LINCOLN HISTORIC DISTRICT BY-LAW AND THE 2018 MODERN HOUSE INITIATIVE
Lincoln voted to adopt its Historic District By-Law in accordance with the Massachusetts Historic Districts Act on March 28, 1981. Through the By-law, the Historic District is “intended to preserve and protect as a permanent legacy the significant historical areas and distinctive architectural characteristics of the Town of Lincoln in their settings.” The Lincoln Historic District Commission provides oversight of houses in the District on behalf of owners and the Town of Lincoln consistent with Town’s applicable Zoning By-Laws.
In 2018, The Friends of Modern Architecture/Lincoln partnered with the Lincoln Historic District Commission to increase the number of Modern houses in the Historic District to better reflect the Town’s significant Modern legacy as seen in over 300 Modern houses and buildings. Through this effort, the owners of twenty-eight houses joined the Historic District, eleven of them within a newly designated historic district in the Brown’s Wood neighborhood of Lincoln.
Before the Town Meeting vote of 2018, the Lincoln Historic District consisted of 73 properties located in four areas:
Lincoln Center—62 properties
Woods End, off of Baker Bridge Road—5 properties
Codman Estate and Farm—4 properties
Cory-Brown-Hunt Houses, Conant Road—2 properties
For more information please consult the website of Lincoln Historic District Commission which can be found here.
MODERN HOUSES WITHIN THE DISTRICT PRIOR TO THE 2018 INITIATIVE
Seven Modern houses were originally included in the Lincoln Historic District including seminal properties in the Woods End Road neighborhood designed by world-renowned Modern architects Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer and colleague Walter Bogner. Two others are within the Lincoln Center district.
DESIGNED BY BAUHAUS FOUNDER AND PROFESSOR OF HARVARD SCHOOL OF GRADUATE DESIGN, ARCHITECT WALTER GROPIUS FOR HIS FAMILY IN 1938 IS NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK.
DESIGNED BY BAUHAUS STUDENT AND FACULTY MEMBER, HARVARD PROFESSOR, ARCHITECT, AND FURNITURE DESIGNER MARCEL BREUER FOR HIMSELF IN 1939 AND TO DEMONSTRATE TO STUDENTS AND THE PUBLIC HOW EUROPEAN MODERN ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE COULD BE ADAPTED TO NEW ENGLAND VERNACULAR.
THE 1939 BOGNER HOUSE WAS DESIGNED BY HARVARD PROFESSOR AND ARCHITECT WALTER BOGNER FOR HIS FAMILY AND TO DEMONSTRATE THE ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE.
THE 1939 FORD HOUSE WAS DESIGNED BY WALTER GROPIUS AND MARCEL BREUER FOR HARVARD PROFESSOR, SOCIOLOGIST, AND HOUSING SPECIALIST JAMES FORD AND HIS SPOUSE, HOUSING AND ARCHITECTURE SPECIALIST KATHERINE MORROW FORD.
THE 1948 HECK HOUSE WAS A REDESIGN OF A VICTORIAN ERA HOUSE BY HENRY HOOVER FOR THE STANLEY HECK FAMILY.
THE 1948 HECK HOUSE WAS A REDESIGN OF A VICTORIAN ERA HOUSE BY HENRY HOOVER FOR THE STANLEY HECK FAMILY.
THE 1978 TALCOTT M. BANKS HOUSE UTILIZED THE DECK HOUSE COMPANY MODULAR SYSTEMS.
BROWN’S WOOD HISTORIC DISTRICT:
1956 Freeman house, Arthur H. Brooks, Jr.
1956 Gras house, Ranulf and Ann Gras
1956 Freud-Lowenstein house, Arthur H. Brooks, Jr.
1956 Morgan house, Walter Krokyn and Associates
1956 Polumbaum house, Nyna Polumbaum
1956 Swanson house, Compton and Pierce
1956 Eckhardt, Ron Gourley
1957 Allen house, Compton and Pierce
1957 Harris house, Compton and Pierce
1957 Hill house, Compton and Pierce
1959 Rawson house, Henry B. Hoover (1902-1989), Hoover and Hill Associates
1959 Wales house, Henry B. Hoover (1902-1989), Hoover and Hill Associates
1960 Balser house, Paterson
1956 GRAS HOUSE, RANULF AND ANN GRAS
PHOTO CREDITS: GROPIUS HOUSE AND BREUER HOUSE, HARVARD ART MUSEUMS/BUSCH-REISINGER MUSEUM;
BOGNER HOUSE, LOCATION: LINCOLN MA ©EZRA STOLLER / ESTO; GASKILL HOUSE AND GRAS HOUSE, RICHARD MANDELKORN.