Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

66 Crabtree Road

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Squantum, Quincy's northern peninsula, is bounded by East Squantum Street (west), Dorchester Bay (north), and Quincy Bay (south, east). Like its North Quincy neighbors, Atlantic and Montclair, it was once part of Dorchester. These three neighborhoods, along with the Old North Precinct, which had split off from Braintree, became part of the Town of Quincy in 1792. At least two notable historic events took place at Squantum: In 1621 Myles Standish, and the Indian Squanto, made their first landfall in Squantum and in 1812 the lively Pilgrim's Feast, commemorating the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers at Plymouth, took place. Also like North Quincy, the land surface of Squantum was primarily taken up with large farms. It was farms like the large Edmund Pope, Captain James Hutchins farm and Titus spreads that were subdivided by such developers as C. E. Carlson and John R. Wilson. As late as 1907, Squantum was less than one third developed with the major growth occurring between 1907 and 1923. Although Squantum had been a destination summer resort since the mid 19th century, it was not until after World War I that it truly became a year around community.

Number 66 Crabtree Road was built in 1928 at a cost of $6000 for a Daniel J. Holmes. By 1935 it was owned by Dr. Donald Macomber, a surgeon. It is built on land that belonged to the family of George F. Burkhardt, a Boston brewer and important Squantum landowner, from 1876 to 1907. By 1911 the property was owned by Lotta M. Crabtree, a renowned actress who accumulated large real estate holdings in Squantum. Crabtree (1847-1924) who reached her height of fame in the 1870's and 1880's, retired from the stage at the age of 45, and died in her own hotel ("The Brewster") in Boston.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Building Permit.
William Churchill Edwards. Historic Quincy, Massachusetts, 1957, p. 23, 61-62.
H. Hobart Holly, ed. Quincy: 350 Years, 1974, p. 50.
Paul Robert Lyons. Quincy: A Pictorial History, 1983, p. 16, 23.
Doris Oberg, Quincy Historical Society.
John Ramsdell. "Historic North Quincy [written about 1934]." Quincy Historical Society.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The Tudor Revival was one of the popular eclectic revival styles of the first quarter of the 20th century. Loosely based on a few characteristics of Elizabethan and Carolean periods (16th and early 17th century England), it has its origins in Great Britain in the 1830s and in the United States in the 1850s through the proliferation of the books by Andrew Jackson Downing (1815-1852) who thought the style appropriate for a country residences. Characteristics of the style include half timbering detailing, a multiplicity of gables, large elaborate chimneys, varied walling material, steeply pitched ridge roofs, superimposed gables, casement windows with leaded panes tudor arches and at times, castellated parapets. It was the most picturesque style of the 20th century.

The large asymmetrically shaped residence at 66 Crabtree Road is a fine example of the style replete with numerous half-timbered gables, irregular fenestration, varied wall materials and a picturesque silhouette. The most dramatic element of the house is its dramatic site right on Quincy Bay from where it has magnificent views. The house and its grounds seem to cascade from Crabtree Road into the water. It is an attractive and picturesque component on Crabtree Road.

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