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Is your home one of the many historic homes of
Springfield? Have you worked long and hard restoring your house, or
bought it from someone who had? SPT is always looking for homes for the
house tours. SPT holds one to two house tours each year, generally in
the Spring and Fall. If you are interested in having your home open for
a tour contact us at 413-747-0656 or email at
info@springfieldpreservationtrust.org
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Past House Tours
Forest Park Heights May 2008
Forest Park
Heights is the largest and most elegant late nineteenth/early twentieth
century neighborhood in Western Massachusetts. Residential developm
ent
was spurred in the 1890s with the expansion of the electrified trolley
system and creation of Forest Park. The following 30 years saw construction
of the 600 houses now protected as a historic district.
The Springfield Preservation Trust House Tour will open homes south of
Sumner Avenue. Colonial Revival and Shingle style homes predominate in this
area, developed by the Forest Park Heights Company headed by Lewis Newman.
Atwater Park
October 2007
Much of the Atwater neighborhood was developed from the 300-acre estate of George Atwater, founder of the Springfield Street Railway. Ten years after his death in 1902, the Atwater heirs hired the Boston firm of Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. to create a plan for a pleasant residential area.
Several noted
local architects were involved in designing houses. Eugene Gardner and
his son George worked on more than a dozen homes. Napoleon Russell and
his partner Fred Knowlton designed numerous homes and also helped
develop the area around Shefford and Caseland Streets. Max Westhoff, who
designed the old Shriners Hospital and the Connecticut Valley History
Museum, also worked on homes.
The neighborhood’s park-like setting, proximity to Springfield Hospital, and access to the trolley line encouraged development. (A remnant of the trolley tracks can be seen at Atwater Road and Crestwood Street). Prior to the Great Depression, many houses were built in the popular Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles. Noted residents over the years include early aviatrix Maude Tait Moriarty, impressionist painter Harriet Randall Lumis, “live” cork-centered baseball inventor Milton Reach, and Mass Mutual president Betrand Perry.
Belmont Heights
May 2007
Forest Park Heights is the Pioneer Valley’s largest local historic district and one of its most elegant turn-of-the-20th century neighborhoods. Development was spurred in the 1890s by expansion of the trolley system as well as the creation of Forest Park. Over the next 35 years, more than 600 houses were built.
Bellevue Avenue and Marengo Park were laid out as “Belmont Heights”
by local builder and industrialist Diodate Swan. Mr. Swan died in
1895, and his children developed the area. Most houses were constructed
after 1900 in the popular Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles. All
three of his sons as well as his widow lived on Bellevue Avenue.
Homes featured today are Colonial Revival style, which began after the Centennial Exposition of 1876 sparked renewed interest in the country’s colonial past. It soon became the most popular style in the East. Such houses were more symmetrical than Victorian houses and featured classically inspired decoration.
Springfield Preservation Trust, Inc.
74 Walnut Street | Springfield | MA 01105
info@springfieldpreservationtrust.org | 413.747.0656