Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

21 Dixwell Avenue

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 stone 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 tbe city's financial center were major factors in the successful development of this area.

Herman F. McIntire, a Quincy Center realtor located in the Greenleaf Building at 1419 Hancock Street, built both 21 and 55 Dixwell Avenue. He appears to have started out living in the house at Number 55 and then moved by 1909 to Number 21. Frank C. Blake, a Boston Agent, and his wife, Nellie E., had bought the property by 1922. The house is built on land that in 1897 probably belonged to the Cranch 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.
Rhoads. William B. "The Colonial Revival and American Nationalism". Journal of the Societ of Architectural Historians 35,no. 4 (December 1976): 239-254.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
"From the beginning, the Colonial Revival was inspired by nationalistic sentiment - the desire to have in America an American style distinct from European modes:" (Rhoads, page 239). This style which occured during the first half of the 20th century evolved out of the Shingle Style of the late 19th century which was already considered an American derived architecture as it was influenced by the early 17th century East Coast shingled houses. The Philadelphia Centennial first awakened interest in our colonial heritage and led architects such as Stanford White to travel throughout New England to study original Georgian and Federal houses. At the onset of the period, residences were rarely historically correct copies but rather free interpretations with details inspired by colonial precedents. Periodicals such as The American Architect and Building News published articles on "The Georgian Period" which eventually led to carefully researched copies with more correct details.

This fine example of an early, Colonial Revival house has many fine classical details, in particular the roundheaded window in the center of the second floor with its Gothic tracery and the elegant door framed by beautiful sidelights with tracery. The squarish configuration and the low pitch hip roof with its wide overhang indicates Prairie style elements which emphasize the house's horizontality. The fenestration is composed of double sash windows, a typical characteristic of early Colonial Revival. The full length balustraded front porch has double and triple columns as supports. The house is set on a typical Quincy granite foundation. It will be recommended that the property be listed in the proposed National Register Hospital Hill/President's Hill/Cranch Hill Historic District.

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