Quincy, Mass. Historical and Architectural Survey

1227-1249 Hancock Street

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Munroe Building, 1227-1249 Hancock Street, constructed at a cost of $250,000 in 1929, was the second of a pair of large two-story stores/offices/apartments buildings to be built in this area of Hancock Street. The first was the Dirnmock Building, erected a block away at 1143-1163 Hancock Street in 1928.

Boston architects Shepard & Stearns, often associated in Quincy with the large land owner, Henry Munroe Faxon, were the designers of the Munroe Building. The firm had already completed commissions for the Neighborhood Club, 27 Glendale Road, in 1917, the addition to the Field Street power station in 1925 and the Reay E. Sterling Middle School, 444 Granite Street, in 1927. More Quincy commissions followed for Shepard & Stearns, including the Quincy Mutual Fire Insurance Building, 57 Washington Street, in 1931.

Number 1227-1249 Hancock Street has been under the ownership of the Faxon family for over one hundred years, starting before 1876. The property passed from Henry Hardwick Faxon (1823-1900), the fabulously successful real estate entrepreneur who owned many houses and stores in Quincy as well as large holdings in Boston and Chelsea, to his only son, Henry Munroe Faxon. The elder Faxon was also a colorful and tireless campaigner for the cause of temperance. Henry Munroe Faxon (1864-1949), a founder and president of the Quincy Electric Light & Power Company, apparently inherited his father's talent with real estate and successfully continued to manage the Faxon properties.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Atlas of Norfolk County, Mass. 1876.
Robinson's Atlas of Norfolk County 1888.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1897.
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1907
Atlas of the City of Quincy, 1923
Quincy Patriot Ledger, Souvenir Edition, 1899, p. 22.
"Sprague Genealogy of Old Braintree Families". Microfilm at the Quincy Historical Society.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This 1929 two story brick and limestone office and retail stores building is one of the most attractive examples of commercial architecture in the Quincy Center Local Historic District. Designed by Shepard and Stearns in a Colonial Revival style, it is replete with late Georgian details, in particular the fine swags embellishing the applied gables on the two facades, and the frieze of triglyphs and rosettes (partially hidden by the bank sign at the corner) over the row of gothic tracery atop the store windows. Not only is the surface articulation one of the loveliest in the commercial center, it is also the building which has resolved its corner location in the most successful manner. On the Hancock Street elevation the architects have placed three gables, each composed with an arched window, framed by two single windows on the sides, a variation of the Palladian motif. Between the gables are three triple windows capped by a blind elliptical arch decorated with a raised fan motif. The shorter elevation has the same pattern, but with only two gables. These varied decorative elements are unified by a contrasting string course on the ground and second floor level. The corner is further emphasized by the presence of two contrasting pilasters framing a triple window, topped by an inset panel with "Munroe Building". The detailing of this building is particularly subtle and well rendered; to note is the way the pilasters capitals become the ends of the gables and the use of a contrasting plain cornice at the roof level, giving it a finished look. The lobby has a directory with a particularly beautiful brass frame decorated with scrolls, guilloches and rosettes and a radiator whose grill is scalopped shape and edged with a rope design. It is recommended that this building be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places as an excellent example of 1920s Colonial Revival commercial architecture; its scale, proportions, use of historic details and its design sophistication make it a prime candidate.

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