Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

19 Avon way (George A. Sidelinger House)

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Hospital Hill/President's Hill/Cranch Hill neighborhood of Quincy is bounded by the MBTA tracks (east), Granite Street-Quarry Street (south), Quarry Street-Common Street (west) and Common Street-Furnace Brook Parkway (north). A key feature of this elite residential area was the extensive Charles Francis Adams Estate which was divided by the 1890's into three great real estate trust controlled properties called President's Hill, President's Hill Annex and Cranch Hill. Presidents Hill took its name from the Adams family who furnished two Presidents of the United States. Cranch Hill is located on the former homestead of Richard Cranch who, together with Joseph Palmer, is credited with the early industrial development of Germantown. Other features of this area are the smaller estates that lined the south side of Adams Street. the Quincy City Hospital at the top of Cranch Hill and the store quarries lying to the east of Quarry Street. The close proximity of the Quincy Depot (which served the Old Colony Line to Boston), the City Hall, the street railway, and the city's financial center were major factors in the successful development of this area.

Number 19 Avon Way was built for George A. Sidelinger the well-known president of the city council in 1899. Sidelinger, who commuted to Boston to work for the house of Cushing, Bliss & Co., was also very active in the YWCA, serving as treasurer for many years. The Sidelinger house was built on land that in 1876 was the property of Charles Francis Adams that by 1897 was acquired by the President's Hill Real Estate Trust.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
"A Brief Historical Sketch of the City of Quincy, Mass." Issued by the President's Hill,
President's Hill Annex, and Cranch Hill Real Estate Trusts". c. 1903.
Assessors Records.
Robinson's Atlas of Norfolk County. Mass., 1888.
Atlas of the City of Quincy. 1897.
Atlas of the City of Quincy. 1907.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1923.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The Shingle Style which followed the exuberant Queen Anne Style was favored for sea side and suburban homes. The trend began with the grandiose shingled summer homes of McKim, Mead and White in the 1880s and continued with the fine Shingle Style houses of William Ralph Emerson in Massachusetts and John Calvin Stevens in Maine. They were characterized by quiet compact massing, enveloping roofs which were often gambreled, simple classic details and the use of stained shingles to "wrap" the house. It was considered an American derived architecture which was influenced by the early weathered clapboarded and shingled 17th century houses then being studied with great avidity. The continued interest in the architectural past of the East Coast led soon after to the Colonial Revival Style.

This is a fine late Shingle Style house which has an elegant Palladian window in its facade, sited atop the columnar and balustraded portico. A characteristic detail of the style is the front gable window with the shingles curving in to create a recess for the picturesque casement window with diamond shaped panes. The ground floor has a one story bay window which is balanced on the right by the continuation of the portico. Large granite steps lead to the attractive entrance with its triple Doric columns supporting a Greek pediment. Were it not for the unfelicitous addition on the left, the house would have retained its architectural integrity. However, it has retained its identity, its wood shingles and most of the decorative elements of the style. It will be recommended that this property be included in the proposed National Register Hospital Hill/President's Hill/Cranch Hill Historic District.

Back