Italianate: 1850 to 1885

The Italianate style was in vogue in the 1860s and 1870s and since this was a period of great growth in Belmont, the style is well represented locally. The Italianate dwelling typically displays low-pitched roofs with eaves decorated by large brackets. The arched and rectangular window openings are often elongated on the first floor and commonly topped by bold entablature lintels with heavy trim. Square porch posts display chamfered corners and are set on pedestals. In addition to porches, bay windows, cupolas and towers are often part of the design.

Examples Found in Belmont

Lyman Underwood House, 1853 | 50 Common Street

Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 50 Common Street
Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 50 Common Street - Historic

The house is significant for its illustration of an important phase of Belmont's history, the 19th-century estate development of the town, as well as for its association with the Underwood family, Belmont civic leaders who also made important contributions to the fields of food canning and bacteriology, photography, and landscape architecture.

The house is most closely associated with Lyman Underwood, a talented scientist and naturalist who is remembered for his contributions to the food canning industry, public health, and photography. Lyman Underwood lived in 50 Common Street from his marriage in 1887 to Ida Cushing, until his death in 1929.

Thomas Blake House, 1875 | 642 Pleasant Street

Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 642 Pleasant Street
Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 642 Pleasant Street - Historic

The residence of important Belmont scientists and inventors, the Thomas Blake House was the house of the son of George Fordyce Blake, inventor of the water meter and the Blake Steam Pump, adapted for use throughout the world. Thomas Blake participated in the growth of his father's multi-million dollar enterprise. Later, this house was the home of Marcus O'Day, space scientist with the U.S. Air Force.

- Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System

1878 | 30 Hawthorne Street

Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 30 Hawthorne Street
Representative Architectural Styles Italianate 30 Hawthorne Street - Historic

Built in 1878, the house at 30 Hawthorne is significant as one of the earliest houses to be built in the first successful subdivision of former Waverley Land Company property. The lot for this house was part of the 8-acre parcel acquired by D. Gilbert Dexter in 1873 for his "Waverley Square" development. At the time of its construction, there were probably less than 60 buildings in the Waverley area, indicating the still rural atmosphere of the village during this period.