323 Bridge Street

This small Gothic cottage is one of three cottages on the easterly side of Bridge Street. Alvah Littlefield of Boston purchased a large tract of land, 10 acres, in 1859 and erected on it a cottage designed by William F. Pratt. Littlefield sold the entire tract to William Hill of Northampton for $9,000.00 in 1864; Hill disposed of the tract in two parcels, one sold to Winthrop Hillyer on August 13, 1868 and one sold to Susan R. Boies on August 14, 1868. The parcels sold for $6, 000 and $7,000. respectively. The Hillyer ($6,000) parcel was about 1 acre and this researcher assumes that the elaborate cottage a A.J. Downing on the smaller tract was the Pratt cottage. The Boies ($7,000) parcel contained 9 acres, "land w/buildings". It is therefore probable that Hill had the southerly cottage built. The third, most northerly cottage was built in 1889-81 for Moses Elwell; it was also designed by William F. Pratt.

The three cottages demonstrate various manifestations of cottage architecture in the mid-later nineteenth century. The most southerly of the cottages derives its picturesque characteristics from its asymmetrical massing, paired arched windows, and the deep shadow cast on the facade by the overhang of the roof. The middle cottage is balanced and symmetrical in its massing; the picturesque effect is achieve thru the use of gables and applied decoration, board and batten siding and gingerbread. The northerly cottage is clapboarded and elaborated with dormers and bays.

<---Back* * *--->Next

back to virtual exhibits | back to Howes Brothers