Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

170 Adams Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Number 170 Adams Street was built by Israel Edelstein at a cost of $18,000 in 1950. This spacious property had been previously owned by a John C. Randall, a Boston carpet dealer, in 1897; by Henry M. Carruthers, a machine tool manufacturer, in 1907; and by Joseph A. Dasha, a "secretary" (probably of a financial institution), in 1923.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Assessors Records.
Building Permit
Atlas of Norfolk County, Mass, 1876.
Atlas of the City of Quincy. 1897.
Atlas of the City of Quincy. 1007.
Atlas of the City of Quincy. 1923.
Quincy City Directories, 1898, 1910, 1922.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This 1950 one story brick with white trim house was built in a free interpretation of the Colonial Revival style. Its massing is reminiscent of Cape Cod houses, but its asymmetrical facade composed of tripartite windows capped with elliptical linters is a modern design element. The multiplicity of dormers is more Williamsburg than New England and the entrance is a composite of a Federal and Georgian details. The house is set on a granite foundation, has a slate ridge roof and has a small wing with a balustrade on the roof; it was once an open columned porch. The ensemble is pleasing and it is an attractive traditional element in the Quincy Center Local Historic District, close to the Vassell-Adams House at 135 Adams Street.

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