The final Landmark Designation Report for the Ivory Sands House at 145 Elm Street and the Cambridge Historical Commission's recommendation

Ivory Sands House

145 Elm Street Cambridge, Mass. The 1839 Ivory Sands house was the first of three brick houses constructed in Cambridge by the Sands family of brickmakers; the others were at 22 Putman Avenue (1848) and 97 Huron Avenue (1850, demolished). The surviving houses built by members of the Sands family are significant for their associations with the brick industry in Cambridge in the 19th century.

Both the Ivory Sands house at 145 Elm Street and the Hiram Sands house at 22 Putnam Avenue are listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the Hiram Sands house has been protected by a preservation restriction since 1978. Designation of the Ivory Sands house as a Cambridge landmark will protect it for posterity.

On July 7, 2016 the Historical Commission voted unanimously to find that the property meets the criteria for landmark designation for the reasons provided in the landmark designation study report and as provided in the landmark ordinance, Ch. 2.78, Article III of the Cambridge Municipal Code and to forward this report to the City Council with a recommendation to approve designation.

Charles Sullivan

Cambridge Historical Commission

Location and Status

A. Address and Zoning Mop-Lot 86.111 Hampsi.

The Ivory Sands house at 145 Elm Street (aka 132 Hampshire

Map-Lof Street) occupies a 2,980 square foot lot (Map 86, Lot 110) at the 86.116 southwest corner of Elm and Hampshire streets. The zoning is 2981 Residence C-1, a multi-family district with a height limit of 35' and a requirement of 1,500 square feet of lot area per dwelling unit. The building is non-conforming due to limited setbacks. It also encroaches on to the Hampshire Street right-of-way by about 3' . The assessed value in 2016 was $910,200, of which $471,600 was attributed to the building.

145 Elm Street, showing the garage, greenhouse, front entries, and retaining wall, May 11, 2015 B. Ownership and Occupancy The Cambridge Assessing Department lists the current owner of record as Edward B. Seldin. However, Dr. Seldin sold the property in July 2015 to the current occupant, Shawn R. Henry (Middlesex South Registry of Deeds 65819/24). The structure is assessed as a single-family house. Mian 145 Elm Street/132 Hampshire Street

Cambridge Assessing Department

C. Area Description Elm Street developed in the late 1830s and early 1840s in the period when Broadway Common (now Sennott Park) was the civic center of Cambridgeport. Elaborate Greek Revival houses lined Broadway facing the park, while Tremont, Norfolk and Elm streets behind them were filled with substantial but less elaborate Greek Revival houses, widely separated on generous lots.

There was very little development north of Hampshire Street until after the Civil War, when both Hampshire and Cambridge Streets and the streets between them rapidly filled with small single-family houses in a variety of vernacular styles. Beginning in the 1890s the grow- ing industrialization of Cambridge attracted waves of immigrants from Europe, and the devel- opment community responded by constructing three-deckers wherever a vacant lot could be found.

During this period many older houses were moved back from the street so a three- decker could be constructed in the front yard. Industries infiltrated the area until Cambridge adopted zoning in 1924, and persisted for many years after. Housing conditions deteriorated from the 1920s through the 1970s, but recent decades have seen much rehabilitation and some new construction in the vicinity. D.

Context of this Designation Report The Ivory Sands house was identified during the Cambridge Historical Commission's 1965 survey of Cambridgeport as having exceptional significance, and the Commission nominated it for listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Dr. Edward Seldin purchased the property in 1979. In 1982 he requested zoning permission to subdivide the lot, which was also occupied by the large 1882 three-decker at 134-136 Hampshire Street.

The City Engineer noted the encroachment of the house on Hampshire Street, and the BZA requested the Histori- cal Commission to monitor alterations to the house. A preservation restriction was drafted but never executed, and Dr. Seldin reviewed exterior alterations with the staff until he sold the property in 2015. Before the sale he requested the Commission to initiate a landmark designa- tion study, which commenced on June 4, 2015. I.

Description The Sands house is a gable-roofed 2½-story Federal-style single-family house with a center en- trance and five bays across the front façade. The waterstruck brick exterior is surmounted by a slightly projecting entablature and a sawtooth brick cornice. The windows are trimmed with brownstone lintels and 2+2 sash. The flush-boarded pediments have half-round windows in the attic. A two-story shingled addition projects from the northwest corner on Hampshire Street.

The uncharacteristically high brick basement, which raises the house almost a full story above the sidewalk, may have resulted from a regrading of the surrounding area to level the grade of Hampshire Street.

145 Elm Street, showing the garage, greenhouse, solar panel, May 11, 2015 Publicly visible alterations and additions to the building include a new front door and sidelights in a traditional pattern; a covered front porch with a brick platform and arched opening to the cellar door; a perimeter stone wall that turns the corner on Elm and Hampshire streets; a garage; and a greenhouse.

Structures and elements not visible to the public include a sloping triangular glass roof behind the house, an exterior staircase, a gar- den trellis, and a rooftop HVAC condenser. Interior alterations also not subject to review include a two-level basement with a circular staircase that was occupied by Dr. Seldin's machine shop. Basement entrance and front door

Hampshire Street

Elm Street

vSum Street 145 Elm Street, showing structures and elements not visible from any public way

Cambridge GIS

History and Significance of the Property

The 1839 Ivory Sands house was the first of three brick houses constructed in Cambridge by members of the Sands family of brickmakers; the others were at 22 Putman Avenue (1848) and 97 Huron Avenue (1850, now demolished). The Ivory Sands house has been listed on the Na- tional Register of Historic Places since 1986. Ivory Sands was born in Lyman, York County, Maine about 1806, and was one of several sons of Thomas and Eunice Sands. He married Eliza Ward in Plymouth, N.H. in 1835.

The couple moved to Cambridgeport, where he and his brother John entered the brick business with a clay pit and kilns along the Millers River north of Cambridge Street, making bricks primarily for the Boston market. Ivory built 145 Elm Street in 1839, probably as an advertisement for his products, and sold it in 1840.