling around the chimney in the southwest room
and the wall over the mantle slopes. The exterior of the chimney should be
checked for cracks, which should be repaired if found. The watertightness of the
chimney and roof flashing should be investigated and repaired if necessary, in
order to prevent water from entering the structure.
The wall girt on the north wall of the southwest room bends down at the ends,
most notably to the west. This may be related to the outward movement of the
west wall described above. The connections between the girt and posts should
be inspected and reinforced if necessary.
9
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2014
57
FLINT HOMESTEAD
StructuresNorth
18 April 2014
•
•
•
•
Lincoln,MA
The summer beam and wall girt of the small room to the south of the kitchen
slope down to the west and north, respectively.
There is a heavy cooking stove at the north end of the kitchen which is tilted
towards the north wall. If the stove is to remain in place, the floor joists below
should be analyzed for the load of the stove and reinforced if necessary.
There is an abrupt dip in the floor at the door into the north most room which
corresponds to a sagging girt in the basement.
The north-most room is filled with stored items, but generally looks good, as does
the stairwell to the west and the kitchen pantry.
Second Floor
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The floor of the southeast room slopes towards the center as do the wall girts.
The wall plate at the north wall has failed with a radical kink at the summer beam
bearing end, with a roof truss bearing directly above. Please refer to Photo 3 in
the Appendix. The wall finishes on the opposite side are sheared with respect to
the exterior wall. The wall plate should be replaced or repaired, so that the
summer beam is properly supported.
The floor in the south hallway slopes towards the stairway. This is common in
floors that abut a stairway due to the discontinuity of the framing.
The ceiling dips in front of the fireplace in the southwest room and is loose next
to the north end of the summer beam. The sagging ceiling should be reattached.
There is water damage and a sag in the ceiling of the room just north of the
southwest room. The water infiltration should be investigated and stopped, and
the ceiling repaired.
There is brown mold and plaster separating from the ceiling above the
northernmost window of the hallway. The damaged finishes should be removed
and the cause of the water infiltration investigated and corrected. Any wood that
has been wetted by this infiltration should be checked for soundness.
There is a radical slope but little cracking in the floor and ceiling away from the
exterior wall in the doorway at the north end of the hallway. This corresponds to a
similar dip in the first floor, just below, and the sagging girt in the basement.
The rooms in the small room second from the north end of the homestead has
minor plaster cracks in the north corners, but appears to be generally true.
Attic
•
There is a sag in the purlins towards the trusses just inboard of the east and west
ends of the original section. This probably from the trusses moving downward
with the deflections of the front and back wall plates on which they bear, as they
span between the interior and corner posts that support them. This deflection
10
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
Structures North
18 April 2014
•
•
Flint Farm Barn & Homestead
Lincoln, MA
pattern is evident throughout the height of the house, and directly related to the
wall plate failure over the southeast bedroom (please see “Second Floor”,
above). The conditions of all of the wall plates should be monitored repairs made
if the deflections worsen.
The posts that support the over-framed portion of the roof are small and few, and
should be checked, along with their supports, for the concentrated roof loads that
are on them.
There is no obvious damage in roof of the new section of the building.
Thank you for the opportunity to perform this assessment. Please contact us if you
have any questions or if we can be of further assistance.
Respectfully Yours,
Structures North Consulting Engineers, Inc.
John M. Wathne, PE, President
Attachments:
- Photo Appendix
- SKS-1: Barn Bent Plan
11
•
2014
59
FLINT HOMESTEAD
StructuresNorth
18 April 2014
Lincoln,MA
Photo Appendix
Photo 1. Severe rot damage at east end of Bent “F2.”
12
60
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
StructuresNorth
18 April 2014
Lincoln,MA
Photo 2. First floor framing punched through subfloor planking into basement.
Photo 3. Failed wall plate with radical kink at the summer beam bearing end at the north
wall of southeast room on second floor.
13
•
2014
61
FLINT HOMESTEAD
Sketch SKS-1 showing bents.
62
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
PRESERVATION COSTING
METHODOLOGY
Using our site visits and experience with projects of similar age and complexity
we prepared the following costing for repairs at the Homestead and the Barn.
Work identified under recommendations in Part 2 is called out and costs are
applied. Although some items are more urgent than others we recommend that as
much work as possible be done at one time. If cost requires delay use the urgency
categories to determine the items that must be done first.
We relied on recent experience with similar project and standard costing for typical
work items such as painting. The charts have a subtotal for the cost of the work
and then several added items to reach the total project cost. The additions are items
typically encountered on construction projects and include overhead and profit,
architect and engineering fees, and a healthy contingency.
Based on the above we suggest there is about $184,000 for all work described in
our report and the report of the structural engineer at the Homestead. Work at the
Barn totals $155,000. At the Homestead almost half of the cost is related to doors,
windows and painting. Roofing and new siding account for most of the cost at the
Barn.
Added together the projects yield an aggregate of almost $340,000. Obviously some
work can be deferred, but there is better economy in doing the work as a single large
project.
Our approach to the work is to undertake required repairs and to make a concerted
effort to provide the most durable finished product.
The following tables show the scope of work and estimated costs.
Note that these figures do not renovate or restore the interior for modern living,
they repair and restore what is present.
An estimate for the cost of that work would depend on the degree of finish desired
and could range from $100 per square foot to $300 per square foot in typical
residential renovations. The lower number would be limited work, basically renewal
of interior paint, update plumbing fixtures and appliances and lighting but retain the
existing configuration of rooms and passages. The higher number would include
moving walls, resizing rooms, replacing wiring and plumbing, new heating and
cooling.
The first and second floor comprizes about 3,900 square feet. So the renovation
costs could range from $390,000 to $1,170,000.
•
2014
57
FLINT HOMESTEAD
HOMESTEAD
Repair Chart
Legend
Immediate
replace within 1 Year (2015)
Replace within 5 years (2019)
Probable Cost
Location
Shingle Roofs
Gables, Hips and
Dormer
Weathered
2021
$14,500
Flat Roof
Main block flat roof,
two story porch
Weathered
2021
$8,500
Replace missing leaders (3)
West and south
elevations
Severe
2015
$420
Paint gutters
All elevations
Severe
2015
$1,750
Add caps to brick chimneys
3
Severe
2015
$1,313
3 Deteriorated
2019
$210
Weathered
2021
$1,925
Repoint foundation in northwest
corner and where mortar is missing, use Northwest corner and
Weathered
chinking where joint is wider than 3/4- various
i h
inch
2021
$3,080
Rain Water
Disposal
Provide mortar wash on skyward facing
joints of Chimneys
Repoint brick chimneys
3
Condition
=
=
=
=
Replacement
Year
Element
EXTERIOR
Roofing
Masonry
Critical
Severe
Deteriorated
Weathered
Doors
Mian entry door, replace broken glass
Façade
Severe
2015
$875
Repaint all doors, check hardware,
lubricate
All elevations
Deteriorated
2019
$1,313
Repair wood shed door stiles and rails
and boards
East elevation
Deteriorated
2019
$1,575
Repaint and reglaze west elevation
windows first
West elevation
Severe
2015
$3,500
Paint and reglaze storms
First Floor Windows
Deteriorated
2019
$7,000
Repaint and reglaze other windows
North, east & South
elevations
Deteriorated
2019
$10,500
Paint Wood trim and clapboards
Façade
Weathered
2021
$10,900
Exterior Trim
and Painting
58
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
HOMESTEAD
Repair Chart
Legend
Element
Location
Critical
Severe
Deteriorated
Weathered
Condition
=
=
=
=
Replacement
Year
Immediate
Probable Cost
Repaint entirely, wood repair,
damaged wood replacement, caulking
East, west and north
and sealing as required, replace
elevations
damaged clapboards, spot glazing,
includes painting porch deck and
railing as required.
Severe
2015
$15,800
Resecure loose trim and repair
woodwork on façade
Severe
2015
$2,625
Severe
2015
$5,586
Façade
Secure loose trim, repair open miters
East, west and north
on gutters and rake returns, epoxy
elevations
repair rotted elements.
Site work
Trim tress and shrubs away from house
Façade and west
elevations
Severe
2015
$4,375
Replace porch floor boards replace
deteirorated framing
first level two story
porch
Critical
2014
$5,583
Repair punched post and floor framing
Basement near front
door
Critical
2014
$2,625
Replace sill on east wall and southeast
corner of the original block
Basement
Severe
2015
$5,250
Jack walls, rotate west sill back into
position
Basement
Severe
2015
$2,625
Insert post and jack girt below south
wall of woodshed
Basement
Severe
2015
$788
Second floor southwest room wall plate
and summer beam repair, includes
Second Floor
repalacing casing on beams and
repainting.
Severe
2015
$3,150
Confirm roof truss connection to top
plate and chord connections
Attic
Severe
2015
$4,375
Clean Interior Clear Finish Flooring
First and second floor Weathered
2021
$1,348
INTERIOR
Internal
Structure
Sub Total
$121,489
Contractor Overhead and Profit ‐ 8%
$131,208
Construction Cost Sub Total
•
$9,719
2014
59
FLINT HOMESTEAD
HOMESTEAD
Repair Chart
Legend
Element
Location
Critical
Severe
Deteriorated
Weathered
Condition
=
=
=
=
Replacement
Year
Immediate
Probable Cost
Construction Contingency‐15%
$19,681
Total Construction Costs
$150,889
Architecture and Engineering Fees‐12%
$14,579
TOTAL PROJECT COSTS
$165,467
60
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
HOMESTEAD
Repair Chart
Legend
Critical
Severe
Deteriorated
Weathered
Condition
=
=
=
=
Replacement
Year
Immediate
Element
Location
Replace asphalt shingle roof,
includes sheathing repairs
Gable
Severe
2015
$27,062
Replace shingle siding with
new red cedar shingles
All elevations
Severe
2015
$26,854
Replace wall sheathing on
northwest corner with
sheathing boards sized to
match existing
Northwest corner
Severe
2015
$3,850
Repair Wood entry doors (4
leafs) including main paired
South, east and north
barn doors, paint, clean and
elevations
lubricate hardware, flash hood
over door hardware
Deteriorated
2019
$10,500
Reglaze 6-lite Fixed Sash (21)
North, East and West
elevations
Deteriorated
2019
$2,205
Reglaze 12-lite Sash (2)
South and North
elevations
Deteriorated
2019
$263
Deteriorated
2019
$1,400
Probable Cost
EXTERIOR
Roofing
Shingle Siding
Doors
Windows
Rebuild frames and sash at (4) East and west
windows
elevations
Exterior
Woodwork
Site work
Paint exteior woodwork
Trim and Sash
All elevations
Severe
2015
$7,000
Replace missing trim and resecure loose trim
West cornerboards,
norh rake trim
Severe
2015
$7,000
Trim tress and shrubs away
from barn
North, east and west
elevations
Severe
2015
$2,625
INTERIOR
Internal
Structure
•
2014
61
FLINT HOMESTEAD
Condition
Replacement
Year
Probable Cost
Provide blocking between
floor joists to pick up bearing
Upper level floor joists
from posts of lowest loft on
upper level
Severe
2015
$1,750
Replace bottom chord of
second truss from south and
reinstall missing knee braces
Second structural bent
from south
Severe
2015
$6,125
Tie east end of third north
bent to top of east post
Third structural bent
from the south
Severe
2015
$4,375
Fith and sixth posts
Lag screw gunstock shoulders
from south along east
back together
wall
Severe
2015
$525
Provide lateral support for
lower level loft posts
Severe
2015
$1,050
Replace rotted framing and
decking at various loft levels
Severe
2015
$6,125
Dutchman and preservative
treat bottom chords of six
trusses and seven rafters
Deteriorated
2019
$4,550
Element
Sub Total
Contractor Overhead and Profit ‐ 8%
Location
$113,258
$9,061
Construction Cost Sub Total
$122,319
Construction Contingency‐15%
$18,348
Total Construction Costs
$140,667
Architecture and Engineering Fees‐12%
$13,591
TOTAL PROJECT COSTS
$154,258
62
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2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
MAINTENANCE PLANNING
Good maintenance needs the regular investment of small amounts of time and money, but
the cost of preparing and carrying our a planned maintenance program should be far less that
the costs resulting from a series of unplanned major repairs and will help you plan your future
financial commitment and fundraising needs.
English Heritage “Maintenance Plans”
Introduction
This section of the conditions assessment and maintenance planning report provides an anticipated cost for work that would be considered typical responsible
maintenance at the Flint Farm Homestead. These measures assume that there is
public assistance with the restoration of the buildings and that that assistance informs a trust between the public and the property owners. It behooves the property
owners to protect that public investment with planned maintenance. These simple
activities, most consisting of inspection, specific tasks performed at regular intervals, and minor repairs performed at time of discovery, will slow deterioration and
extend the life of the already durable materials. The goal here is to recommend a
limited annual investment that will help limit the scope and cost of future repairs.
Maintenance Plan
The following maintenance plan follows an itemization of exterior features and
building systems.
The first columns on the chart describe the feature, its location, and its maintenance
cycle. The recommended tasks and procedures will not prevent wear and tear on
the building but will increase the lifespan of materials and will allow the cost to be
amortized over a longer period of time.
Perhaps the single most important maintenance activity is an annual inspection. The
building exterior should be carefully inspected from the ground, preferably by two
people and the same people each year, who document any signs of deterioration on
any portion of the envelope. When changes are noted, consultation with an architect or engineer may be warranted. Digital photographs should be taken to accompany the written record and stored for comparative referencing the following year.
Listed below are the column headings on the accompanying chart with a brief explanation of their meanings.
Material
The building system is the feature or characteristic that requires a maintenance and/
or capital budgeting line item. For example, exterior clapboard walls comprise a
building system that requires periodic wood repair/replacement and painting.
Location
A brief narrative description of the element location is provided.
•
2014
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FLINT HOMESTEAD
Scheduled Frequency, Cost, Annual Cost
The fourth, fifth, and sixth columns describe maintenance activities with intervals
and costs for the locations identified. Maintenance activities are largely housekeeping tasks and straightforward proactive work. The frequency is in years and the
maintenance work is considered routine upkeep which might require special attention from maintenance personnel or an outside contractor. The intervals are suggested as the maximum span of time between maintenance activities. For example,
the wood trim should be painted every six or seven years to retard deterioration of
the wood. Note that fractional yearly frequency means more than once a year. The
cost is the estimated cost for the work based on historical information gleaned from
industry standards. The annual cost is calculated for convenience to provide a total
annual maintenance stipend for the buildings. This is idealized since some activities
occur more than once a year and others only once in several years.
Comments
More detail on the building system and the maintenance work is provided. General
observations about access to work or special requirements are made here.
Annual Maintenance Total
The chart has a bottom line showing the cumulative maintenance total per year
which is approximately $2,365 for the Homestead and $902 for the Barn. This total
assumes that all exterior preservation work has been completed. Note that this total
is averaged. Depending on the frequency of individual maintenance activities, the
yearly figure may be greater or less. By budgeting the total amount annually and
setting aside as a reserve funds not expended in a particular year, there should be
sufficient funds for years when the scheduled maintenance expenditures are higher.
This total does not include reserves for capital budget items which have been itemized under the repairs section of this report. Capital Budgeting Total
Based on the projected endurance of materials and yearly maintenance, an estimated
replacement year and cost for replacement is provided (not including inflation.) Based on these numbers, an annual sinking fund number has been established of
$16,664 for the Homestead and $5,188 at the Barn to address future capital projects
such as rewiring the house and reroofing the barn.
Legend
The legend at the top of the chart provides color coding for persons responsible for
the listed maintenance task.
Light green is for a handyman – a person hired for maintenance and general repairs
ideally committed to long term, regular observation over the course of many years.
Remember that consistent observation is the key.
Blue is a contractor or other outside agent familiar with general construction and
building requirements.
Purple is a specialist such as a structural engineer with specific skills to perform the
required observations or service.
64
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2014
Windows
Doors
Masonry
Rain Water
Disposal
EXTERIOR
Roofing
All elevations
Granite
foundation
facing
Wood entry
doors (7 leafs) South and west
including 2
elevations
paired doors
3
Brick
Chimneys
1.0
1.0
1.0
0.5
1.0
Roof to wall
Metal flashing intersections, roof to
chimney
All elevations
1.0
Main block flat roof,
two story porch
Flat Roof
Gutters &
leaders
1.0
Gables, Hips and
Dormer
Shingle Roofs
Frequency in
years
$61
$19
$333
$44
$11
$175
$219
Cost
$61
$19
$333
$88
$11
$175
$219
Annual Cost
Scheduled Inspection/Maintenance
FLINT FARM HOMESTEAD
Material
Location
= Handyman
Legend
Maintenance and Replacement Chart
Projected
endurance
10
10
Check operation of hinges, bolts
and locks and lubricate as
15
necessary. Check security of
locks.
Inspect, spot pointing
Clean out leaves, check
50
connections to leaders seal joints
35
5
Inspect annually, inspect after
stormy weather, small patches
stormy weather
5
stormy weather
Comments
2029
2024
2024
2064
2049
2019
2019
$408
$308
$266
$140
$25
$1,700
$2,900
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
= Contractor
$6,125
$3,080
$2,660
$7,000
$875
$8,500
$14,500
Probable Cost
= Specialist
Repaint, repair wood, adjust
hardware
This assumes current pointing
has reduced life. Future
repointing will last 40 to 60
years with routine maintenance
Replace wood gutters and
metal leaders
Replace - after second asphalt
shingle roof replacement
Assumed that 5 years of good
life left in flat roof on porch
and main block
Assumed that 5 years of good
life left in asphalt shingles
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
65
66
Exterior
Painting
East, North
8-lite sash (6)
West elevation
South elevation
Exterior
woodwork
Exterior
woodwork
All elevations
1.0
1.0
Aluminum
Storm
Windows
Exterior
woodwork
1.0
Wood Storms First Floor Windows
1.0
1.0
East, North, West
12-lite Sash
(21)
Frequency in
years
1.0
Second Floor
Windows
= Handyman
$84
$50
$35
$26
$92
$57
Cost
$84
$50
$35
$26
$92
$57
Annual Cost
Legend
4-lite Victorian
House Sash
South, East, West
(13)
Material
Location
2039
Inspect, adjust hardware, touch
up paint
Inspect from ground and
accessible high points and report
any damage
8
8
25
2024
2022
2039
2039
25
locks.
Inspect, adjust hardware, touch
up paint
2039
25
locks
25
2039
Projected
endurance
$328
$663
$242
$196
$252
$1,103
$546
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
25
locks
Comments
= Contractor
$2,625
$5,308
$6,038
$4,900
$6,300
$27,563
$13,650
Probable Cost
= Specialist
damaged wood replacement,
caulking and sealing as
required, replace damaged
clapboards, spot glazing
windows as required.
clapboards, spot glazing,
includes painting porch deck
and railing as required.
Dismount, repair frames,
replace failed hardware, renew
weatherstrip
Dismount, repair frames,
replace failed hardware, renew
weatherstrip
Replacement, keep in schedule
with historic sash restoration
Clean, repair, new weatherstrip
and reglaze, repaint.
and reglaze, repaint
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
•
2014
•
2014
Interior
Painting
Internal
S
Structure
INTERIOR
Site work
East elevation
Interior Plaster Walls and ceilings
3.0
7.0
Internal
structure and
fabric
Framing, foundation
stones, foundation
concrete, steeple
framing
1.0
1.0
Kitchen and West
Porches
Attic, ceilings, walls,
Internal Spaces
basement
Porches
Exterior wood
North elevation
work
Exterior
woodwork
Frequency in
years
$241
$66
$131
$55
Cost
$80
$9
$131
$55
Annual Cost
= Handyman
Legend
Material
Location
10
8
8
Projected
endurance
Touch up areas of high wear and
15
traffic - Jambs and corners
Inspect annually internal fabric
including roof timbers and floor
framing and report any signs of
movement or of damp.
Inspect annually and during/after
stormy weather. Report any
evidence of roof or gutter leaks,
water on basement floor, damp
walls.
Inspect, clean, reseal an oil
Comments
2029
2024
2026
2022
$963
$241
$381
$698
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
= Contractor
$14,438
$2,406
$3,045
$5,586
Probable Cost
= Specialist
Assumes plaster areas only,
papered walls are not painted.
Add plaster buttons where
plaster is loosening
Replace deteriorated boards,
secure loose fasteners.
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
67
68
Water closets
Plumbing
Water heater
Piping
Shower/tub
Kitchen Sink
Lavatory
Wiring
Building Wide
Building wide
Walls and ceilings
2.0
10.0
5.0
5.0
5.0
6.0
1.0
3.0
3.0
Interior Clear
Second Floor
Finish Flooring
Interior
3.0
Second Floor
Interior
Painted Plank
Floors
Electrical
SYSTEMS
Interior
Plaster
3.0
Interior Wood Wood trim, wood
Trim
walls
Frequency in
years
$131
$7
$258
$258
$140
$263
$27
$263
$963
$77
$88
Cost
$66
$1
$52
$52
$28
$44
$27
$88
$321
$26
$29
Annual Cost
= Handyman
Legend
Material
Location
Projected
endurance
30
15
30
30
25
40
15
15
Inspect unit, heating coils, anode
5
rod
Inspect fittings, insulation and
resolder/repair joints, replace
missing insulation
Check valves, replace washers,
seals, etc.
seals, etc.
etc.
Service tanks, valves
Test breakers, GFI outlets,
replace lights interior/exterior,
etc.
Touch up areas - building
expansion and contraction, loss
of keying, etc.
Clean
10
traffic.
traffic - baseboards, door jambs, 15
winow stools
Comments
2019
2044
2029
2044
2044
2039
2054
2029
2029
2024
2029
$350
$263
$105
$35
$18
$32
$831
$875
$898
$578
$292
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
= Contractor
$1,750
$7,875
$1,575
$1,050
$525
$788
$33,250
$13,125
$13,475
$5,775
$4,375
Probable Cost
= Specialist
Replace water heater - once
done can increase interval to 15
years
Replace plumbing distribution
Replace tub and shower
Replace sink and faucet
Replace lavatories
Replace with more efficient
units
Assumes total rewiring.
During painting - interval can
increase to 30 years after first
round
Refinish - includes money for
moving furniture. Coincide with
interior painitng.
Set loose nails, replace split
boards
Includes resecuring loose trim,
minor woodwork repairs
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
•
2014
•
2014
Tele/Data
Detection Fire and
Intrusion
Heating
Tel/Data
Fire
Protection
HVAC
Water meter
8.0
0.5
1.0
10.0
$50
$8
$59
$263
Cost
$2,365
$6
$17
$59
$26
Annual Cost
Frequency in
years
Material
Location
= Handyman
Legend
Repair wires, add lines.
Check smoke detectors and
batteries and carbonmonoxide
detectors
Replace filters, check vents, oil
lines, check motors and piping
and valves
Inspect
Comments
20
15
25
30
Projected
endurance
2034
2029
2039
2044
$28
$34
$950
$16,664
$18
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
fund per
annum
Replacement
Year
= Contractor
$565
$514
$23,750
$525
Probable Cost
= Specialist
Replacing phone wiring/data
cables
Upgrade detectors
Replace boilers and hot water
distribution and system motors,
piping and valves and oil tanks
Replace water meter
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
69
70
Exterior
Painting
Windows
Doors
Masonry
Shingle Siding
EXTERIOR
Roofing
All elevations
elevations
South and North
12-lite Sash (2)
elevations
6-lite Fixed
Sash (21)
Wood entry
doors (4 leafs)
South, east and north
including main
elevations
paired barn
doors
Rubble
foundation,
exterior
All elevations
1.0
1.0
1.0
3.0
1.0
1.0
Barn door hood
flashing
Metal flashing
Wood shingle
siding
1.0
Gable
Roof
Frequency in
years
$9
$92
$56
$306
$122
$13
$196
Cost
$9
$92
$56
$102
$122
$13
$196
Annual Cost
Location
FLINT FARM BARN
Material
= Handyman
Legend
35
stormy weather
2039
25
locks
2034
2024
2039
20
10
2049
2049
2049
$35
$257
$490
$980
$767
$30
$456
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
25
locks
Check operation of overhead
hardware, bolts and locks and
lubricate as necessary. Check
security of locks.
Replace loose or broken shingles 35
35
Projected
endurance
stormy weather
Comments
= Contractor
$875
$6,431
$9,800
$9,800
$26,854
$1,050
$15,964
Probable Cost
= Specialist
and reglaze, repaint.
Clean, repair, new sealant and
reglaze, repaint
Repaint, repair wood, adjust
hardware
This assumes extant siding is
already replaced.
Replace - when shingles
replaced
Assumed that current asphalt
shingle roof is replaced before
this work.
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
•
2014
•
2014
Framing, foundation
stones, concrete piers.
Internal
structure and
fabric
Location
Building wide
Frequency in
years
Cost
71
$902
Annual Cost
= Handyman
$7
$36
$9
$26
$131
$84
1.0
$18
$18
Scheduled
Inspection/Maintenance
$21
$109
$66
$131
$131
$84
Legend
3.0
3.0
7.0
5.0
1.0
1.0
Annual Cost
Electrical
FLINT FARM Wiring
BARN
Material
Interior Wood Stall and storage room
Walls
wood walls
Interior Plank Upper floor and loft
Floors
decks
Attic, ceilings, walls,
basement
Internal Spaces
Shrubs
Trim and Sash
All elevations
Cost
SYSTEMS
Interior Walls
Interior
Flooring
Internal
Structure
INTERIOR
Site work
Exterior
woodwork
Frequency in
years
Location
FLINT FARM BARN
Material
= Handyman
Legend
10
10
Projected
endurance
Test breakers, GFI outlets,
replace lights
interior/exterior,
Comments
etc.
Projected
endurance
40
traffic sanding smooth chips and 15
splinters
Secure loose boards
Inspect annually internal fabric
including roof timbers and floor
framing and report any signs of
movement or of damp.
Inspect annually and during/after
stormy weather. Report any
evidence of roof leaks, water on
basement slab, damp walls.
Trim back off woodwork
Inspect from ground and
accessible high points and report 8
any damage
Comments
$53
$219
$315
$1,313
$5,188
2054 Capital Budgeting
$273
Sinking
Replacement
fund per
Year
annum
= Contractor
2029
2024
2024
2022
Capital Budgeting
Sinking
fund per
annum
Replacement
Year
= Contractor
Probable Cost
$10,938
= Specialist
$788
$2,188
$3,150
$10,500
Probable Cost
= Specialist
Assumes total
rewiring.
Comments
Replace split or broken boards
Replace split or failed planks
Remove any volunteer shrubs
down to roots.
required.
Comments
FLINT HOMESTEAD
FLINT HOMESTEAD
72
•
2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
APPENDIX
B) Preservation Restriction on Flint Homestead (2004)
C) Historic Preservation Resource
•
2014
73
Spencer & Vogt Group • 2014
FLINT HOMESTEAD
NPS Form 10-900
(Rev. 10-90)
United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places
Registration Form
This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National
Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering
the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "NIA" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural
classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative
items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items.
1. Name of Property
historic name
Flint Homestead
other nameslsite number
street & number
city or town
state
none
NIA not for publication
28 Lexington Road
Lincoln
NIA vicinity
Massachusetts
code MA
county Middlesex
code 017
zip code
3. StatelFederal Aqency Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, Ihereby certify that t h i d nomination
request for determinationof eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of
Historic Places and meets the procedural and professionalrequirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property
State or Federal agency and bureau
In my opinion, the property
meets
does not meet the National Register criteria. ( 0 See continuation sheet for additional Comments.)
Signature of certifying officialfritle
Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
4. National Park Service Certification
I, hereby certify that this property is:
entered in the National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined eligible for the
National Register
See continuation sheet.
determined not eligible for the
National Register
removed from the
National Register
q other (explain):
Signature of the Keeper
Date of Action
01773
Flint Homestead
Middlesex, MA
Name of Property
County and State
5. Classification
Ownership of Property
Category of Property
Number of Resources within Property
(Check as many boxes as apply)
(Check only one box)
(Do not include previously listed resources in the count.)
X building(s)
district
site
structure
object
Contributing
x private
public-local
public-State
public-Federal
Name of related multiple property listing
(Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.)
N/A
Non-contributing
3
0
buildings
0
0
sites
1
0
structures
0
0
objects
4
0
Total
Number of contributing resources previously listed
in the National Register
0
6. Function or Use
Historic Functions
Current Functions
(Enter categories from instructions)
DOMESTIC: single-family dwelling
DOMESTIC: single-family dwelling
7. Description
Architectural Classification
Materials
(Enter categories from instrumctions)
COLONIAL: Postmedieval English, Georgian
foundation
walls
WOOD: weatherboard
roof
Asphalt shingles
other
Narrative Description
(Describe the historic and current condition of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
(See Continuation Sheets)
STONE
Flint Homestead
Middlesex, MA
Name of Property
County and State
8. Statement of Significance
Applicable National Register Criteria
Areas of Significance
(Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property
for National Register listing.)
XA Property is associated with events that have made
a significant contribution to the broad patterns of
our history.
ARCHITECTURE
COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
X B Property is associated with the lives of persons
significant in our past.
X C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics
of a type, period, or method of construction or
represents the work of a master, or possesses
high artistic values, or represents a significant and
distinguishable entity whose components lack
individual distinction.
D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield,
information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations
(Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.)
Period of Significance
ca. 1708-1953
Significant Dates
ca. 1708
ca. 1859
1901
Property is:
Significant Person
A owned by religious institution or used for
religious purposes.
(Complete if Criterion B is marked above)
Ephraim Flints I, II, III, and IV; George Flint
B removed from its original location.
Cultural Affiliation
C a birthplace or grave.
N/A
D a cemetery.
E a reconstructed building, object, or structure.
Architect/Builder
F a commemorative property.
unknown
G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance
within the past 50 years.
Narrative Statement of Significance
(Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.)
9. Major Bibliographical References
(Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.)
Previous documentation on file (NPS):
preliminary determination of individual listing (36
CFR 67) has been requested
previously listed in the National Register
previously determined eligible by the National
Register
designated a National Historic Landmark
recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey
#
recorded by Historic American Engineering
Record #
Primary location of additional data:
X State Historic Preservation Office
Other State agency
Federal agency
Local government
University
_ Other
Name of repository:
________________________________
Flint Homestead
Middlesex, MA
Name of Property
County and State
10. Geographical Data
Acreage of Property
1.84 acres
UTM References
(Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet)
1. 19
Zone
311110
4699750
Easting
Northing
Easting
Northing
3.
Zone
2.
Zone
Easting
Northing
Easting
Northing
4.
Zone
See continuation sheet
Verbal Boundary Description
(Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.)
Boundary Justification
(Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.)
11. Form Prepared By
name/title
Anne Forbes, Consultant; with Betsy Friedberg, National Register Director, MHC
organization
Massachusetts Historical Commission
street & number
220 Morrissey Boulevard
city or town
date
May , 2003
telephone 617-727-8470
Boston
state Massachusetts
zip code
02125
Additional Documentation
Submit the following items with the completed form:
Continuation Sheets
Maps
A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location.
A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources.
Photographs
Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items)
Property Owner
(Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.)
name
street & number
city or town
Henry R. Flint and Edward F. Flint, Jr.
28 Lexington Road
Lincoln Center
telephone (781) 259-8150
state
MA
zip code
01773
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate
properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a
benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing
instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of
this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of
Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503.
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
OMB Approval No. 1024-0018
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Flint Homestead
Lincoln (Middlesex), MA
Page 1
Portions redacted
7. DESCRIPTION
Setting
The Flint Homestead is located on the west side of Lexington Road in a rural area just northeast of
Lincoln Center. The farmhouse (Map #1) faces south, set at an angle to a sharp curve in the road. Its
relocated 18th-century barn (Map #3) stands about 50 yards to the northeast, and between the barn and
house, set slightly to the west, is a small clapboarded garage/equipment shed (Map #3.) Sections of old
drylaid fieldstone walls (Map #4) exist just off the northeast corner of the house wing, along the road
northeast of the barn, and angling in from the road south of the house. Plantings on the long
rectangular property include trees and shrubs from the later years of the Flint Farm--tall pine, spruce,
and maple trees, with lilacs, hollies, and beauty bushes near the house. Longtime flower gardens close to
the west and north sides of the house display peonies, phlox, and other traditional perennials.
While the nominated property has been reduced to a 1.84-acre parcel as a result of several divisions of
the Flint Farm early in the 20th century, its surroundings retain strong associations with the farm as it
had evolved through 1900. Directly across the road from the house is the long, cupolaed cowbarn built
by George Flint in 1870. South of the barn is the 1902 farmhouse of George's son, Ephraim Flint, and
north of it, close to the road, is a small vertical-board equipment shed. Just north of the shed is the
colonial revival cottage that was built by Edward F. Flint in the early 20th century for the farm
manager. Flint family members still occupy those properties, and the cowbarn and its surrounding
fields and pastures are still part of an active cattle-raising operation. On the west side of the road,
behind and to either side of the nominated parcel, over 30 more acres of the former Flint farm are
presently in agricultural use as hay and corn fields. Together with the now wooded east slope of Lincoln
Hill to the west, they create an appropriate backdrop for the homestead. Northwest of the present
farmstead, on the adjacent 17-acre parcel now owned by the town, a tall brick chimney and a
deteriorated wooden shed mark the east end of the site of the extensive Flint family greenhouses, the last
of which was demolished in the 1940s.
Evolution of the Flint House. The exact development of the farmhouse is somewhat unclear. The
building includes what may be two separate First-Period structures: a former center-chimney, sidegabled, two-room and chimney-bay-plan 2 1/2-story house; and, incorporated into the present rear
additions, a one-story structure with exposed, decorated frame. The latter structure apparently
replaced a leanto that formerly spanned the center and west rear of the main house. Among the
changes made to the building before 1850 were the attachment of additional utility sheds behind the
rear First-Period section, which by then was being used as a kitchen.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Flint Homestead
Page 2
In about 1859 the main center chimney was taken down and replaced by a pair of ridge chimneys and a
central stairhall. At about the same time, a northeast dining room and a range of two rear chambers
were built under what was apparently a mansard roof. In 1901, the side slopes of that roof were
removed and its walls raised to the height of those at the front, a second story was added above the
north utility areas, and a hipped roof built over all but the main front roof slope. In 1918 the barn was
moved to its present position northeast of the house from a site across the road.
Exterior description
The Flint House is a composite building, consisting of a one-room-deep, 2 1/2 -story, 38 by 18-foot house
with a steeply pitched side-gabled roof, and a 53-foot-long L-plan two-story rear wing. On the east
elevation, the wing steps back in two stages: a 15-foot-long section that is set 3 feet in from the east
gable wall of the front part of the house, and a 38-foot-long rear section set in another 14 feet. (See
Floor Plans, Site Map, and Photo 3) A continuous hipped roof covers both rear sections. The entire
length of the west side of the wing (Photo 4) continues the plane of the west gable-end of the main house.
That side of the house has two appendages: a two-story, flat-roofed porch that was added to the west
end of the main block in about 1905, and a small hip-roofed privy, probably part of the 1901
renovations, which stands on a brick foundation toward the rear of the building. About 1859, the
former center chimney was replaced with a pair of corbeled brick chimneys, which are aligned on the
main roof ridge slightly west of center. Another brick chimney is located midway along the ridge of the
rear part of the wing, just above a narrow gable-roofed dormer located low on the east roof slope.
All parts of the building are clapboarded; all the main roofs have asphalt shingles. The clapboards on
the facade and east end of the main block appear to be the oldest on the house--short, skived, narrowed
in exposure as they descend toward the foundation, and fastened with forged nails. Exterior
architectural trim includes narrow cornerboards on all sections, and slightly overhanging roofs fitted
with integral wooden gutters. A narrow sill board rings the bottom edge of the wall on the front section
and continues for 9 1/2 feet further along the west side. The foundation is fieldstone topped with
dressed granite blocks. A full basement exists under both the main house and the wing.
The main south facade of the house (Photo 2) has symmetrical, five-bay fenestration, with large 2-over2-sash windows set into slightly projecting frames trimmed with 1" ogee moldings. (The 2/2 windows
were installed in 1895-96 after an armed robber smashed 25 panes in the old small-pane windows in
December of 1895.) Iron shutter dogs from former louvered wood shutters remain in place beside some
of the windows. The present center entry dates to the ca. 1859 renovations, in which the center chimney
was removed and a through-hall installed. Each leaf of its paired doors has a long glass light over a
square raised-field panel surrounded by applied moldings. The doors are set below a deep, heavy
cornice, also with an ogee molding, with a bed molding below.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Flint Homestead
Page 3
At the gable ends of the main house, the roof projects several inches--apparently another result of later
19th-century renovations--and is finished with a molding and cornice returns. The fenestration of the
east gable end consists of a 2/2-sash window centered at each story. At the west gable end, the firststory and attic windows remain, but at the second story a glassed door opens onto the early 20th
century porch. The flat-roofed, two-story porch, measuring 11 by 14 feet, is supported at the corners
by 6-inch-square posts. It is open at the first story, where it is ringed by a balustrade of closely-spaced
square dowels and square posts. At the second story, the porch is screened at the front over a low
clapboard wall, and glassed-in with 12-pane storm sash on the west and north sides.
Reading south to north, the long west elevation of the rear wing (Photo 4) includes a 6-over-6-sash
window at each story aligned one above the other, behind which five 6/6 windows range along the
second story, and three windows--two 6/6-sash and one 4-over-4, are located along the first story south
of the projecting privy. The casings of all the above windows are flush with the wall, and trimmed with
shallow beveled moldings. The privy has a small high 6-pane window in its north wall, and a 4-panel
wood door at the outside entry in its narrow east wall. This door has tongue-and-groove panels, and
chamfered rails and stiles.
The east elevation of the rear sections of the house wing (Photo 3) is the most varied, and shows the
most evidence of change. Centered in the east wall of the one room-deep northeast hip-roofed addition,
a paired 4-over-4-sash window is aligned at each story. The rear north wall of that section has a single
4/4 window aligned at each story, and a very narrow Victorian door, with two long glass lights over two
lower panels, in the inner corner of that wall at the rear of the through-hall. The long east wall of the
rear section of the wing has three widely spaced 6-over-6-sash windows at the second story. The first
story has a shallow recessed porch at the south end, with a double 4/4 window in the inner wall. The
rear door from this porch, which opens into its narrow north wall, is a 4-panel Victorian door, with
applied moldings. The porch has a concrete-slab floor and a 20th-century, shallow-pitched projecting
shed roof, supported at the northeast corner on a long diagonal brace. In the main wall north of the
porch are two 6-over-6-sash windows at the first story, and in the woodshed at the north end is a pair of
carriage doors with two diagonal-boarded tongue-and-groove panels in each leaf. The rear north wall
of this section has a single 6/6 window at each story, located in the east portion.
Interior description
Even more clearly than the exterior, the interior of the Flint farmhouse reveals some of the stages in its
long evolution and expansion from the First Period through the Colonial Revival. Future examinations
of parts of the structure that are now obscured by later finishes may produce evidence to help pinpoint
the dates of construction of various parts of the house, including the dates of the earliest sections of the
building.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Flint Homestead
Page 4
Floor plan.
The main, south-facing 2 1/2-story block has the typical 18th-century two-room plan, with one room at
each story to either side of a central chimney bay. However, while some remnants of a front lobby
entrance were left in place, in about 1859 the entire center chimney and its base were removed. At the
first and second stories, the space formerly occupied by the chimney mass and lobby entrance was
reconfigured into a two-part through-hall consisting of a long front hallway with a two-run stairway,
and a shallow passage to its rear. (See Floor Plans) Two narrower chimneys were built, the rear of the
east one jutting part way into the hall against the new stairs, and the entire west one rising through the
west rooms.
The house as configured in the early part of the 18th century is believed to have been a "saltbox"--2 1/2stories high, with a rear leanto. The unweathered state of the west two-thirds of the main rear sill is
consistent with having been protected by a leanto; the east end of the same sill, however, is severely
weathered, suggesting that the leanto did not extend all the way to the east end of the building. Another
piece of evolutionary evidence is the presence of four chamfered beams in the rear portion of the house.
Three of these run north-south in the first-story ceiling of the kitchen (where a 13-foot section of one of
the beams is visible,) in a small sitting room/breakfast room behind the west parlor (probably formerly a
bedroom) and in a large pantry to its east. The north-south beams end at an east-west beam, chamfered
on its north side, which is located 4 feet north of the main rear building wall. (See Floor Plan.) Since
this chamfered section of framing does not abut the rear of the main house, it would not have been the
leanto frame; it might, however, have been part of an earlier structure that was moved into place against
a narrow infill section.
East of the pantry, behind the stairhall and the east parlor, are a narrow back hallway and a square
dining room, both part of a Victorian-era addition that includes, at the second story, a second pair of
east and west chambers, with a narrow cross-hall and a bathroom centered between them. The presence
of a slightly-hipped tar and gravel roof over all but the outer few feet of this addition (still intact inside
the present attic) indicates that this section probably had a mansard roof.
The rest of the long rear wing of the house is a combination of spaces built at several different times,
and ultimately assembled into the configuration it took on in 1901 to serve the household operations of a
large, prosperous farm. At the first story, a long kitchen, with an enclosed back stairway against its east
wall, occupies the center section of the wing. To the rear of the kitchen, in what may have been part of a
line of early-19th-century utility sheds, is a second pantry (on the west) and, on the east, a large
entryway, now part laundry room, with a doorway in the southeast corner opening onto the recessed east
porch. The north end of the wing is composed at the first story of a large woodshed with an intact turnof-the-century privy abutting its west wall. A second story was built over the rear sections of the ell and
sheds in 1901. The three bedrooms there, including a broad dormitory-like room across the north end of
the wing, remain largely as they were when occupied by children and farm employees for much of the
first half of the 20th century. As part of the 1901 renovations, the outer slopes of the mansard roof of the
earlier addition were apparently removed, its side walls extended up to the main cornice line, and an Lshaped hipped roof built over all sections of the wing.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 7
Flint Homestead
Page 5
Structure and frame
The oak post-and-beam timber frame system of the main block, with summer beams in the ceilings of
the first-story rooms running longitudinally (parallel to the roof ridge), while those in the second-story
ceilings and in the basement are transverse, is typical of houses built throughout most of Middlesex
County in the 17th and 18th centuries. The principal- and common rafter roof framing with a single
purlin, however, is less common in the area. As seen in the main attic, the building is framed with five
structural bays, each defined by a set of hewn principal rafters. Each principal rafter is approximately
five inches wide, and flares to over 7 inches deep at the foot. Pairs of sawn 3 x 3" common rafters are
set between them, with three in the center chimney bay. The upper rafter ends are joined together with
a bridle joint; there is no ridge purlin. The common rafters rest on the outside of a single low row of
sawn, 3 3/4-inch square purlins which are mortised into the sides of the principal rafters. The roof
boards run horizontally. This type of roof structure, while unusual in Middlesex County, is present in
several First Period houses in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex Counties, including the Fairbanks House in
Dedham (ca. 1637), the Pierce House, Boston (ca. 1683,) and the Gedney (ca. 1665,) Narbonne (ca.
1672,) and ca. 1668 Turner ("Seven Gables") Houses in Salem.
In spite of the removal of the central chimney mass, much of the original cellar frame of the main house
is still in place. The floor under the two front rooms is supported on 3 by 2 3/4-inch joists, spaced 22-23
inches on center. The basement summer beams are joined to the front and rear sills by means of a tusktenon joint, and their lower edges extend under the sills due to their deeper dimensions. The floor
frame of the northwest mid-section of the rear wing (where the chamfered beams exist in the first-story
rooms) has 3 x 4-inch joists, and the four-foot-wide infill section between the two structures displays 4 by
2 1/2-inch joists supporting a subfloor of reused boards.
Interior finish
In the living spaces of the main house, girts, plates, summers, and posts project into the rooms, but are
cased with boards finished with ovolo moldings. The width of the summer beams, including their
casings, is approximately 11 3/4 inches. The two-story corner posts have flared ("gunstock") top
shoulders.
Interior finishes in the house survive from all periods of construction, although much Georgian-era and
probably some First-Period detailing was removed, and some of it relocated, when the Victorian
enlargements and remodelings took place. While the paired chimneys in the main block were installed
ca. 1859, all of the fireplace surrounds and mantelpieces in the four main rooms are Federal Revival
units, with fluted colonettes, oval sunbursts, consoles, etc., dating to the turn of the 20th century. With
the exceptions noted below, all ceilings and walls are plastered, floors are narrow-board hardwood, and
baseboards, crown moldings, etc. in the more formal south part of the house have Victorian profiles.
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The appearance of most of the center stairhall, with its open-string stairway with round-dowel
balustrade and heavy, turned newel posts, is typical of the late 1850s/early 1860s. A remnant of the
early 18th-century First Period lobby entrance finish, however, remains in the very wide beaded and
beveled horizontal sheathing which still covers the front wall east of the double-leaf Victorian entry
door. (Photo 7) At second-story level, the door to the attic stairway is a board-and-batten type,
probably moved from another location in the building, that may date to the early years of the house.
Although its chimney dates to about 1859, and the fireplace surround and mirrored and paneled
overmantel in the east parlor apparently date to the 1901 remodeling phase, much of the fireplace wall
of the room is a high-style paneled composition of the mid- to late 18th century. (Photo 9.) While the
door to the hallway is a later Victorian type, with four recessed panels and applied moldings, one
section of the fireplace wall and a narrow closet door south of the chimney have the three-range, raisedfield paneling characteristic of the 1750s through 1780s. North of the chimney, a set of later
bookshelves fills a shallow recess. The present 6-panel door to the front kitchen china closet/pantry,
which, like the narrow closet door south of the fireplace has raised-field panels on both sides, appears
originally to have been located on this wall.
The fireplace wall of the west parlor, or later music room, is plastered. The room's four doors, two to
the center hallways and two in the north wall, are all of the recessed-panel type dating to the third
quarter of the 19th century. (See Photo 10)
Like the rooms below them, the two chambers in the main block retain some mid- to late-18th-century
woodwork. While the west fireplace wall of the east chamber is plastered, it has two four-panel, raisedfield-panel doors, one at either end, which retain their early hardware. (The panels of these doors are
raised on one side only.) The north door, which opens into a closet, is hung on butterfly hinges and is
fitted with an iron rim lock. The south door to the stairhall has H-L hinges and a particularly elaborate
Suffolk latch. (See Photos 12 and 13) Other early details remaining in this room include a Georgian
crown molding on the fireplace wall, and several long, heavy iron hooks. One of them, mounted in the
east side of the summer beam casing, was probably used to support a bed tester.
Except for the plastered mass of the chimney and its Federal Revival fireplace surround, the west
chamber retains much of the appearance it had in the late 18th century. This chamber was clearly one
of the most important rooms in the house. North and south raised-field-panel doors (6-paneled, and
raised on both sides) survive on the fireplace wall. (Photos 14 and 15) Hung on H-L hinges, their
proportions match one section of three-range paneling that is still in place south of the chimney. A
fortunate survival on this wall, given the later change in the chimneys, is the set of five fluted pilasters
and most of the crown molding. The hand of a sophisticated master carpenter is evident in such details
as the two end pilasters, which continue around the angle of the room corners onto the casings of the
north and south chimney posts. While no evidence survives in situ of the
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former appearance of the center fireplace section of this wall, it is likely that its chimney breast was
covered by the handsome four-part overmantel which forms part of a partition wall in the attic
chimney bay. (Photo 17) The rear north wall at the fireplace-wall corner projects into the room to
form the front of a shallow closet, which is fitted with a four-panel, raised-field-panel door.
At the first story, some portions of the frame of the rooms to the rear of the main block may be the
oldest parts of the structure. Four hewn ceiling beams in the kitchen, sitting/breakfast room, and south
pantry--an east-west girt, a center summer beam and two north-south exterior girts--all display the flat
(beveled) chamfers with tapered stops that are characteristic of late First Period architecture. (See
Floor Plan and Photo 11) The rest of the detailing in the rooms north of the main block, however, is
later and simpler than that in the front part of the house. The ca. 1859 dining room is the only formal
room with wainscoting--a plastered dado with a wide, unmolded chair rail. Victorian 4-panel doors
lead from this room to the southeast parlor, the rear hallway, and to a large, shallow china closet built
into the northwest corner of the room.
The lower three feet of the walls of the kitchen are covered with 20th-century wainscoting. There is a
soapstone sink against the west wall of the kitchen, and, in front of an interior chimney in the rear wall,
a freestanding iron cooking stove of about 1908--a "Palace Crawford" model. The northwest pantry
appears much as it would have in 1901, when it was probably put in as part of the remodeling and
enlargement of the rear wing. The upper part of the pantry walls are lined with shelves; the lower part
of the space is ringed with a narrow countertop, with drawers built in below.
Behind the kitchen, the lower part of the walls of the large utility/laundry area are sheathed with both
horizontal and vertical boards. Beside the chimney that serves as a flue for the kitchen stove is a low
brick set kettle, topped with a soapstone slab. The woodshed at the rear of the first story is lined with
horizontal-board sheathing in the 19th-century manner.Its double-leaf carriage doors are mounted on
long strap hinges which rest on iron pintels. The attached "one-holer" west privy is unusually intact.
The board-and-batten interior door from the woodshed to its small vestibule, like the door to the front
attic stair, is a relocated door of a much earlier era, made up of two broad feather-edge boards.
While the two bedrooms immediately to the rear of the main block apparently date to the mansardroofed addition, all the rooms in the rear part of the second story have detailing consistent with the 1901
period of expansion and remodeling. The 3-foot-high narrow bead-board wainscot in the center
bathroom appears to be of that period; as is its clawfoot bathtub. In the rearmost second-story rooms
(above the kitchen and utility sheds), the doors are all 4-panel designs with a very shallow raised field
panel typical of the turn of the 20th century, fitted with ceramic and cut-glass knobs. Here the floors are
painted pine, rather than the more fashionable hardwood that was installed in the front rooms around
the same time.
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There is one finished room in the east end of the main attic. (Photo 16) It has a plastered ceiling
between the rafters, and is plastered and papered on low knee walls below the purlins. Storage for its
occupants (who included a Flint relative by marriage, Mary Susan Rice, who lived there for some years
in the late 19th century) would have been behind the knee walls and in a small closet in front of the east
chimney. The closet, backed by the 18th-century paneled overmantel at the rear west side, is fitted with
a low door with two very narrow raised-field panels. Like the overmantel, the door was apparently
relocated from elsewhere in the house. The door at the entry to the little room is a simple batten door.
Outbuildings
Barn. 18th century (Map #2; Photos #5 and 18)
The Flint barn, relocated from across the road in 1918, is a long three-level building, 31 by 68 feet, sided
with wood shingles, with an asphalt-shingle roof. Believed to have been built before 1750, it began as a
31 by 34-foot three-bay English barn, with a high wagon opening in what is now the east wall of the
second bay from the north. The building was doubled in size by the addition of three more bays at an
early date--probably in the latter part of the 18th century. A second wagon entry was located in the east
wall of what is now the fourth bay from the north. Both wagon entries were later filled in with verticalboard siding.
When the building was moved to the present location it became a bank(ed) barn, with the south end and
east side built into the slope of the ground. Its floor structure was rebuilt, and a full mortared fieldstone
cellar story, with concrete floor, was inserted beneath it. The pair of high, slightly off-center exteriormounted sliding wagon doors in the south end, which give the building the appearance of a New
England, rather than an English, barn, were added shortly after the building was moved. Most of the
windows were probably installed at about the same time--a line of six 6-pane windows along each side at
the main level, and four at the loft level--one high window under the north gable peak, one on the west
side and two toward the rear of the east side. A 6-over-6-sash window in the front gable, and another in
the north end wall, are of uncertain age. Six more 6-pane windows are set into the west cellar wall. The
side overhang of the roof slopes, and the added exposed rafter tails which support it, were probably part
of the same remodeling. There are two more early 20th-century vertical-board doors--a narrow sliding
door at the north end of the east side, and a large door in the center of the foundation wall at the north
end.
As in the house, the interior of the barn reveals more information about its evolution than the exterior.
The posts of the older section (the north three bays) have flared shoulders which carry both the plates
and the ends of the 8-inch-square, hewn tie beams. (Photo 21) While the feet of the principal rafters of
both sections are tenoned into the ends of the tie beams, the tops of the posts of the later south section
are unflared, and support the plates, which are notched on the upper surface to receive the ends of the
tie beams. The roof structure of the entire building is a system of principal and common rafters,
without purlins, which support horizontal roof boards. The older
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section has no ridge beam; in the later section the rafters are tapered into a 5-sided hewn ridge purlin.
The older part of the barn has horizontal exterior sheathing supported on studs; the later three bays are
of rail construction, with vertical-board siding.
For most of its existence the entire building was one long English barn, with two wagon doors in the
long side, as is evidenced by the door header high in the east wall of the second bay, the lack of diagonal
bracing in the east wall of the fourth bay, and the characteristic single line of interior posts, one under
each tie beam, a third of the distance in from the west wall. Also characteristic of barns of the colonial
and federal eras is the earliest loft evidence. Joist pockets in the sides of the tie beams that face into the
second bay indicate that there was a high framed loft over the original wagon bay/threshing floor, and a
low girt framed into the posts along the north side of that space has joist pockets on its north face,
indicating that an earlier floored loft existed over the livestock area in the northernmost bay, where a
later one still exists today. The existence of another, even lower loft is indicated by empty mortises in the
west wall posts of the south half of the building. Today a low loft on heavy log joists covers the entire
first level west of the interior posts; another spans the rest of the first two bays. Several interior
enclosures along the west side of the barn, however, remain from the building's agricultural use during
most of the 20th century. They include a sheathed grain room in the fourth bay, a pair of open horse
stalls in the third bay, a box stall in the second, and a pig pen in the first. East of the box stall in the
second bay is a line of four metal cow stanchions. Several pieces of generations-old farm equipment are
stored in the barn, including an 18th-century plow and an oxen yoke.
Garage. ca. 1930 (Map #3, Photos 18 and 19). Although today it has the appearance of a mid-20thcentury clapboard garage, with a gabled-roof, two 6/6 windows in the rear and each side wall, and a pair
of wood panel-and-glass overhead doors, this 20 x 20-foot building was built in about 1930 to house the
Flint family's first automobile. It originally had a flat roof, so as not to cast shade on the greenhouse
directly behind it. In the latter part of the 20th century the building was placed atop a concrete slab,
and in 1990 the front-gabled, asphalt-shingled roof was put on. Today the building houses the Ford
tractor that was won by Henry Flint in 1940.
Archaeological Description
While no ancient Native American sites have been located on the Flint Homestead property, sites may
be present. Environmental characteristics of the property indicate a high potential for the presence of
Native sites. The property is well drained with level to moderate slope and located within 1000 feet of a
variety of wetlands. Portions of Hobbs Brook, Iron Mine Brook and several small ponds and
impoundments are located along the northern to southern boundary of the homestead. The above
wetlands are located within the Charles River drainage. The Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers,
part of the Merrimack River drainage, converge approximately 3-4 miles to the northwest. The
Shawsheen River, also part of the Merrimack River drainage, lies approximately 2 miles to the north
and northeast.
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Given the above information and the size of the
nominated parcel (1.84 acres), a high potential exists for locating ancient Native American resources on
the Flint Homestead property.
A high potential also exists for locating historic archaeological resources on the Flint Homestead
property. Historical research combined with archaeological survey and testing may locate structural
evidence of an earlier house reported on the property when the existing home was built in ca. 1708.
Archaeological evidence may indicate what portions of the older house were incorporated into the
existing house at their original site or were moved to the present location. Structural evidence might
also exist from portions of the present house that have been removed. Structural evidence may exist
from barns and outbuildings that were present with the earlier house and ca. 1708 structure. The
existing Flint Barn was built sometime before 1750 and moved to its present location from across the
road. A previous barn, possibly associated with the earlier structure, may have been used until the
present structure was built. Another barn might also have been built with the existing house in ca. 1708
then replaced with the present barn before 1750. Occupational related features (trash pits, privies,
wells) may also exist that were associated with the earlier and/or existing house.
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8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Flint Homestead is significant under Criteria A and B at the local level for its association with nine
generations of the Flint family, whose original land holdings formed the core of what became the town
of Lincoln at its founding in 1754, and who helped shape the development of their community over a
period of more than 300 years. Also under Criterion A, as the centerpiece of the farm that continued to
dominate the area northeast of the town center through the early 20th century, the surviving farmstead
is the town's best representative of the long evolution of local agriculture that began in the mid-17th
century with the grain, hay, and livestock tenant farms of Concord landowners and progressed through
general, then more specialized dairy- and market-garden farming until the end of the Second World
War.
The property meets Criterion C, also at the local level, for its evolved First-Period house and colonial
barn. In spite of the loss of its central chimney in the mid-19th century, the house retains significant
architectural character illustrating a broad range of periods and styles, from its early colonial roof
framing system and partially chamfered First Period frame, through a wealth of 18th-century
Georgian-inspired woodwork and Victorian interior renovations, to its final Colonial Revival
enlargement of 1901. The barn, though relocated in 1918, is a rare example of a colonial outbuilding
that has survived with minimal alteration into the 21st century. The property maintains integrity of
location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
Introduction
The town of Lincoln, a semi-rural suburb 13 miles west of Boston, was originally part of the towns of
Concord (1635), Lexington (1713) and Weston (1713). The largest part of its territory was within the
bounds of Concord, of which it became the Second Precinct, with permission to build its own
meetinghouse, in 1746. Settlers in the Second Precinct successfully petitioned to become a separate
town, which was incorporated in 1754 as the town of Lincoln.
Much of the land that made up the town at the time of its incorporation, and all of the area that became
the town center, had belonged in the late 17th- and early 18th centuries to the Flint family of Concord.
While the homesteads of Concord's earliest settlers were located near the meetinghouse in the center
of town, in the middle of the 17th century two successive divisions of town lands, along with some
isolated special grants, provided the original town proprietors and their heirs with sizable tracts in the
outlying sections. Proprietor Thomas Flint (1603-1653), who had emigrated from Derbyshire, England,
was Concord's second-largest investor after the minister, the Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and was still one of
the town's largest landowners at the time of his death. His 119-acre house lot was located northwest of
the town center on the Concord River near the North Bridge. He also owned at least 1500 acres more,
including lands in latter-day Lincoln which he may have received as a special grant in the 1640s. That
eastern property, which stretched to the borders of Cambridge and Watertown, included the 197-acre
Sandy (Flint's) Pond, and at least part of an adjacent tract of 750 acres which encompassed all of what
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later became Lincoln Center. Other parts of the 750-acre piece, which became known as the "Flint
Farm" were officially granted to Thomas Flint's heirs as part of Concord's Second Division of land in
1654.
Thomas Flint had also acquired a tract of 300 acres abutting the northeast boundary of the 750-acre
piece. He bought the latter parcel, which had belonged to the Rev. Bulkeley, from Edward Bulkeley, the
minister's son, in 1650, although the deed for it was not conveyed until 1682.
While the exact timing of some of the early Flint property transactions is unclear, the 750-acre parcel
that Thomas Flint called his "eastern farm," and possibly some of the 300-acre tract, are acknowledged
to have been the first functional farm within the bounds of Lincoln. Thomas Flint's will, written in
1651, (the first will recorded in Middlesex County probate records,) says that the property was occupied
by a member of the Wheeler family, and that hay, wheat, and rye were harvested there. The will makes
it clear that there was a dwelling on the farm, which would have been the first house built in the future
town of Lincoln. A lease agreement given in 1657 to three Concord men by Thomas's widow, Abigail,
describes the eastern Flint farm as meadow, upland, and orchard, with housing upon it. The lease
required that one of the lessees, John Hall, build another house on the farm within the four-year term.
Little more is known about the dwellings that existed on the farm in the 1650s, or about the house that
John Hall may have built. Tenant houses on various parts of the farm are mentioned in early 18th
century documents, however.
By the terms of Thomas Flint's will, his properties were to be "kept and Improved together; to rise and
fall to the whole family alike." These wishes were followed for many years before the lands were finally
divided among his heirs. In the apportionment to Flint family members, Thomas's older son, John
(1637-1686,) received the family homestead on the Concord River, and his younger son, Captain
Ephraim Flint, received the properties located in modern-day Lincoln. Ephraim was the first of the
Flints to occupy the eastern farm. He initially lived on the southeast part of the property, but by 1709
he had built a new "mansion" which is referenced in a deed written that year for the sale of a 120-acre
parcel to his nephew, Edward.
Ca. 1708-1723: ownership of Capt. Ephraim Flint (1642-1723)
While there is no other documentary record for the date of this second house, physical evidence,
including beveled chamfers on four ceiling beams in the rear first-story spaces, points to a construction
date sometime in the late First Period for at least part of the building. Architectural evidence for the
date of the main block is more mixed: the framing visible in both the roof and cellar is of a First Period
type, but much of the interior decoration is composed of later Georgian-derived finishes. Transitional
features such as the broad bead-and-bevel (feather-edge) interior sheathing that survives in the front
entry are found in Massachusetts buildings over a long time period, from at least 1700 through 1750.
Any other early decorative treatments in the house have long been erased or covered by later
renovations. Further confusing the issue is the fact that the rear chamfered-frame structure does not
directly abut the main two-story block, implying that the two were once separate buildings. While a
future investigation of the frame may reveal more specific
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architectural evidence, it is likely that at least some of the building is the recently-built "now" or "new"
house that was standing on the farm in 1709 when the aging Ephraim Flint deeded the southwest
portion of the farm to his nephew.
Commensurate with the wealth and status of his family, Capt. Ephraim Flint (1642-1723) had attended
Harvard College, where his father had been on the first Board of Overseers, and his brother's fatherin-law, the Rev. Uriah Oakes, was President. In later life he became a respected local official, and was
elected Representative to the General Court in 1669. He was over forty when he married the Rev. Peter
Bulkeley's granddaughter, Jane, in 1683.
At the turn of the 18th century, Capt. Flint's outlying farm was one of the largest and most prosperous
in all of Concord. In 1717, while the average assessment for both house and land for the 283 familes in
town was 12 pounds, Ephraim Flint's real estate, valued at 24 pounds, was among the seven highest. At
that time he owned two horses, four oxen, five cows, and ten sheep.
Capt. Ephraim and his wife had no children to carry on the farm, nor to help with its operations as they
grew older. It is possible that Edward Flint (1685-1754,) youngest son of Ephraim's brother, John, may
have lived in the house with his aunt and uncle for some years before he bought the southwest part of
the farm and moved there.
Jane Bulkeley Flint died in 1706. In his will, Capt. Ephraim left separate sections of his farm to Edward,
to two other nephews, and to two other relatives from his mother's side of the family. He also
bequeathed a fund of 100 pounds to Harvard College to establish a scholarship for "scholars who are
studious, well-disposed, and want help." The bequest gave preference to young men who were related
to the Flint family or to the Rev. Hancock of Lexington. Among the Harvard students who later received
funding from the Flint scholarship were some of Ephraim's great-nephews, and the Rev. Hancock's
grandson, the well-known patriot, John Hancock.
1723-1737: ownership of John Flint, Jr. (1677-1746)
1737-1762: ownership of Capt. Ephraim Flint, II (1713-1762)
Ephraim Flint left the largest part of his farm--about 260 acres, with the farmstead and "all my
buildings upon my said lands"--to his young great-nephew and namesake, Ephraim Flint, son of his
nephew, John Flint, Jr., with the provision that the property should come into Ephraim's possession
when he reached the age of 24. Until that time, John Flint, Jr. was "to enjoy ye same." As John, Jr.
had also inherited the family homestead on the Concord River from his father, he may have leased out
the eastern farm during part of the 14-year period in which he held it, or arranged for other family
members to occupy the house and to oversee the management of the property. It is most likely,
however, that he lived in the house himself for several years, as in 1735 his signature is the first on an
unsuccessful petition brought by inhabitants of the territory that later became Lincoln to be set off as a
new town.
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As a young man, Ephraim Flint, II (1713-1762) attended Harvard College on the scholarship his greatuncle had established, graduating with a B.A. in 1733 and receiving an M.A. in 1736. Upon his return
he became a schoolmaster in Concord, and was later paid by the town of Lincoln for teaching in its first
school in 1755. He came into the possession of the Lincoln farm in 1737, and in 1743 he married Ruth
Wheeler of Concord. It is likely that this wealthy, learned young man updated the house around that
time, possibly adding the rear leanto (demolished) which was recalled by later family members, putting
in early multi-pane double-hung windows, and perhaps installing some of the Georgian-inspired doors
and paneling. He may even have created space for his comparatively large library of forty-four
volumes, which included numerous legal books. Like his uncle, Edward, Ephraim Flint II was an
initial officer at the founding of the town, and one of its most prominent citizens for most of his life.
At the first meeting of the Second Precinct of Concord, which was held in 1746 at the nearby house
of Edward Flint, the initial precinct and parish officers were elected, with Ephraim Flint chosen as both
the precinct Clerk and one of the three Assessors. That same year, he was one of a group of men who
built the Second Parish Meetinghouse on an acre of former Flint farmland which his uncle Edward had
donated for the purpose. When Lincoln was incorporated as a town in April, 1754, Ephraim Flint was
chosen Treasurer, Selectman and Town Clerk, posts which he held until 1757. He rose to the rank of
Captain in the militia during the years of the French and Indian Wars.
Between 1737 and 1752, Ephraim Flint II increased his real estate several times, but also sold and gave
away some of his land. In 1746, he gave an acre of land between his farmstead and the "great meadow"
to the north for the precinct burying ground. That first burying ground, the Lincoln Cemetery, which
is still open to burials, abuts the Flint farmstead to the north. It has been twice expanded by the
addition of Flint land: in 1884 a Flint cousin purchased 10.6 acres of the farm and gave it to the town to
enlarge the cemetery, and in 1979, as a memorial to their parents, the present owners donated an
additional 7.3 acres for a cemetery conservation buffer. Both parcels were part of the original 300 acres
purchased by Thomas Flint from the Rev. Peter Bulkeley in 1650.
Like his forbears on the Flint farm, Ephraim Flint II was an esteemed civic leader, and wealthy in both
possessions and land. His rank is also indicated by the fact that, like his uncle Edward, he was one of
a handful of slaveowners in colonial Lincoln. Town records include the baptism of two "Negro servant
children" belonging to him, which took place in the Lincoln church in 1755.
1762-1824: ownership of "Patriot" Ephraim Flint (III) (1745-1824)
Ruth Flint remarried in 1766, four years after her husband's death. The next owner of the farm, the
third Ephraim Flint to own it, was born in the house in 1745, the eldest of Capt. Ephraim and Ruth's
six children. In 1772, he married a young widow, Catharine Fox. She died at the age of 33 in 1785,
leaving him with five young children. His sister, Ruth Flint, (1760-1838,) may have returned to the
farm to help raise the children, possibly remaining in residence for most of her life. Ephraim's second
wife, whom he married in 1798, was Rebecca Wright.
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Ephraim III served as a Private in Capt. John Hartwell's company of militia in the early years of the
Revolution. At the start of the war on April 19, 1775, he is reputed to have captured a British soldier
in Lexington. He was with Col. Eleazer Brooks' regiment, at Dorchester Heights in Boston in March of
1776, and also saw service in New York in 1776-77.
The fourth generation on the Flint Homestead also included two other Revolutionary patriots. The best
known today is Ephraim's sister, Mary (Flint) Hartwell. Born in 1748, she grew up in the house, and
upon her marriage to Samuel Hartwell, moved to the Hartwell farm on the Bay Road (now part of
Minuteman National Historic Park on the North Great Road.) Her husband became Sergeant of the
Lincoln Minute Men, and in the early hours of April 19, 1775, theirs is believed to have been the first
house to which Dr. Samuel Prescott, taking up the alarm after the capture of Paul Revere and William
Dawes, brought the news that the British regulars were on the move toward the colonial stores of
ammunition at Concord. Dr. Prescott sped on to alert the Concord military leaders, Sgt. Hartwell
hurried to ready his own troops, and it was up to Mary to spread the alarm to her neighbor, Lincoln
militia Captain William Smith. Later in the day she escaped from the vulnerable Hartwell farmhouse,
and drove her three small children in a horse and cart to her childhood home, the Flint Homestead.
Leaving the children there the next day, she drove home to discover that the retreating British troops
had fired several shots into the house and left a broken musket in a shattered window. Mary and
Samuel's house burned down in the late 20th century, but her family's homestead remains as a
reminder of her role in the events of April 19-20, 1775.
Ephraim and Mary's younger brother, John Flint (1754-1810,) also served in the Revolution, and rose
to the rank of Captain. He was in service in Cambridge in 1775, and in Canada in 1776, before moving
to Walpole, NH in 1779.
The family tradition of studying and teaching was continued by several occupants of the homestead
after Ephraim III inherited it. Mary Flint Hartwell taught in school in Lincoln in the late 1760s, and
Ephraim and Mary's sister, Ruth, was paid for teaching school in 1780. Their younger brother, Abel
Flint (1758-1789,) attended Harvard on the scholarship established by their great-great-uncle,
graduating in 1780. Abel afterwards taught school in Lincoln, Weston, and Haverhill. Ephraim and
Catharine's daughter, Ruth A. Flint (1780-1830,) was also a schoolteacher before her marriage in 1808.
Ruth’s husband, Brigadier General James Miller, was a hero of the War of 1812, and was later head
of the Salem Custom House, mentioned by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Scarlet Letter. The Millers lived
for a time in the Flint Homestead during the early years of their marriage.
Ephraim Flint III was one of the founding proprietors of the Liberal School, an early private academy
which was established in 1792, and operated under the town minister, the Rev. Charles Stearns, for
about fifteen years. Said to have given "a new impulse to the cause of education and tended to elevate
the character of the town," (Drake, 40,) its curriculum included rhetoric, astronomy, higher
mathematics, Latin, Greek, the principles of religion and morality, and serious instruction in manners.
It was one of the first of such schools to admit females--a controversial approach for its time. Among
its best-known graduates were eminent Concord lawyers Samuel Hoar and Nathan Brooks, and the Rev.
Cyrus Peirce, who prepared for Harvard there, and who later became the first head of the first Normal
School in the United States.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 6
1824-1871: ownership of Major Ephraim Flint (1782-1871)
After Ephraim III's death in 1824, his widow, Rebecca, apparently remained at the Flint Homestead.
Three of his daughters had married and moved away, but the fourth and eldest, Catharine (b. 1773,)
received $250 in her father's will, along with the assurance of living quarters in the house. In the
tradition of the times, however, the homestead and farm were inherited by Ephraim and Catharine's
only son and youngest child, Maj. Ephraim Flint.
When he came into the possession of the farm at the age of 42, Major Ephraim had undoubtedly been
farming the land for his father for many years. He had married Susanna (Fiske) Bemis in 1822, and
their eldest child, Caroline, the first of seven, was born the next year. With the promise of a growing
family, and the responsibility for a household that apparently included both his older sister and his
stepmother, it is likely that by 1830 Major Ephraim enlarged the homestead by adding some of the
present rear portions--at least the long rear kitchen with the small first-story room(s) at its south end-the chamfered-frame structure that may have been relocated from elsewhere on the farm.
Maj. Flint received his military commission in the Massachusetts militia in 1812 in the Third Regiment
of Infantry of the First Brigade and 3rd Division. He was one of two officers from Lincoln who applied
for commissions in U.S. Army during the war of 1812, but did not receive them. He was primarily a
farmer, and in his time the Flint Farm still included Flint's Pond and the land along its shoreline. In
the late 1830s, Henry David Thoreau had spent a summer between college semesters in a cabin 200
yards from the pond, and developed a keen desire to go back to live closer to the water. In 1842, he
asked Major Flint for permission to build a cabin on the shore. Maj. Flint refused, and Thoreau ended
up building his famous cabin on the shore of nearby Walden Pond, instead. As was the case with many
local farmers, Maj. Flint appears in Thoreau's writings as the embodiment of the author's opinions on
the human character. The relevant passages, however, show as much about Thoreau's personality
when thwarted as they do about the hard-headed, practical Yankee farmer. In Thoreau's Walden he
calls Maj. Flint an "unclean and stupid" farmer, devoid of any appreciation for the pond, "our greatest
lake and inland sea," which Thoreau considered even more beautiful than Walden. In one of the
better-known passages from Walden, Thoreau uses Flint's Pond and its owner to expound on his disdain
for mid-19th-century materialism: "Some skin-flint, who loved better the reflecting surface of a dollar
. . . who regarded even the wild ducks which settled in [the pond] as trespassers . . who regretted only
that it was not English hay or cranberry meadow . . . I respect not his labors, his farm where every
thing has its price, who would carry the landscape, who would carry his God, to market if he could get
any thing for him." (Stern, Philip Van Doren, ed. The Annotated Walden, New York: Clarkson N.
Potter, 1970, p. 324-325.)
The size of the Flint farm remained at about 160 acres through most of the 19th century. In 1850,
Major Flint, like many of his neighbors, was still engaged in a form of mixed agriculture that included
a cattle herd of about 20 head, a moderate-sized orchard, fields of hay, potatoes, Indian corn, and a
variety of grains. He was one of the few farmers in Lincoln at the time, however, to have developed a
specialty in market gardening. One indication of his status as a progressive, influential farmer is the
fact that he was the first in Lincoln to join the Middlesex Agricultural Society, in 1823. For several
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 7
years in the 1840s and 1850s, Maj. Flint entered some of his prize cattle in the yearly Middlesex
Agricultural Society Cattle Show, including his Durham bulls.
For many years, the farm household under Maj. Ephraim Flint included three sons and three
daughters. At least two of them, the older daughters, Caroline (1823-1875) and Susan (1825-1912),
worked as schoolteachers before they were married. The eldest son, Ephraim (b. 1828) graduated from
Williams College, became a minister, and was a longtime Trustee of the college.By 1860, the number of
occupants on the homestead had diminished somewhat, consisting of just Ephraim and Susan, middle
son George and his new wife, Caroline, and two employees--a young Irish domestic servant and a 17year-old farm laborer.
1871-1905: ownership of George Flint (1830-1914)
Upon Maj. Ephraim's death, the farm, by then heavily mortgaged, was inherited by his son, George
Flint. In 1858 George had married a next-door-neighbor, Caroline Amelia Rice, and they had been
living in the house and farming and caring for his parents for many years before coming into full
ownership of the property. It was apparently just after their marriage that the center chimney was
removed and the house was updated and expanded to include the northeast dining room and the two
full-size rear bedrooms. Four of George and Caroline's five children were born at the homestead by
1871.
In contrast to his father, who plunged the once-prosperous farm into debt, George Flint, known as one
of the family's financial geniuses, turned it into a model, profitable agricultural enterprise. Thanks
largely to his canny understanding of the market, a highly professional approach to farm management,
and sheer hard work, by 1880 the Flint farm had returned to its rank as the fourth-highest in value in
Lincoln. It included the third largest amount of tillage and improved farmland in town, and had
become a major, specialized operation with dual concentrations in milk production and marketgardening. In both 1870 and 1880 the farm had more than two dozen cows producing over 18,000
gallons of milk for market, the third-largest amount recorded in Lincoln in those years. It also reported
the second-highest profit from market gardening, a significant component of which was the cucumber
crop that George sold to the two pickle factories which operated in South Lincoln in the 1860s and
1870s. Toward the end of the 19th century, George was also one of the largest strawberry growers in
the Lincoln area. At the turn of the 20th century, with the farm expanded to 171 acres, the value of
George Flint's Lincoln property was surpassed only by that of the estate farms of Ogden Codman and
Charles Francis Adams. The value of his personal estate, thanks largely to shrewd investments in real
estate and copper stocks, was also the third highest in town.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 8
In spite of the farm's success as an up-to-date agricultural enterprise, and his longtime membership,
like his father, in the progressive Middlesex Agricultural Society, George Flint followed some traditional
methods much longer than his neighbors. He was the last farmer in Lincoln to use oxen--there were at
least eight on the farm in most years. He was also the last to utilize his ancestors' dams and ditches in a
seasonal flooding of his hay fields and meadows.
In addition to farming, George Flint was a successful real-estate dealer and developer. In the early
1890s, the city of Cambridge hired him to acquire the land, much of it consisting of old farms, for the
development of the Cambridge Reservoir in the east part of Lincoln. He constructed several houses in
Lincoln, as well as some of the farm buildings which still highlight the landscape of what is today one
of the best-preserved semi-rural communities close to Boston. One of the most picturesque barns in town
is the long white double-ended cowbarn directly across the road from the farmhouse, which George
Flint built in 1870 to house his cattle in the wintertime.
Like many of the Flints before him, George Flint served as a town officer, particularly in the areas of
finance and education. He was a Selectman from 1865 to 1867, a member of two committees to
administer town trust funds, an early trustee of the town's Bemis lectureship, and was an elected
member of the School Committee for twenty years. In the years just before his retirement as School
Committee Chairman in the late 1890s, he was in the minority in his strong opposition to the expansion
of the town high school (the Center School). His concerns, which were both financial and educational,
turned out to be well-founded, and the town proceeded to build a large new building instead, with
George Flint occupying a respected place on the building committee. In his capacity as School
Committee Chairman he was an ex-officio Trustee of the town library for several years, as well, and in
the late 1880s he served on the Cemetery Committee.
For most of the last quarter of the 19th century, the Flint household included George and Caroline and
their five children, as well as a number of relatives and farmhands. Caroline's sister, Mary Susan Rice,
occupied the east attic room for a time after she returned from twenty years as a missionary in Persia.
Caroline Flint died in 1890, at the age of 56. As devout and loyal a member of the Congregational
church as her husband had been, she had sung in the choir for over thirty years. In her memory
George’s brother Francis donated a Hutchings organ to the new Congregational Stone Church of
Lincoln, which was completed in 1891.
As George grew older, the management of the farm was gradually taken over by his two youngest sons,
Edward Francis Flint (1870-1942,) and Ephraim Flint (1874-1949.) By the turn of the 20th century the
family business was referred to as "Flint Brothers," an arrangement in which Ephraim,
(who moved to a new house across the road [27 Lexington Road] shortly after his marriage in 1901,)
had charge of the cattle herd and dairy operations. In 1901, Edward again enlarged the old Flint
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 9
farmhouse to accommodate both the expanding three-generation family and a varying number of
farmhands. The two existing rear bedrooms were enlarged, a bathroom was installed between them,
and additional bedrooms were added over the one-story rear sections, with the present hipped roof built
over them all. A few years later, Edward added the two-story west porch as a place for his ailing, deaf
father to sit and enjoy the fruits of his labors--the thriving fields and greenhouses that lay between the
farmstead and Lincoln Hill.
1905-1942: ownership of Edward F. Flint (1870-1942)
In 1905, George Flint conveyed the entire farm to Edward and Ephraim. Ephraim already owned his
houselot across Lexington Road, and George had given the main farmhouse to Edward in April of that
year, on the condition that Edward provide him with a home there and care for the rest of his life.
George Flint died in 1914. In 1915 Edward had a cottage built for the farm manager on the east side
just north of the big cowbarn. To balance what were now two separate farming operations on opposite
sides of the road, in 1918 the brothers moved the old colonial barn from its position south of the
cowbarn to its present site north of the Flint farmhouse.
That same year, during World War I, Edward and Ephraim operated a sawmill on the wooded part of
the property between Lexington Road and the Concord Turnpike, where they processed lumber from
the oak and chestnut trees which grew on the Flint land.
In 1926, the two brothers officially divided the farmland between them. Ephraim took the property
on the east side of the road, and Edward most of that on the west. As part of the arrangement, the
great field east of Lincoln Hill was divided in two equal parts, as were a meadow and woodland to the
northeast.
Edward F. Flint lived all of his 72 years on the Flint homestead. He had attended Harvard for two
years, but returned home in about 1890 to run the farm full-time when his father's health declined.
He married Josephine Margaret Ritchie (1878-1979) in 1912. She had come to the United States from
Nova Scotia to study at the Waltham School of Nursing, where she received her R.N. in 1904. Before
her marriage she worked for a nearby Lincoln family; afterwards she cared for George Flint in his
declining years. From the 1910s on, in addition to Edward and Josephine's four children, Margaret,
Edward F., Jr., Charlotte, and Henry, the farm household from time to time included Mrs. Flint's
sister, Christine Ritchie. She, too, was a registered nurse, and lived with the family when her profession
did not call for her to live elsewhere.
While his brother continued to operate a dairy farm on the east side of the road, Edward F. Flint
carried his portion of the old farm into the modern era as a state-of-the-art market-gardening facility.
The center of his operations was one of the first greenhouse plants in the Lincoln area, which
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 10
eventually had four large greenhouses, a heating plant, and a packing house. There, with the help of
numerous farm laborers, he grew cucumbers, lettuce, radishes, and tomatoes for the Boston market,
where several large hotels were among his principal customers.
Edward F. Flint was a two-term Selectman for Lincoln, and served on the town Cemetery Committee
for many years. Like his father, he was a Trustee for the Bemis lectureship. He was also a Deacon of
the First Parish Church from 1922 until his death. He served there for many years as Sunday School
Superinendent, church Moderator, Treasurer, and Trust Fund Commissioner, and was an influential
member of the committee for uniting the local Congregational and Unitarian churches.
1942 to the present: ownership of Edward F. Flint Jr. (b. 1914) and Henry R. Flint (b. 1917)
In the tradition of earlier generations of the Flint family, the last generation to farm the land of the
Flint homestead began to do so several years before their father died. In spite of the devastating
economic impact of the Great Depression, and the destruction wrought by the 1938 hurricane (which
destroyed two of the greenhouses,) the youngest of Edward and Josephine's four children, Henry R.
Flint, operated the farm successfully from 1935 to 1945. And as improved transportation and
refrigeration brought ever stronger competition from west-coast growers, the focus of the farm
changed. In addition to the produce raised in the greenhouses, the Flint farm in the late 1930s and
early 1940s included two apple orchards of over a hundred McIntosh, Baldwin, and Gravenstein apple
trees, and fields of carrots, butternut squash, sweet corn, and tomatoes. The remaining greenhouses
were ultimately converted to the raising of Stevia for the Boston and New York flower markets. During
the war, farm labor was provided by an unconventional variety of workers, including Jesuits from a
monastery in Weston, students from Wellesley College and the Cambridge School, and farm laborers
from Jamaica.
In 1940, Henry Flint won three plowing contests for the northeastern states that were sponsored by
Ford Motor Co. The grand prize, presented to him personally by Henry Ford, was the latest Ford
tractor, which is still housed in the garage between the barn and the house, and used as needed.
While some of George Flint's great-grandchildren continue to raise cattle on the east side of the road,
the farming operations ceased on the Flint Homestead itself after World War II. A second hurricane
had badly damaged the remaining two greenhouses, which were removed after Edward Flint's death
in 1942. Today, only the brick smokestack and deteriorated packing shed on the town-owned parcel
northwest of the farmstead remain as reminders of the greenhouse facility.
During the war, Henry Flint, who still lives in the Flint farmhouse, had attended night courses at four
Boston colleges--M.I.T., the Franklin Institute, and Boston and Northeastern Universities.Beginning in
the late 1940s, he was employed by Trans-Sonic Co., then by Minneapolis-Honeywell and Baird Atomic
Co. until his retirement late in the 20th century. His brother, Edward F. Flint, Jr. of
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 11
Claremont, CA, co-owner of the property, pursued a long career in mechanical and electro-optics
engineering that began with Bausch & Lomb in 1937, followed by service during World War II as a
Project Engineer of Navigation Instruments with the national Scientific Bureau. Among the many
instruments he developed was a bubble sextant for the Air Force and Navy. He was also an instrument
test pilot for many years. He continued flying through the 1970s, logging air time in every state in the
U.S.A., and flew solo in three transcontinental races. After the war, he joined Eastman Kodak
Company, for which he directed the West Coast Regional Office from 1958 to 1962. Afterward he was
employed by Rockwell International Corp. Upon his retirement in 1976, he founded Flint Laboratories
Co. in Claremont, CA, serving as its President. He was awarded the Republican Presidential Legion of
Merit by President Reagan, and has recently been named to a Presidential Task Force under President
George W. Bush.
By the mid-1980s, the Flints of Lexington Road were the last remaining 17th-century family in Lincoln,
and the only pre-1850 family still occupying the old farmstead. While Flints no longer work the fields
on the west side of Lexington Road, the agricultural use of that land continues under a permanent
restriction which permits agricultural use. One of several land conveyances made by Edward and
Henry Flint to the town of Lincoln was the 1989 sale of 16.91 acres of the Flint fields between the
farmstead and Lincoln Hill. Together with the south portion of the fields, for which the development
rights were conveyed at the same time by other Flint family members, that ancient agricultural land
is presently planted to hay and corn under the management of the Lincoln Conservation Commission.
Part of the land has recently been leased by a local winery, which plans to grow 4,000 grapevines there.
The preservation of the Flint Homestead, with its colonial farmhouse, barn, and early 20th-century
garage, and its listing on the National Register, will ensure that its importance to the town of Lincoln
and its agrarian heritage will continue to be recognized and honored by future generations.
Archaeological Significance
Since patterns of ancient Native American settlement in Lincoln are poorly documented, any surviving
sites could be significant. Although several sites are recorded in the northern part of the town and to
the west around the confluence of the Concord, Sudbury and Assabet Rivers, few sites in the area have
been systematically excavated limiting their interpretative value and making surviving sites in the area
potentially significant. The Flint Homestead lies in uplands along tributary streams of the Charles River
drainage, however, much of our knowledge of ancient Native American settlement along that drainage
results from sites and studies located in lower portions of the drainage, especially the estuarine zone.
Native sites in this area may contribute important information that documents ancient patterns of
subsistence and settlement along the interior portions of the Charles River drainage and their
relationship to settlement focused on the confluence of the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet drainages.
Ancient sites in this area may represent an inland/upland pattern of settlement with a focus along lower
portions of the Charles River drainage or, a settlement pattern with a focus on a regionally important
Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet River core. Ancient Native American sites in this area may contribute
important information on regional patterns of exchange, particularly between interior and coastal
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 8
Flint Homestead
Page 12
locales. The Charles River drainage represents a transportation corridor eastward to Boston Harbor
while the Concord, Sudbury, and Assabet Rivers provide a corridor northward to the Merrimack River
then inland to the west or easterly to Massachusetts Bay. Ancient sites in this area may contribute
information that indicates the relative importance of these drainage/transportation corridors on the
social, cultural and economic characteristics of ancient peoples in the area.
Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to contribute detailed information
on a family and farmstead that played a formative role in the settlement of Lincoln and its agricultural
development for nearly 300 years. Additional documentary research combined with archaeological
survey and testing may help document the evolution of the Flint Farmhouse that remains unclear.
Archaeological evidence may help test theories that two separate First Period structures were
incorporated into the present house. Archaeological testing may also document contexts associated with
any structures that were located on the property. Part of the present house, possibly an earlier
farmhouse was reported to be standing when the existing house was built in ca. 1708. Tenant houses are
also reported on the farm before and after the construction date for the present house. Archaeological
research may contribute information that documents and provides additional information on early
construction techniques, architectural details, and the additions/alterations that occurred over the next
300 years.
Archaeological survey and testing may also help identify the full range of outbuildings and occupational
related features (trash pits, privies, wells) present over time as the homestead evolved through nine
generations of the Flint Family and one of the more important farms in the town. Accurate mapping of
the farm’s layout and analysis of occupational related features may contribute evidence that documents
functional changes at the farm between different combinations of crops and husbandry. Detailed analysis
of occupational related features may contribute information relating to specific occupants of nine
generations of Flints, possibly within stratified contexts. Information may also be present indicating the
role and importance of the extended family in the evolution of the farmstead. In the late 19th century as
many as eleven persons resided at the farmstead including five children and a number of relatives and
farmhands. Archaeological sites of outbuildings and occupational related features may contribute
important information on the lives of tenants, boarders or farm hands on the farm. Important
information may also be obtained relating to the lives of slaves on New England farms in the 17th and
18th centuries. Both Ephraim Flint II and his uncle Ephraim I were slave owners.
(end)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Flint Homestead
Page 1
9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
Books, articles, and manuscripts
Brooks, Paul. The View from Lincoln Hill. Lincoln, MA: Lincoln Historical Society, 1976.
Cummings, Abbott L. The Framed Houses of Massachusetts Bay, 1625-1725. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press, 1979.
Drake, Samuel. History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts., II. Boston: Estes & Lauriat, 1880.
Farrar, Edward R. and Samuel. Houses in Lincoln 100 years old and over, with some of their owners.
1935.
Flint, Edward F., Jr., and Gwendolyn S. Flint Family History of the Adventuresome Seven. Baltimore:
Gateway Press, 1984.
Flint, Gwen S. The old colonial Flint barn. n.d.
Guide to Conservation Land in Lincoln. Lincoln, MA: Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, 1992.
Hanson, Dean. The old colonial Flint historic site. n.d.
Hersey, Frank W. C. Heroes of the Battle Road. Boston: Perry Walton, 1930.
MacLean, John C. A Rich Harvest: History, Buildings, and People of Lincoln, MA. Lincoln: Lincoln
Historical Society, 1987.
Ragan, Ruth M. Voiceprints of Lincoln. Lincoln: Lincoln Historical Society, 1991.
Shattuck, Lemuel. History of the Town of Concord. Boston: Russell, Odiorne, 1835.
The Town of Lincoln, 1754-1904: an Account of the Celebration by the Town of Lincoln, MA of the 150th
Anniversary of Incorporation, April 23, 1904. Lincoln: town of Lincoln, 1905.
Wheeler, Ruth. Concord: Climate for Freedom. Concord, MA: Concord Antiquarian Society, 1967.
(continued)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 9
Flint Homestead
Page 2
Public Documents
United States government
Federal agricultural census. 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Historical Commission. Survey of Historical and Architectural Resources,
Concord, Mass. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Commission.
. Reconnaissance Report for Lincoln. March, 1980.
Middlesex County Probate Records. Massachusetts State Archives, Boston.
Town of Lincoln
Assessors Records.
Vital Records
Plans, Maps, and atlases
Beers, F.W. Atlas of Middlesex County. New York: F.W. Beers, 1875.
Plan of the Town of Lincoln. Boston: 1831.
Walker, George. Atlas of Middlesex County. Boston: 1889.
Walling, Henry. Map of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Boston: William Baker, 1856.
Other sources
Flint, Edward F., Jr., and Henry R. Interviews, June, July, August, 2002.
Sorli, Lawrence A. Consultation on architecture of the Flint Homestead. July, 2002.
(End)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number 10
Flint Homestead
Page 1
10. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA, continued
Verbal Boundary Description
The boundaries of the nominated property are those recorded and shown on Lincoln Assessor's Map
52, Parcel 2.
Boundary Justification
The National Register boundaries encompass the 1.84-acre parcel that includes the Flint farmhouse,
relocated colonial barn, and ca. 1930 garage/equipment shed. Other portions of the historic Flint farm
are now under other ownership. Located on adjacent properties are two later Flint houses and the 1870
barn on the east side of Lexington Road, and on the west side, 22 acres of open land, with a packing
shed and chimney remaining from the Flint greenhouses. (See site map.) The latter property was
acquired by the town of Lincoln from the present owners in the late 20th century.
(End)
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number
Flint Homestead
Page
RESOURCE COUNT
MAP # RESOURCE
TYPE
DATE____________STATUS_____
1
Flint farmhouse
building
ca. 1708, with
later additions
contributing
2
Flint barn
building
18th century
contributing
3
Garage/equipment shed
building
ca. 1930
contributing
4
Fieldstone wall system
structure
TOTAL RESOURCE COUNT:
18th & 19th centuries contributing
Contributing
Non-contributing
BUILDINGS
3
0
STRUCTURES:
1
0
OBJECTS:
0
0
SITES:
0
0
TOTAL:
4
TOTAL:
0
NPS Form 10-900-a
(8-86)
Continuation Sheet
Section number photos
Flint Homestead
Page
PHOTOGRAPHS
-- all photographs and negatives: Anne Forbes, 2002
8 x 10" photographs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Flint Homestead, 28 Lexington Road:
view northwest
south facade
east elevations
view southeast
barn, looking northeast
Supplementary photographs (3 1/2 x 5")
6. Flint Homestead, 28 Lexington Road: view west to former Flint fields (on separate
property)
Interior, first story
7. Center stairhall: feather-edge/beaded boards east of front door
8. Center stairhall: looking northwest
9. East parlor, looking southwest
10. West parlor, looking northeast
11. Rear sitting room (breakfast room), looking east: chamfered ceiling beams
Interior, second story
12. East chamber: fireplace wall
13. East chamber: Suffolk latch, door to stairhall
14. West chamber: south part of fireplace wall
15. West chamber: north part of fireplace wall, with rear closet
Interior, attic
16. East room, looking west toward chimney bay
17. Fireplace-wall paneling, east wall of chimney bay
Outbuildings
18. Equipment garage and barn, looking north
19. Equipment garage, looking northwest
20. Barn interior, looking north
21. Barn interior: west wall, southwest end post of early section
(end)
Inventory No:
LIN.59
Historic Name:
Flint, Capt. Ephraim House
Common Name:
Address:
28 Lexington Rd
City/Town:
Lincoln
Village/Neighborhood:
Lincoln
Local No:
Year Constructed:
C 1708
Architect(s):
Flint, Ephraim
Architectural Style(s):
Colonial
Use(s):
Agricultural; Dairy; Horse Or Cattle Farm; Orchard; Single
Family Dwelling House
Significance:
Agriculture; Architecture; Exploration Settlement
Area(s):
LIN.H: Flint Homestead
Designation(s):
Nat'l Register Individual Property (7/25/2003);
Preservation Restriction (11/3/2004)
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FORM TO MHC FOR MHC'S REVIEW AND COMMENT. You can obtain a copy of a PNF through the MHC web site (www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc)
under the subject heading "MHC Forms."
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Massachusetts Historical Commission
220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125
www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc
This file was accessed on:
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FORM B - BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
Lincoln
neighborhood
or
village)
Lincoln Center
s 28 Lexington Road, Lincoln, MA 01773
t Name
'resent
Flint Homestead
Residential
riginal
Residential
Construction
orm
Circa 1690
Colonial
ct/Builder
Built by or for Captain Ephraim
Flint
Exterior Material:
Foundation Granite Block
Sketch M a p
Draw a map showing the building's location in relation to the
nearest cross streets and/or major natural features. Show all
buildings between inventoried building and nearest intersection
or natural feature. Label streets including route numbers, if any.
Circle and number the inventoried building. Indicate north.
Wall/Trim Clapboard
Roof
Asphalt shingle
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Barn c. 1690 with
1750 addition. Two car garage built 1902
Major Alterations (with dates)
Central chimney removed and ell added to back of
house c. 1860
Condition Very good
Recorded by
R E C E I V E D
Organization
Date
(month
m
/year)
Assessor's Number
-121102
Moved
__ no
__ yes Date
Acreage 1.88 acres (80,000 square feet)
Near c. 1690 barn, open farmland and woods.
C T rnK/lr' A^
' ^ corner of house within 6' of Lexington Rd.
L*AS.J
.
B»JB'
uU"."^»Larg
barn
and farm house immediately across road
Area(s) ' Form Number
from subject property.
etting
USGS Quad
s
T
e
r
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructi
f
or completing this form.
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
•
see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
The Flint Homestead is a fine example o f a two story oak and chestnut framed First Period farm house that was built
c. 1690. The house was built and occupied by Captain Ephraim Flint, who made the earliest written reference to it i n
a 1709 deed that referred to it as the "mansion house", which it truly was for its time. It has been continuously
occupied by the Flint family over eight generations. The roof, which is original, is the steepest o f the surviving First
Period houses i n Lincoln. Large hewed oak principal rafters and sawn common rafters without a ridgepole support
purlines and horizontal board sheathing for the roof, that is original. The frame, also original, is horizontally sheathed
under exterior clapboard siding. The last major renovations occurred about 1860 when the large central chimney was
removed , window glass was replaced, double front glassed entrance doors were installed and the ell was added to the
back (North) side o f the house. Two smaller brick chimneys replaced the original central chimney o f the original
edifice. The replacement chimneys rise about six feet above the roof ridge. The setting o f this home and its adjoining
barn, along w i t h the barn and farmhouse immediately across the road, that is also owned by members o f the Flint
family, evokes a strong feeling o f New England's historic farming heritage.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
[_
see continuation sheet
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 property is unique i n combining important local and national historical, political and literary significance dating
from before this country's founding.
Being a part o f the original circa 1640s land grant o f 750 acres i n the center o f what later became Lincoln,
Massachusetts, it was the home o f its builder, Captain Ephraim Flint. Captain Flint's nephew, Ephraim Flint later
took title to the property. He was unusually well educated for a farmer o f the time, receiving a bachlors degree from
Harvard College i n 1733 and i n 1736 a Harvard masters degree. Ephraim Flint had a major role in the founding o f
Lincoln, Massachusetts, serving as one o f the very first Selectmen, the first Clerk and the first Treasurer o f the town.
He was donor o f the land for the first town cemetery and his uncle, Edward Flint donated the land for the town's first
meeting house and for its town common.
The locus maintains its wonderful feel as one o f the earliest New England farms. "Significantly, some o f the earliest
documents relating to a Middlesex County farm have to do with the operation and crops found upon this farmstead."*
The Flint family has continuously owned and farmed the property for over 300 years, spanning nine generations.
They are the only 17 Century family i n Lincoln that has descendents still living on the same farmstead.**
th
Mary Flint (later Mary Hartwell), a figure o f national historic importance, was born i n this house i n 1748. The family
still owns the English walnut cradle she used as a baby. Mary grew up i n this house on the Flint farm and later
married Samuel Hartwell. On the night o f A p r i l 18, 1775, after Paul Revere's capture i n Lincoln by the British down
the road from the Hartwell farm, Mary went by herself on foot to carry the alarm to W i l l i a m Smith, Captain o f the
Lincoln Minutemen. They were thus one o f the first contingents to arrive before the American Revolutionary battle at
Concord's North Bridge. This house is the only remaining one directly related to Mary Flint, the Hartwell house
having burned to the ground i n the 1960s.
Mary's brother, Ephraim, who owned the house, served as a soldier in the Revolution at the time General Washington
fortified Dorchester Heights and compelled the withdrawal from Boston of British forces.
The property's literary connections involve the nineteenth century authors Henry David Thoreau and Nathaniel
Hawthorne. In Walden, Thoreau refers to his unsuccessful attempt to build his cabin on the shores of Flint Pond in
Lincoln, after "skin" Flint refused him permission to do so. The Flint referred to was Major Ephraim Flint who
occupied the house at that time. Walden Pond was Thoreau's alternate building site. Nathaniel Hawthorne refers in
the introduction to the Scarlet Letter to his Salem Custom House boss, James Miller. Brigidier General James Miller
was a hero of the War of 1812, famous for his quote, " I ' l l try, Sir," in response to a superior officer's order. Miller
married Ruth Flint and lived for a time in the subject house.
The local and national historical importance of the property and its connections with two of America's most
prominent 19 Century authors justify its consideration for nomination to the National Historic Register.
th
*A Rich Harvest, page 62.
**Ibid, page 63.
B I B L I O G R A P H Y and/or R E F E R E N C E S
•
see continuation
sheet
Brooks, Paul. The View from Lincoln Hill, 1976.
Cutler, William Richard. Historic Homes and Places and Genealogical and Personal Memories Relating to the
Families of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. (Four Volumes), Vol. 4. 1908.
Flint, Edward, Jr. and Gwen S. Flint Family History of the Adventuresome Seven. 1984.
Flint, Gwen S. "An American Heroine," D A R Magazine, May 1995.
Hanson, Dean. Unpublished monograph "The Old Colonial Flint Homestead," copy attached.
Hersey, Frank Wilson Cheney. Heroes of the Battle Road. 1930.
MacLean, John C. A Rich Harvest. 1987.
Visser, Thomas Durcut. Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings. 1997.
I | Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
Register
Criteria
Statement
form.
If checked, you must attach a completed
National
1
Original yellow form: Eligibility file
Copies: Inventory form
Town file(w/corresp.)
Maoris
NR director
Community: Lincoln
MHC OPINION: E L I G I B I L I T Y FOR NATIONAL R E G I S T E R
Date Received: 09.14.01
Date Due:
Type: X
D i s t r i c t (Attach map indicating boundaries)
Individual
Date Reviewed: 10.16.01
Name: F l i n t Homestead
Inventory F o r m : N / A
Address: 28 Lexington Road
Requested by: J. E d w a r d Foster
Action:
X Honor
Agency:
ITC
Grant
R &C
Other:
Staff i n charge of Review: E. Gradoia
INDIVIDUAL PROPERTIES
DISTRICTS
XEligible
Eligible
Ineligible
More information needed
Eligible, also i n d i s t r i c t
Eligible only i n d i s t r i c t
Ineligible
CRITERIA:
XA
X B
XC
LEVEL:
X Local
State
National
D
S T A T E M E N T OF SIGNIFICANCE:
th
th
The Flint Homestead, constructed c. 1690 and substantially enlarged i n the 18 and 19 century, is eligible
for listing i n the National register under Criterion A for its association w i t h the history and development o f
Lincoln: Under Criterion B for the contributions members o f the Flint Family made throughout the history
of Lincoln: under Criterion C as an excellent example o f a vernacular wood frame dwelling house which
exhibits elements o f building practices and design from the 17 through the 2 0 century. The barn (c.
1690) located on the premises is included within this eligibility opinion. The barn was originally built as
an English style barn but was later lengthened and eventually moved from its original site. The Flint
families are the only family i n Lincoln that has continuously lived on the original farmstead established by
their 17 century descendents. Nine generations o f the Flint family have continuously occupied and
farmed the property over a period o f 300 years.
th
th
th
1
FORM
B - BUILDING
In A r e a no.
F o r m no.
MASSACHUSETTS H I S T O R I C A L COMMISSION
Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston
1. Town
Lincoln
Address
L e x i n g t o n Road
Flint
Name
House
Present use
residence
Present owner
Mrs. Edward F. F l i n t
3. Description:
Date
Source
Style
4. Map. Draw sketch of building location
in relation to nearest c r o s s streets and
other buildings. Indicate north.
Flint
family
complejc
colonial
Architect
Exterior wall fabric
clapboard
Outbuildings (describe)
Other features
barns
g stories,
5 chimneys,
e l l and shed a t t a c h m e n t s and p o r c h e s
% //n "
N
LeirL/igton Road
symmetrical
_________
Altered
2 o v e r 2 windowspate l a t e
Moved
19th
cent,
Date
5. Lot size:
One acre or less
Over one acre
500+•
Approximate frontage
ai4_J_*>d
/r
Approximate distance of building from street
10'
p O NOT W R I T E IN THIS S P A C E
jUSGS Quadrant
6. Recorded by J o h n C. MacLean
Organization
DMHC Photo no.
Date
(over)
5M-2-75-R061465
(20-4-2^76)^
Lincoln Historical
1977
Commission
7. Original owner (if known)
Original use
residence
Subsequent uses (if any) and dates
8. Themes (check as many as applicable)
Aboriginal
Agricultural
Architectural
The A r t s
Commerce
Communication
Community development
X
X
.
X
Conservation
Education
Exploration/
settlement
Industry
Military
Political
Recreation
Religion
Science/
invention
Social/
humanitarian
Transportation
9. H i s t o r i c a l significance (include explanation of themes checked above)
"The o r i n g i n a l house f o l l o w e d the t y p i c a l d e s i g n o f a l a r g e r house <bf
t h a t day w i t h i t s c e n t r a l c h i m n e y , two rooms d o w n s t a i r s and two u p s t a i r s ,
and a f u l l a t t i c and f u l l c e l l a r .
The f r a m i n g and r o o f a r e s t i l l i n t a c t
and much handwrought h a r d w a r e , f e a t h e r - e d g e s h e a t h i n g , and u n u s u a l
p a n e l l i n g s t i l l r e m a i n . , " ( L i n c o l n ' s Way, 1 1 ) .
1707
f i r s t r e f e r e n c e to house i n deed from E p h r i a m F l i n t to nephew
Edward.
However, t h e house i s l o c a t e d on a l a r g e farm w h i c h h a s been
i n t h e F l i n t f a m i l y from i t s i n i t i a l g r a n t c . 1 6 5 0 ' s to t h e p r e s e n t ,
s u b s e q u e n t owners i n c l u d e :
E p h r a i m F l i n t , A . M . ( 1 7 1 3 - 1 7 6 2 ) L i n c o l n ' s f i r s t town c l e r k and donor
o f t h e f i r s t L i n c o l n cemetery^ f i r s t town t r e a s u r e r a n d s e l e c t m a n .
Ephraim F l i n t ( 1 7 4 5 - 1 8 2 4 )
M a j o r E p h r a i m F l i n t ( d - 1 8 7 1 , age 8 9 )
Ephraim F l i n t (bp. 184O
)
George F l i n t ,
Edward F l i n t .
The F l i n t farm o r i g i n a l l y i n c l u d e d about 7 5 0 a c r e s , and t o d a y r e p r e s e n t s
a l a r g e a r e a around t h e c e n t e r .
Through t h e y e a r s t h e f a m i l y h a s
c o n t i n u e d t o farm t h e p r o p e r t y i n t o t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , w i t h g r e e n h o u s e s
once l o c a t e d to t h e r e a r o f t h e p r o p e r t y .
An e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y b a r n i s l o c a t e d b e h i n d t h e house (moved from
o r i g i n a l l o c a t i o n ) and a l a r g e r b a r n a c r o s s t h e s t r e e t .
10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, a s s e s s o r ' s r e c o r d s ,
e a r l y maps, etc.)
L i n c o l n ' s Way. L i n c o l n B i c e n t e n n i a l C o m m i s s i o n , 1976.
Edward R . F a r r a r and Samuel F a r r a r .
Houses i n L i n c o l n . . .
E l i z a b e t h D o n a l d s o n and M a r g a r e t F l i n t
MS, 1935.
#53.
Original yellow form: Eligibility file
Copies: Inventory form
Town file(w/corresp.)
Maoris
NR director
Community: Lincoln
MHC
OPINION: E L I G I B I L I T Y FOR
NATIONAL R E G I S T E R
Date Received: 09.14.01
Date Due:
Type: X
District (Attach map indicating boundaries)
Individual
Date Reviewed: 10.16.01
Name: Flint Homestead
Inventory Form:
N/A
Address: 28 Lexington Road
Requested by: J. Edward Foster
Action:
X Honor
ITC
Agency:
Grant
R&C
Other:
Staff in charge of Review: E. Gradoia
INDIVIDUAL PROPERTIES
DISTRICTS
Eligible
Ineligible
.XEligible
Eligible, also i n district
Eligible only i n district
Ineligible
CRITERIA:
XA
XB
XC
D
LEVEL:
X Local
State
National
S T A T E M E N T OF S I G N I F I C A N C E :
th
th
The Flint Homestead, constructed c. 1690 and substantially enlarged in the 18 and 19 century, is eligible
for listing in the National register under Criterion A for its association with the history and development of
Lincoln: Under Criterion B for the contributions members of the Flint Family made throughout the history
of Lincoln: under Criterion C as an excellent example of a vernacular wood frame dwelling house which
exhibits elements of building practices and design from the 17 through the 20 century. The barn (c.
1690) located on the premises is included within this eligibility opinion. The barn was originally built as
an English style barn but was later lengthened and eventually moved from its original site. The Flint
families are the only family in Lincoln that has continuously lived on the original farmstead established by
their 17 century descendents. Nine generations of the Flint family have continuously occupied and
farmed the property over a period of 300 years.
th
th
1
th
21
THE OLD COLONIAL FLINT BARN
By Gwen S. Flint
The architectural history of New England began with barns of the
Colonial period.
The farmers had to take care of their most
valuable possessions, tools, animals and their feed.
The New
England climate dictated that the animals have proper shelter and
their barns were often built before their homes.
A fresh supply of water had to be available for the cattle such as
a nearby pond or brook. The farmers used the stone and timber from
the fields they were clearing to build their barns.
Each farmer
built his barn according to the number of animals he owned.
He
located his barn in relation to the contours of the land. The barn
was usually placed a long distance from the house in case of fire.
The older section of the Flint's old Colonial barn was 31 X 34 feet
and was built between 1683-1690 after captain Ephraim Flint
inherited 750 acres of land from his father.
To build the barn
meant clearing the land, cutting the trees, pulling stumps and
removing tons of stones. This land surrounds the highest hill in
Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Behind this hill is Flint's pond, the
town's largest body of water. In 1690 Lincoln was part of Concord,
Ma.
The barn roof was built using oak pegged large principal rafters
with no ridge pole running down the center of the roof but with
purlines and horizontal boarding. It probably had clapboard sides
at that time. The oak and chestnut tree·s on the land provided the
lumber needed for the buildings. captain Ephraim, a man of means
owned two horses, four oxen, five cows and ten sheep. He had to
have a place to house his live stock. When the barn was finished
he built a salt box house with a lean-to-kitchen for his new bride.
The house had clapboard sides.
He called this his "now house,"
meaning his new house. Later he called it the "mansion house."
f,
The plow was the foundation instrument used for agriculture of the
food for the sustenance of man and his animals. The plow and the
musket became symbols of colonial times. This barn still houses
a plow that is an authentic implement, used over two hundred years
ago, around the time of the American Revolution. The wooden plow
is fashioned of native Middlesex oak, and the moldboard and beam
are also oak. The share is sheathed in thin iron plates. The barn
also houses an eighteenth century oxen yoke made of oak.
The new section was added to the barn between 1750-1760.
This
added another 31 X 34 feet making a total of 31 X 68 feet. The new
section has a ridge pole running down the center of the roof . Two
of the pictures show the difference of the beam construction in two
different periods.
The underpinnings and sills of _ the original
barn have long since been replaced.
George Flint, was the sixth generation of Flint's to live
house and he added several more rooms. He was a successful
and needed a place for the hired help to stay who worked
farm.
By this time the land had been divided several times
was a smaller but very successful farm.
He was the last
oxen on the farm.
in the
farmer
on the
and it
to use
In 1870 George built another, larger barn to house the cattle in
the winter time. At times the hay was stacked- so high it reached
the ridge pole with hay from the meadows.
George kept his two horses, Prince and Jerry, and a buggy in the
old barn.
On Sunday morning's the family horse and buggy were
always brought from the barn to the front door of the house and
left to wait for the family to use when ready to go to church. One
Sunday the church bell rang, and evidently the horse thought he
should not be late. He took off for the church, approximately one
half mile away, without his usual passengers. He pulled up to the
front of the church, stopping as usual for his passengers to step
down, and then immediately left to take his place in the covered
stalls reserved at the back of the church for horses and buggies.
The family went outside, and found their transportation missing.
Dressed in their Sunday clothes, they walked to church, where they
found their horse in his usual church stall.
George built a house across the street for his son Ephraim, and
Ephraim's son Warren Flint, Sr. still lives there. George's son,
Edward Flint inherited the old barn and house. He and Ephraim both
inherited all the land, but later divided it between themselves.
Edward and his father George, built four -of the first green houses
in the area.
The greenhouse plant consisted of four large green
houses, a packing house and a heating plant that had two 150
horsepower boilers to heat the greenhouses. It burned tons of coal
to provide the necessary temperature during freezing winter months.
Underground temperature was controlled by forcing steam from the
boilers into the greenhouse pipe system.
stevea, grown in large
red clay pots, and grade A vegetables, radishes, cucumbers, lettuce
and tomatoes were transported to Boston, where they were sold to
the large hotels, through the Quincy market. Years later, better
transportation and refrigeration contributed to the decline of
green houses and markets in the Northeast. The cellar of the old
barn still houses hundreds of the large red clay pots.
Edward Flint's son's Edward, Jr. and Henry inherited the old
homestead and land from their father.
Edward, Jr. remembers the
day in 1918 when the old barn was moved across Lexington road to
the place where it now stands behind the Flint homestead. The old
barn was raised and placed on large rolling logs .
A capstan and
,.
two horses were used to pull the old barn across the street with
the help of several men.
The cellar floor of solid cement was
poured and the cellar walls made of cement and large stones stood
about eight feet above the ground in the 'back of the barn to about
1 foot high at the front.
The barn was then placed over the new
cellar.
Later the two wagon doors on the side of the barn were
removed and a double door was added to the front end of the barn.
In 1938 the hurricane "Cora" destroyed two of the green houses, and
a few years later, the hurricane "Dora" damaged the other two and
they had to be removed, but the old barn withstood the strong winds
of the hurricanes.
As late as 1920, it was believed that the horse was needed on the
general farm, but tractors gradually began to take their place and
saved the time required to 'care for horses and mules, which
including feeding, harnessing and grooming.
Henry Flint maintained the family farming tradition in 1940 when he
won three plowing contests, which included competition from
Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, connecticut, New York
and New Jersey.
The contests were sponsored by the Ford Motor
Company. Henry Ford, in person, presented to Henry the latest Ford
tractor, cultivator and plow as first prize. The Ford tractor is
kept in the three-hundred year old Colonial barn, and is now used
on the Flint Homestead which Henry and Edward Flint, Jr. still own.
Source: Mr. Dean Hanson, expert in Antique Architecture, furnished
the architectural information on this Colonial Barn and provided
the photo's in Fig. 6 and 7.
Reference: "Flint Family History of the Adventuresome Seven."
by Flint and Flint.
"An American Heroin" DAR Magazine, May 1995 by
Gwen S. Flint
B) Preservation Restriction for the Flint Homestead (2004)
FLINT HOMESTEAD
FLINT HOMESTEAD
C) Historic Preservation Resource
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic
Properties, 1995
The four treatment approaches are Preservation, Rehabilitation, Restoration, and Reconstruction,
outlined below in hierarchical order and explained:
The first treatment, Preservation, places a high premium on the retention of all historic fabric through
conservation, maintenance and repair. It reflects a building's continuum over time, through successive
occupancies, and the respectful changes and alterations that are made.
Rehabilitation, the second treatment, emphasizes the retention and repair of historic materials, but more
latitude is provided for replacement because it is assumed the property is more deteriorated prior to work.
(Both Preservation and Rehabilitation standards focus attention on the preservation of those materials,
features, finishes, spaces, and spatial relationships that, together, give a property its historic character.)
Restoration, the third treatment, focuses on the retention of materials from the most significant time in a
property's history, while permitting the removal of materials from other periods.
Reconstruction, the fourth treatment, establishes limited opportunities to re-create a non-surviving site,
landscape, building, structure, or object in all new materials.
Standards for Preservation
1. A property will be used as it was historically, or be given a new use that maximizes the retention of
distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships. Where a treatment and use have not
been identified, a property will be protected and, if necessary, stabilized until additional work may be
undertaken.
2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The replacement of intact or
repairable historic materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a
property will be avoided.
3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Work needed to
stabilize, consolidate, and conserve existing historic materials and features will be physically and visually
compatible, identifiable upon close inspection, and properly documented for future research.
4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and
preserved.
5. Distinctive materials, features, finishes, and construction techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property will be preserved.
6. The existing condition of historic features will be evaluated to determine the appropriate level of
intervention needed. Where the severity of deterioration requires repair or limited replacement of a
distinctive feature, the new material will match the old in composition, design, color, and texture.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, if appropriate, will be undertaken using the gentlest means possible.
Treatments that cause damage to historic materials will not be used.
8. Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed,
mitigation measures will be undertaken.
Standards for Rehabilitation
1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use that requires minimal change to its
distinctive materials, features, spaces, and spatial relationships.
2. The historic character of a property will be retained and preserved. The removal of distinctive materials
or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize a property will be avoided.
3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create a
false sense of historical development, such as adding conjectural features or elements from other historic
properties, will not be undertaken.
4. Changes to a property that have acquired historic significance in their own right will be retained and
preserved.
characterize a property will be preserved.
6. Deteriorated historic features will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the severity of deterioration
requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in design, color, texture,
and, where possible, materials. Replacement of missing features will be substantiated by documentary
and physical evidence.
8. Archeological resources will be protected and preserved in place. If such resources must be disturbed,
mitigation measures will be undertaken.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new construction will not destroy historic materials,
features, and spatial relationships that characterize the property. The new work will be differentiated from
the old and will be compatible with the historic materials, features, size, scale and proportion, and
massing to protect the integrity of the property and its environment.
10. New additions and adjacent or related new construction will be undertaken in such a manner that, if
removed in the future, the essential form and integrity of the historic property and its environment would
be unimpaired.
Standards for Restoration
1. A property will be used as it was historically or be given a new use which reflects the property's
restoration period.
2. Materials and features from the restoration period will be retained and preserved. The removal of
materials or alteration of features, spaces, and spatial relationships that characterize the period will not be
undertaken.
3. Each property will be recognized as a physical record of its time, place, and use. Work needed to
stabilize, consolidate and conserve materials and features from the restoration period will be physically
and visually compatible, identifiable upon close inspection, and properly documented for future research.
4. Materials, features, spaces, and finishes that characterize other historical periods will be documented
prior to their alteration or removal.
characterize the restoration period will be preserved.
6. Deteriorated features from the restoration period will be repaired rather than replaced. Where the
severity of deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive feature, the new feature will match the old in
design, color, texture, and, where possible, materials.
7. Replacement of missing features from the restoration period will be substantiated by documentary and
physical evidence. A false sense of history will not be created by adding conjectural features, features
from other properties, or by combining features that never existed together historically.
9. Archeological resources affected by a project will be protected and preserved in place. If such
resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be undertaken.
10. Designs that were never executed historically will not be constructed.
Standards for Reconstruction
1. Reconstruction will be used to depict vanished or non-surviving portions of a property when
documentary and physical evidence is available to permit accurate reconstruction with minimal
conjecture, and such reconstruction is essential to the public understanding of the property.
2. Reconstruction of a landscape, building, structure, or object in its historic location will be preceded by a
thorough archeological investigation to identify and evaluate those features and artifacts which are
essential to an accurate reconstruction. If such resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures will be
undertaken.
3. Reconstruction will include measures to preserve any remaining historic materials, features, and spatial
relationships.
4. Reconstruction will be based on the accurate duplication of historic features and elements
substantiated by documentary or physical evidence rather than on conjectural designs or the availability
of different features from other historic properties. A reconstructed property will re-create the appearance
of the non-surviving historic property in materials, design, color, and texture.
5. A reconstruction will be clearly identified as a contemporary re-creation.
6. Designs that were never executed historically will not be constructed.
Accessed at National Park Service website March 30, 2010.
FLINT HOMESTEAD
Community Preservation Coalition
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Home » CPA News » Can CPA Fund Private Projects?
Can CPA Fund Private Projects?
January 2008: Have you ever wondered if CPA funds can be used to fund projects on privately-owned property? This question comes up
frequently for historic preservation projects, such as restoring an historical society’s house museum, preserving windows on an old YMCA
building, or restoring an old tavern that’s now a private residence. The answer is, it depends.
The Community Preservation Act does not prohibit use of CPA funds for projects on privately-owned property. However, the Anti-aid Amendment
to the Massachusetts Constitution does prohibit the use of public funds to private entities for private purposes (Mass Const. Amend. Article 46
s.2, as amended by Article 103). But that doesn’t mean you can’t do it!
The key concept to understand is that public funds are prohibited from being used for private purposes. Any expenditure of public funds must be
used to advance a public purpose. As the Department of Revenue points out in a February 2007 letter to the Town of Norfolk, the preservation
of historic assets are generally understood to have legitimate public purposes. A variety of federal and state programs provide historic
preservation grants to private non-profit organizations, and typically the public purpose is served by the acquisition of a historic preservation
restriction. Likewise, many CPA communities are now requiring permanent historic preservation restrictions as a condition of funding preservation
projects on private properties.
Another example to support the use of public funds for a privately-owned resource, is the USS Massachusetts case. As cited in the same DOR
letter, state funds were granted to rehabilitate the USS Massachusetts for use as a memorial and museum (Helmes v. Commonwealth, 406
Mass. 873). The Supreme Judicial Court found the expenditure was for a legitimate public purpose since the museum would be open to the
public.
The bottom line is this: CPA funds can be used to fund a project on private property if the project is advancing a public purpose, such as the
public acquiring a deed restriction, providing public access to the property or some other benefit.
Further Resources...
>> February 2007 DOR letter to the Town of Norfolk on private projects
>> Description of a Newton CPA project combining historic rehab of private home to be converted to mixed-income housing
>> Access easement used by the Town of Plymouth to guarantee public access to a private building
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http://www.communitypreservation.org/enews/FundPrivateProjectsJP.htm
4/22/2014

Flint Homestead

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