Westminster Village Historic District

DESCRIPTION:

Situated on a plain along the west side of the Connecticut River, the Westminster Village Historic District encompasses virtually the entire village of Westminster. The very broad Main Street with its deeply setback buildings is the core of the district, although portions of the three side streets are also included. Of the 63 primary buildings in the district, 13 are non-contributing. Architectural styles range from late 18th century through Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival. Most of the buildings are vernacular or low style versions of these architectural styles; this basic simplicity lends a cohesiveness to the district. The village consists overwhelmingly of wood-framed, clapboarded residential buildings with a few commercial and public buildings interspersed. Slate roofs and continuous architecture are additional common features. Consistency of scale and the predominance of wooden construction and vernacular styles give to the village of Westminster an architectural unity which has to a large degree maintained its integrity.

Westminster Village is the major village in the town of Westminster, Vermont. The village is located on a very flat plain in the Connecticut River valley, Main Street (U.S. Route 5) running about a third of a mile west of the river itself. The plain is about 75 feet above the river level and is bounded on the northeast and southeast by a steep wooded bluff about 50 feet high. On the remainder of the northwest side, a wooded bluff rising some 50 feet above the plain completes the natural enclosure of the flat area. In outline, the plain is a very rough oval with a long northeast southwest axis. The flat plain surrounded by distinct topographical boundaries gives the village clear geographic limits.

The primary village street, Main Street, is a major state highway (U.S. Route 5) that parallels the Connecticut River and crosses the plain from the southwest to the northeast. Perpendicular to Main Street are the village's three other streets. In the center of the village, two of these streets, School Street to the northwest and Grout Avenue to the southeast, intersect Main Street virtually opposite each other. Further to the south, Cox Road leads off to the northwest.

Main Street has a very broad right of way, 99 feet wide. As the pavement is only 25 feet wide, the undeveloped strips on each side of the street have an average width of 37 feet and are in general grassed. Regardless of variations of lawn depth, the deep setbacks required by the wide right of way give Main Street a quite notable sense of spaciousness, unusual for a New England village. As noted, the strips are generally grassed, but there are some exceptions: an unpaved parking area in front of the village store (#15), and paved parking areas in front of the Town Hall (#57), the Post Office (#12) and the community center library (#19). (Smaller remnants of paved areas are also found in front of properties #13 and #27.) The Street once had sidewalks, but save for a concrete section that survives in front of property #13, these have disappeared. A row of telephone poles with street lights lines the southeast side of the street, while rows of trees line both sides, though only sparsely at the south end. The great elms that once completely shaded the street have mostly died out, though maples planted in the 1960's and other trees have begun to replace them.

Main Street is straight and level through most of the village, but at each end, it drops over the bluff, at the south end curving slightly to the east to find a better course. At the north end, the street is cut deeply through the bluff (here known as Courthouse Hill for the old county courthouse which stood here from 1772 to about 1806.) Because of the deep cut, unpaved roads within the right of way on each side of the main highway serve the five northernmost properties of the district. Both School Street and Grout Avenue fork as they intersect with Main Street. School Street has two branches at the intersection, thus creating a grassed triangle, which now contains the World War I Honor Roll. Grout Avenue has three branches at the intersection, creating two smaller grassed triangles.

Main Street's wide right of way has become the site for several local monuments throughout this century. The earliest and the northernmost is a marker commemorating the old courthouse, located on top of the southeast road bank in front of property #2. Erected in 1902 by the Brattleboro Chapter of The D.A.R., the monument is a bronze plaque (with an inscription in raised letters and plain border) mounted on a boulder of local granite. The monument's location, although historically accurate, is so obscured by the deep road cut that it is virtually invisible to the passing tourist. Therefore, the Vermont Historic Sites Commission erected a highway marker at a more visible site further south, in front of property #4. The cast metal sign, with a raised letter inscription, molded sides and a scrolled top featuring the state seal, is mounted on an octagonal metal post. The highway marker describes the courthouse and the important events-the Westminster Massacre and the Declaration of Vermont's Independence-which took place in that historic building.

Just south of the Town Hall (#57) on the northeast side of the street stands the Willard Fountain, given to the Town by Henry K. Willard, in memory of William Czar Bradley and Henry A. Willard, on June 26, 1913. The marble fountain once stood at the foot of the Courthouse Hill, but was removed from that location and stored on the Town Hall grounds for many years. In the late 1960's, the fountain was repaired and reerected (albeit without a water connection) at its present site. The main part of the monument is a tall smooth tapered slab, with the dedicatory inscription enclosed in an incised border, and set on a smooth base with watertable. On the rear is a smooth semicircular projection with two basins, a low one for dogs, a high one for people-. On the front is a large projecting horse trough with a rough tooled surface. The horse trough is used as a flower planter, and the fountain is surrounded by shrubs.

In the grassed triangle at the intersection of Main and School Streets now stands the World I Honor Roll. The monument was originally erected in front of the site planned for the community center (#19) and was dedicated there on July 4, 1920. By 1922, the monument had been moved to its present location. The Honor Roll itself is a large bronze plaque with a dedicatory inscription and the names of the townspeople who served in the war in raised letters, the state seal, and smaller plaques depicting the army, the navy, and the air corps, all set within a paneled border. The plaque is mounted on a granite slab with smooth-faced front and low pitched pyramidal top, but rock-faced back and sides. The slab stands on a short base with rock-faced sides and a smooth, sloping watertable.

School Street (Town Highway No. 3) leads northwest from Main Street in a straight course across the plain, then curves slightly to the west to pass through a narrow space between the deep ravine and the steep bluff that form the plain's northwest border. As the main highway connecting the villages of Westminster and Westminster West, School Street is an important town road. Unlike those of Main Street, the buildings along School Street have normal setbacks behind modest front lawns. Telephone poles with street lights line the street.

Grout Avenue (Town Highway No. 54) leads southeast from Main Street towards the river. The street, paved within the district, becomes a dirt road just beyond the district boundary and ends shortly there after at the top of the bluff. (A private road continues down over the bluff.) The paved street is lined with some trees and telephone poles. The only primary building within the district which faces Grout Avenue (#17) has a shallow front lawn.

Cox Road (Town Highway No. 53) leads northwest from Main Street. It was cut off by the construction of Interstate 91 west of the village, and is now a dead end road that primarily serves a modern house and some fields, just outside the district. None of the district buildings, save for the outbuildings of property #35, front on the gravel road, which is lined by telephone poles.

The Historic District includes 67 properties. All of the properties front on Main Street, School Street or Grout Avenue, with the exception of property #44, located behind (southwest of) property #43, and building #25, located behind (southeast of) property #24. Four of the properties, two fields in agricultural use (#2, #30), a driveway (#47) and the town cemetery (#66) do not have any buildings. There are 63 primary buildings in the district, and 61 more outbuildings, making 124 buildings in all. Of these 124 buildings, 75 are considered contributing to the district; the vast majority of those non-contributing are secondary buildings, being primarily modern garages and sheds. The district also includes two independently significant contributing structures, both corncribs (#8A, #8B). Classified by their original uses, the 63 primary buildings include 49 houses, one barn (#3), six public buildings (the church, #21; the town hall, #57; the community center-library, #19; the post office, #12; a school and its boarding house, #43 and #44), six commercial buildings (three stores, #15, #31, and #53; a gas station, #27; a restaurant, #25; and a motel , #26) and one industrial plant-the local creamery (#49). One house (#54) became the grange hall. The school and its boarding house became multi-family residences. The barn, one store, the gas station, and the creamery have been converted to houses, while one small store building (#31) has been vacant for at least ten years. Classified by their present uses, the 63 primary buildings include 54 residences, five public buildings (including the grange hall) and four commercial buildings (including the vacant building, #31). Most houses display continuous architecture, some examples extending nearly 100 feet.

All but two of the 124 buildings, and both structures, are of wooden construction. The exceptions are two fine brick buildings, the Westminster Institute (#19) and the Dickinson House (#33). Two thirds of the primary buildings are sheathed largely or wholly with clapboards. Another nine have been resheathed with aluminum or vinyl "clapboarding", and four buildings now have asbestos or asphalt shingles. Plywood, plastic, wood shingle and novelty siding is also used on a few buildings in the district. Outbuildings and attached barns and sheds show a greater variety of sheathings, sometimes having two or three types of siding each. These include clapboarding, vertical and horizontal boarding, novelty siding, "brick" asphalt siding, and asphalt and wooden shingles. Half of the primary buildings are covered by slate roofs, at least over the main block. The other main block roofs are mostly asphalt shingled, with only a handful being sheathed with corrugated metal. The color white predominates in the village, covering two-thirds of the primary buildings, although a few of these buildings have attached barns or sheds either painted red or left unfinished.

In date, the district's primary buildings range from the late 18th century to 1974. Many of the major styles of this period, the Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Victorian eclectic, and Colonial Revival, are represented in the district. Most of the village buildings were built in the vernacular, or in a simplified version of the high styles. Even the late 19th century buildings, typically flamboyant elsewhere, in this district, have only simple massing and restrained ornamentation. As a result of this basic simplicity and restraint, the buildings are not as dissimilar as their dates might suggest. Thanks to the consistency of scale, the predominance of wooden construction, clapboarding, slate roofs, white paint, and the vernacular styles, the village of Westminster has a basic architectural unity, which adds much to its unique sense of place.

With one exception, the district's primary buildings are oriented to the streets on which they stand, with the street side facade parallel to the road and typically containing the main entry. (The exception is the former gas station, (#27) and its adjoining woodshed, #27A which were built at an angle to the road.) On Main Street and School Street, the building setbacks are generally consistent. The buildings are fairly evenly spaced along the streets, with a somewhat higher density near the center of the village, and a greater spread between the buildings at the south end of Main Street and the western end of School Street.

The plain on which the village sits is both flat and fertile, and therefore well suited for agriculture. Properties #7 and #51 are the only working farms in the village. But properties #2 and #30 are agricultural fields, and portions of properties #8, #23, #25, and #26, #28, #33, #34, #35, #37, #46 and #56 are leased to local farmers for market gardening. Other properties have large gardens. Large hayfields are found on properties #4, #9, #29 and #45. Thus, although only a few of its residents are now farmers, the village nevertheless retains an agricultural setting. Other fields bordering the district, but not included within its boundary, reinforce this agricultural setting. As the houses, with the exception of #49 and #50, are surrounded by lawns with only scattered trees, the land within the district is generally open. The only woodlands are found at the west end of School Street (properties #49 and #50) and on the few properties which extend down over the wooded bluff surrounding the plain.

Main Street

1. Barber House; c.1800.
A fine example of continuous architecture, this early vernacular Cape and its extensive additions terminate the northern end of the district. Because of the lack of both documentary and architectural evidence, it is difficult to date this house, although its central chimney and some surviving interior details do suggest that it was constructed about the beginning of the 19th century. The exposed roof rafters are hewn in the western end of the original cape, but sawn above the eastern room, suggesting that the building began as a half cape. There is a tradition that the house once stood on Grout Avenue and was moved to this site sometime in the 19th century. The porch and the sash are not original, but do appear in a 1913 photograph of the building. About 1921, the cape was extended to the northwest by a one room deep addition, two stories high on the southwest and one story high on the northeast, under an asymmetrical gable roof. The present owners altered the 1921 addition in 1975, changing its roof to match the cape's roof, removing some windows, and replacing the canted door at the west corner with the present door in the southwest facade. In 1982, two dormers were placed on the cape's northeast (rear) roof slope. Dated photographs show that the westernmost attached barn was built between 1902 and 1913.

The house consists of six major units in a long continuous row. The main block of the house consists of the original cape and the 1921 addition, both of the same height and width and sheltered by the same gable roof. Stretching east of the cape are two gable roofed units (a one story kitchen wing on the west and a one and a half story workshop wing on the east) and then two two story barns (a western barn with a shed roof and an eastern barn with a gable roof). The cape has a small, one story, shed roofed entry porch. A one story shed roofed privy is found in the east corner of the two barns.

Both the original cape and the 1921 addition are clapboarded and share a corrugated metal gable roof. The cape has simple open eaves with frieze (as well as exposed purlins in the southeast gable). The addition has open eaves with exposed rafters and open gable eaves with friezes. A brick chimney with corbeled brick and concrete cap rises from the center of the Cape's roof, while a plain exterior brick chimney with concrete cap is found on the addition's northeast gable end. In the center of the cape's three bay wide main facade (the eastern bays of the main block's five-bay-wide southwest facade) is found the main entry-a paneled door with window, sheltered by a small porch with board floor, cruciform posts, simple side rails, open eaves with exposed rafters, and a corrugated metal shed roof. The main blockšs windows have plain frames, distinguished only by drip moldings on the lintels. The cape's southwestern side bays contain a two-over-two sash window and a six over six sash window. The cape's southeast gable end has a six-over-six sash window in the first story and a one-over-one sash window in the gable.

The five bay northeast (rear) facade of the main block has four windows (three with two-over-two sash and a smaller window with one-over-one sash) in the older cape section. The 1921 addition has a paneled door with window in the southwest facade, two-over-two sash windows in the first story (two in the two bay window northwest gable end and one each in the northeast and southwest facades) and two four pane gable windows. On the rear northeast slope of the gable roof are found two dormers, each with a six-over-six sash window in a plain frame, clapboarded sides and gable, cornerboards, lateral eaves with sloping soffits, open gable eaves with fascia boards, and a corrugated metal gable roof.

The kitchen wing, a one story structure under a corrugated metal gable roof, is clapboarded, and has cornerboards and shallow open eaves. (A frieze finishes the northeast eaves.) Plain frames surround the single window in each facade, a six-over-six sash window on the southwest, a two-over-two sash window on the northeast.

The workshop wing is one-and-a-half stories high beneath a corrugated metal roof, and is trimmed with cornerboards, and shallow open eaves with friezes. It is also clapboarded, save for the eastern two-thirds of its northeast (rear) facade, which is sheathed with tar paper. Plain frames surround all the openings, including-a sliding board door, a six pane window, and a two-over-two sash window on the southwest, and two two twelve-pane windows on the northeast. In the center of the northeast roof slope is a wall dormer with two more plain-framed, twelve-pane windows, tar papered walls with cornerboards, open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, and a corrugated metal shed roof.

The two story west barn shows a variety of siding (predominantly board and batten siding and horizontal boarding, but with a small section of vertical boarding as well). Its corrugated metal shed roof is trimmed by open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards. The west barn has no windows, but is served by a number of doors, a large, hinged board door (which has a sliding board door mounted on it), and a hayloft board door above it, in the northwest facade; two sliding doors (a board door and a beaded board door) and double board hayloft doors in the southwest facade.

The two story east barn is clapboarded on the southwest and north east facades and in the peak of the southeast gable. Board and batten siding (installed in 1982) covers most of the southeast gable end. The corrugated metal roof has plain eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. Plain frames surround the sliding board door, the first story two-over-two sash window, and the two kneewall, twelve-pane windows of the southwest facade, two small windows, the beaded board first story door and the board gable door of the southeast gable end. The gable door, cut on the diagonal to fit the gable's raking cornice, was once served by an exterior stairway, since removed. The three windows of the northeast facade are all covered over. The small, one story privy in the east corner of the two barns has vertical beaded board walls, a plain framed six pane window, close verges, open eaves with exposed rafters, fascia board trim, and a corrugated metal shed roof.

1A. Pumphouse; c.1900. Southwest of the house is a small, one story pumphouse, which appears in a photograph dated 1913. The novelty siding exterior, and the original purpose of the structure-to house a hand pump, would suggest a late 19th or early 20th century date. The pumphouse has an unusual plan, that of a rectangle diagonally truncated at the east-a design necessary to keep a usable passageway open to the barns to the rear of the pumphouse. The building is sheathed with novelty siding on the three exterior facades and by tar paper on the rear (southwest) facade. The open eaves of the corrugated metal shed roof are trimmed with fascia boards on the northeast and southeast. The small structure has a high number of plain framed openings for so small a structure: a six pane window in each of the three public facades, and two twelve pane windows in the rear facade, a board door in the northwest end, a board door and a half-height door in the northeast facade, two more board doors and another half height board door in the truncated section of the same facade. Also on the lot, is an outdoor brick fireplace.

2. Streeter Lot.
The Streeter lot is a flat rectangular parcel of land, about four fifths of an acre in size. The lot, which has neither buildings nor fences, is still in agricultural use, being planted to corn in the summer of 1985.

3. Niemczura Barn; 1933.
Built by Walter Niemczura, a Bellows Falls farmer, in 1933, this vernacular barn was converted to a house by local builder Malcolm Streeter in 1973. The conversion included the addition of new windows and doors. The large barn doors in the center of each lateral facade was removed (although their transoms windows were retained) and the openings were filled by novelty siding to match the barn 15 original sheathing. (Because of these extensive alterations, the house is classified here as a non-contributing building.) The present owners added the porch on the wing about 1979.

The building consists of a two-and-a-half-story, gable roofed main block, set with its gable end facing the street, a one and a half story, gable roofed wing to the rear (southeast) of the main block, and a one story, shed roofed screened porch covering the rear (southeast) gable end of the wing. The main block and wing are both set on concrete foundations, sheathed with novelty siding, and trimmed by cornerboards and simple eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. Their roofs, asphalt shingled, save for the corrugated metal northeast slope of the main block roof, are punctuated by round metal vents, one on the main block, two on the wing. An exterior concrete block chimney is found on the northeast facade of the wing.

The main block's two entries, in the end bays of the four-bay-wide southwest facade, are virtually identical, each featuring a modern paneled door with built-in diamond paned window, a simply molded frame, a concrete and stone step, and a shed roofed hood with corrugated plastic roof. The hood's wooden half gables and close eaves are ornamented with scalloped lower edges. The main block's first story windows typically have two-over-one sash and plain frames, while the second story windows are mostly double sliding windows with narrow, simply molded frames. Horizontal ten-pane windows (the old barn door transom windows) are found under the eaves in the center of both lateral (southwest and northeast) facades. Decorative louvred shutters distinguish the street gable end windows. A four pane window with plain frame topped by a rectangular louver with its own plain frame appears in each gable.

Plain frames surround all but one of the wing's windows: the three double windows with four pane sash in the southwest facade, a similar double window and a single pane window in the northeast facade, and a four pane window in the rear gable end. The southeast gable end also contains a modern door with built-in window and a double sliding window, both with simply molded frames, as well as short plain framed double board doors in the gable. The porch covering the gable end has a concrete floor, plain wooden posts, close eaves with scalloping on the lower edges, and a corrugated plastic shed roof, supported by exposed rafters. The porch is enclosed by screened panels and is entered by a simple screen door in the rear southeast facade.

3A. Workshop-garage; c.1925. The workshop-garage is known to have been standing in the 1920's. Construction materials suggest it was built in the same decade. The building has an L-shaped plan. Its two major components are a one story shed roofed garage and a one and a half story gable roofed workshop. Both are set on concrete foundations, covered by novelty siding, trimmed with cornerboards, plain window frames, and simple eaves with sloping soffits and friezes. The garage is lit by three single pane windows in its southwest facade, and is entered by two sliding board doors and a double plywood door, all with plain frames, in the northeast facade. The present owners attached two shallow shed roofed storage sheds on the northwest end of the garage in 1983: a one story structure with plywood walls, two board doors, close verges, open lateral eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards; and a half story snowblower garage covered with vertical boarding on the northeast, but open on the northwest.

In the early 1980's, the present owners also remodeled the workshop, adding new first story doors, as well as a large window and an open lean-to on the southeast facade. The workshop is served by a modern door with window and simply molded frame in the northwest facade, a plain framed, paneled door with window in the southeast facade, a two beaded board hayloft doors, one above the northwest door, and one in the southwest gable end The workshop is lit by five small single pane or four pane windows, (three in the southwest gable end, and one in each gable), two six pane windows (one in both the northeast and southeast facades) and the modern full length metal framed window in the southeast facade. The full-length window and the southeastern door are covered by the open leanto, with its dirt floor, square posts on concrete pads, exposed rafters, and corrugated metal shed roof.

Also found on the property is a gable-roofed well cover with novelty siding walls.

4. Hillard House; c.1830.
The proportions of this two-and-a-half story, gable front, sidehall plan, Greek Revival style main block suggest that it was built in the early stages of the style's ascendancy, probably about 1830. (The rear wing is thought to be older than the main block, but its exterior does not retain enough detail to allow an estimate of its date.) The present owners enlarged the attached barn about 1940 by extending it to the rear and adding a second story. In the 1950's, the clapboards of the main block, wing and shed were covered by asbestos shingles. About 1980, the small side entry porch was rebuilt, following in general the design of a previous porch.

The house consists of four gable roofed units, all of the same width, together forming a fine example of continuous architecture: a two-and-a-half-story rear wing, a one story shed, and a two story barn. The main block, wing and shed are covered with asbestos shingles. The main block is set on a fieldstone foundation. The asphalt shingled roof is trimmed by a box cornice with moldings, which is pedimented on the northwest (street) gable. The pediment's raking cornices are shallower than the horizontal cornice, as the tympanum projects slightly. (The rear gable, however, has only close molded verges with returns.) The windows and doors have the simply molded frames, probably altered when the asbestos shingles were installed. With three exceptions, the main block windows have two-over-two-sash. The three bay wide northwest gable end contains the main entry-a four panel door-in its north bay. The frames of its second story windows butt up against the horizontal cornice of the pediment. The pedimented gable contains a six-over-six sash window. The three bay wide northeast facade contains a twelve-over-twelve sash window in the second story. The most prominent feature of the four bay wide southwest facade is the side entry, a double door with narrow two panel leaves, topped by a four pane transom window and sheltered by a small entry porch with concrete floor, double posts connected by latticework, a gable filled with lattice work, open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, and an asphalt shingled gable roof. The rear (southeast) gable has a three-pane window.

The wing and the shed share the same corrugated metal gable roof and simple eaves with sloping soffit. The two bay long wing has two-over-two sash windows on the southwest and six-over-six sash windows on the northeast, as with the same simply molded frame as appears on the main block. The same trim frames a board door and a six-pane window in the shed's northeast facade. The southeast facade is distinguished by two wide semielliptical arched openings and large double board doors.

The barn still retains its clapboards in the northwest gable and, to some extent, in the first story of the southwest facade, but the rest of the structure is sheathed with tar paper. The walls are trimmed by cornerboards and the metal roof by close eaves and verges. Plain frames surround its doors, two board doors in the southwest facade, and three board hayloft doors, two on southwest and one on the northeast, as well as the windows, a three-pane window in each gable, eight small four-pane windows in the first story of the southwest facade, a six-pane window and two screened openings in the northeast facade.

4A. Milkroom; c.1940. Southwest of the house stands the non-contributing milkroom, built by the present owners about 1940. The small, one story building is clapboarded above a concrete foundation. Its corrugated metal gable roof is trimmed by open eaves with exposed rafter tails and fascia boards. Plain frames surround the paneled door with window in the northeast gable end and the single-six pane windows found in each of the other three facades.

4B. Garage; c.1940. Behind the milkhouse stands the garage, also built by the present owners about 1940, and also considered non-contributing. The one story garage is set on a concrete foundation, sheathed with brown "brick" asphalt siding, trimmed with cornerboards, close eaves and verges, and covered by a corrugated metal gable roof. Save for the gable, the northwest gable end is devoted to three large and thick, board-sheathed sliding doors. Each of the other three facades has two plain framed six pane windows.

5. Farr House; c.1800.
According to tradition, this early vernacular Cape was standing at the time of the Westminster Massacre in 1775. The building's broad roof, its close eaves, and its central chimney (the latter removed by the present owner about 1962) would certainly indicate a late 18th or early 19th century date. Since many features, such as the front door and the sash, have been replaced, it is difficult to date the building with any greater precision. The sunporch was added in the 1940's or 1950's. In the late 1960's, the cape's northwest and northeast facades were resheathed with aluminum siding. The present rear entry porch was built in the 1970's. And the southeast gable end of the ell was covered with plywood in 1984.

The house consists of a one-and-a-half story Cape with a one-and a-half story, gable roofed ell-garage to the rear (southeast) which retains a semi-elliptical arched carriage bay. A one story shed roofed rear entry porch is found in the corner of the Cape and the ell. A one story, gable roofed sunporch overlaps the northeast facades of both the Cape and the ell.

The Cape, set on a fieldstone foundation, is sheathed on the northwest (street) facade and the northeast gable end with aluminum siding. Clapboarding with sillboards and cornerboards survives on the southwest gable end and the rear (southeast) facade. The door and windows of the aluminum sided facades have narrow aluminum trim, while the openings in the clapboarded walls retain their plain frames. The asphalt shingled gable roof is trimmed with close eaves and verges. The five bay wide northwest facade has a central entry, a glazed and paneled door with wooden steps, and four two-over-two sash windows. The northeast and southwest gable ends each have two two-over-two sash windows in each story. The northeast gable end also has a plate glass window with two pane transom window in the first story. The rear facade has three six-over-six sash windows and the rear entry, a paneled glazed and door which opens onto the porch. This small enclosed porch has a brick foundation, board floor, plywood walls, exposed rafters in the open lateral eaves, and a metal sheathed shed roof. It is lit by two large two-pane windows on the southwest and a large four pane window on the southeast. A screen door serves the porch.

The one-and-a-half story ell-garage is set on a fieldstone foundation and is covered by an asphalt shingled gable roof, but has a variety of sheathing: clapboarding on the northeast facade and the western third of the southwest facade, horizontal boarding on the remainder of the southwest facade, and plywood panels on the southeast gable end. Close eaves and verges top the northeast and southeast facades. But on the southwest facade, the open eaves have a wide overhang and exposed rafters. Plain frames surround the ell's doors and windows. In the northeast facade appears a nine-pane window, a two-over-two sash window, and a four panel door, while the southeast facade has only a single twelve pane gable window. The southwest facade shows more variety. In the western clapboarded ell section are found two six-over-six sash windows and two six pane kneewall windows. In the eastern shed-garage portion can still be seen a semi-elliptical arched opening, now filled with vertical boarding, a board door and a twelve-over-two sash window. The shed-garage is also served by double beaded board doors, a six panel door, and a slight projection, sheltered by its own shed roof, and covered by a beaded board sliding door. A four pane window serves the first story, and three six pane kneewall windows light the upper story. On the northeast slope of the ell roof is a gable roofed dormer, with a two-over-two sash window, flush boarded front, clapboarded sides with cornerboards, a plain gable cornice, open lateral eaves with fascia boards, and an asphalt shingled roof.

The sunporch has novelty siding walls trimmed by cornerboards, close eaves and verges. In the center of the northeast gable end is the entry, a multipane glass door with plain frame and board steps. Plain frames also surround the two two-over-two sash windows found in each of the three facades, and the rectangular louver in the gable.

6. Nichols House; c.1830.
An early stereoscopic view reveals that this two-and-a-half story, gable front, sidehall plan, Greek Revival style house once had twelve-over-twelve sash. This detail, and the proportions, suggest a date as early as the 1830's. The main block's porch is probably a late 19th or early 20th century addition. Interior clapboarding on the rear of the main block indicates that the rear wing was built after the main block. The pantry was added to the wing. The same stereoscopic view shows that the garage (once an attached barn) replaced an earlier barn and postdates the rear wing. The present owners remodeled the attached barn into a garage about 1965, in stalling overhead garage doors and new second story windows, as well as building a one story shed roofed addition on the rear.

The main block is covered on the front and rear facades by a one story, shed roofed porch. (Part of the rear porch has been enclosed.) To the rear of the main block is a two story, gable roofed rear wing, with a small, one story, shed roofed pantry addition on its northeast. And to the rear of the wing is the two story, gable roofed garage, with its one story shed roofed addition on the northeast.

The sidehall plan main block, set on a brick foundation, is clapboarded, save for a small area of novelty siding on the northeast facade and the flush boarding in both the pedimented front gable and what little is visible of the rear (southeast) facade. The main block is trimmed by cornerboards and a pedimented box cornice with moldings and frieze (save for the rear gable, which has only close verges). As the flush boarding in the pediment projects slightly, the raking pediment cornices are shallower than the horizontal cornice. The slate roof is broken by a central brick chimney. Three bays wide and three bays deep, the main block is lit by plain framed two-over-two sash windows, the frames of the second story windows butting up against the cornice. In the southern bay of the northwest (street) gable end is the main entry, a glazed and paneled door (c.1900) with a plain frame. In the pedimented gable above is a modern rectangular metal louver, installed in the 1960's in a space once occupied by a larger window-the only significant alteration to this generally well-preserved house.

The porch that covers two facades of the main block has a concrete foundation and board floor. Its chamfered posts are set on small square bases and are ornamented by sawn curvilinear brackets. The metal sheathed shed roof is trimmed by a cornice with moldings and frieze. The one-bay-deep and two-bay-wide addition is clapboarded and trimmed with cornerboards and close molded eaves, save for the northwest facade, which is sheathed with flush boarding. Plain frames surround the glazed and paneled door on the northwest and the three two-over-two sash windows, two on the southwest and one on the southeast.

The two story wing, set on a brick and fieldstone foundation, is clapboarded on the southwest facade and on the western third of the northeast facade, and is sheathed with vertical boarding on the southeast gable end and the remainder of the northeast facade. Its slate gable roof is trimmed by plain eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. With the exception of two two-over-two sash windows on the northeast, the wing's plain framed windows retain older sash, with three six-over-six sash windows and a twelve-over-twelve sash window on the southwest, and one twelve-over-eight sash window on the northeast. These windows may have been original to the main block at various times. A board door appears in the northeast facade. In the eastern portion of the four bay southwest facade are found two plain-framed canted openings which serve the woodshed. The one story pantry addition on the wing's northeast facade is clapboarded and stands on a brick foundation. Its asphalt shingled shed roof has close gable eaves and lateral eaves with sloping soffits. Its two windows, a two-over-two sash window on the northwest and a twelve-over-twelve sash window on the southeast, again have plain frames.

The two story garage and its one story addition, both clapboarded, now share a concrete block foundation. The garage is topped by plain eaves with sloping soffit and frieze, save for the rear gable, which has close verges. The three bay southwest facade has three plain framed overhead garage doors in the first story, and three six-over-six sash windows with simply molded frames in the second story. The garage's other two facades are blank. The addition, topped by simpler eaves with sloping soffit, has two two pane windows and a single pane window on the long northeast facade and a single pane window in the southeast end, all with plain frames.

7. Holton House; c.1790.
Herbert W. Congdon recorded a tradition that this Federal style house was built by Major Isaiah Eaton (1728-1817). An alternate possibility, presented by Simonds, is that the house was built by Joel Holton-one of Westminster's original settlers who arrived in the 1760's. The house, according to Simonds, was returned to the family when purchased by William Holton, a direct descendant of Joel. In 1978, William and Betty Holton converted the second floor into an apartment. (Simonds, p. 187). The house has been labeled "1790", a date consistent with its form, surviving trim and fenestration pattern. The main block's sash has been replaced, save for one twelve-over-twelve sash window. The building was covered with aluminum siding in the 1960's. In the same period, new larger windows appeared in the first story of the ell and in the south addition. The upper level of the ell was remodeled to provide an apartment in 1978, with new windows and an open second story deck.

The house is an excellent example of the Federal style, though the aluminum siding, and the replacement of the original, probably sliding sash, sidelight glazing are serious detractions.

The house consists of a two story, 5 x 2 bay hip roofed, Georgian Plan main block, a two story gable roofed ell to the rear (southeast) of the main block and two small, one story, shed roofed additions in the Two corners of the main block and the ell. On the southeast gable end of the ell is a second story open deck with exterior stairway. The entire building is now sheathed with aluminum siding, though the main block still retains its brick foundation, its wooden box cornice with molding (notably a large cove molding beneath the soffit), and a slate roof. Two large square brick chimneys with capped flues break the rear slope of the roof, one on each side of the ell. In the center of the five bay wide street (northwest) facade is the notable main entry, containing a six panel door (usually covered by an outer board door). The door is flanked by pairs of slim pilasters with entasis and molded capitals, which support an entablature ornamented with small dentils in the cornice and fluting in the frieze . The entry's concrete step incorporates a granite millstone and is flanked by brick planters. Flanking the entry are detached, single-pane sidelights (each above a small, molded rectangular panel) which lights the wide central hall. These two windows and most of the other main block windows all have plain frames and decorative louvred shutters. The first story windows of the street facade's other four bays and of the two bay wide northeast and southwest ends all have two-over-two sash. The second story windows of the three facades, whose frames butt up against the cornice, have six-over-six sash, with the exception of the twelve-over-twelve sash window directly above the entry-possibly a surviving original window.

The ell, which has a fieldstone foundation, is covered by a slate roof, trimmed by cornices of the same design as the main block cornice and by close molded eaves with returns on the rear (southeast) gable. The ell is served by two glazed and paneled doors with plain frames, one in the two bay wide southeast gable end and one in the southwest facade. The southwest door has a five pane transom. Most of its windows are modern, with metal frames or simply molded wooden frames, although three older plain framed windows, a two over-two sash window on the northeast, a nine-over-six sash window and a small six pane window on the southwest, survive. The newer windows include a triple casement window with six pane sash in the first story of the southwest facade, a large triple window with central eight-over-eight sash and flanking four-over-four sash in the second story of the same facade, a thirty-two pane first story window and a double second story window with six-over-six sash in the southeast gable end. Virtually all of the other windows have eight-over-eight sash or six-over-six sash. The second story of the southeast gable end also has double sliding glass doors which open onto a wooden deck, supported by square wooden posts. The board floored deck has a short balustrade with plain posts and rails, and is reached by an exterior stairway with two flights and a landing, all with balustrades of the same design.

The two one-story additions in the corners of the main block and ell are similar in size and design, and have aluminum siding, close wooden eaves and verges, and asphalt roll papered shed roofs.

7A. Garage; c.1900. Behind the house stands the garage-horsebarn, which is known to have been standing in the 1920's, but was entirely remodeled in the 1960's, with new siding and new doors. The garage-horsebarn consists of two one story, gable roofed attached units, a tall and large garage (a former barn) on the west and a smaller and shorter horsebarn on the east. Each has a concrete block foundation, red "brick" asphalt siding, cornerboards, and a slate gable roof. The garage is trimmed by close eaves and verges, while the horsebarn has open eaves with exposed rafters, fascia boards, and friezes. Plain frames surround the few openings, three overhead garage doors and a paneled door with window (all added in the 1960's) in the garage's southwest facade, a twenty pane window in the garage's northeast facade, and a large canted arched opening in the southwest facade of the horsebarn.

7B. Barn; c.1900. Behind the garage stands the barn, originally a tobacco barn in Alstead, N.H., which was dismantled and reconstructed here sometime in the first two decades of the 20th century. Until tobacco farming was abandoned in Westminster, it continued to be used as a tobacco barn. About 1980, the barn was entirely resheathed with vertical board siding, and given a new concrete foundation and new entries. The two-story, gable roofed barn retains its slate roof with its characteristic slate covered roof vent running the length of the ridge-a very unusual feature. The open eaves have exposed rafters and fascia boards. In both (northwest and southeast) gable ends can be found a large sliding board door, and a short board hayloft door above the sliding door.

7C. Shed; c.1950. Directly behind the barn and butting up against its southeast gable end is a one story shed, which was moved onto the property from Westminster Station about 1980 and is considered non-contributing. The small shed, sheathed with vertical boarding, has a very low pitched shed roof, which is covered with asphalt roll paper and is trimmed by open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards. The shed has two windowless openings, a boarded up window and a board door in its three visible facades.

7D. Sheep Shed; c.1940. Southwest of the barn is a sheep shed, originally a chickenhouse, probably built in the 1940's and moved onto the property from Walpole, N.H. in 1985. It is considered non-contributing. The small one story structure, set on concrete blocks, is sheathed with a mixture of horizontal boards and beaded boards and trimmed with cornerboards. The asphalt shingled shed roof, trimmed by open eaves with exposed rafters, is extended on the southwest side by a short shed roofed hood, which has exposed rafters and fascia boards. A board door in the southeast facade, and a bank of four screened openings in the southwest wall are the only openings.

8. Gates House; c.1790.
The massive proportions of this vernacular, 5 x 2 bay cape, as well as the shallow box cornice with slight returns, suggest an early 19th century date. The rear shed dormer, containing a bathroom and a bedroom, was added by Clarence Torrey in the 1930's. The ell formerly contained a woodshed and a blacksmith shop wagon shed. The woodshed was turned into a kitchen, with a new window, in the mid 20th century. The present owners renovated the wagon shed section in the early 1960's filling and opening with clapboards, new windows and door. In 1985, the front door and its sidelights were replaced by newer elements.

Behind the cape that is the main block of the house stretch a one story gable roofed ell, a one story gable roofed ell, a one story gable roofed barn, and a one story shed roofed shed.

The cape is clapboarded and trimmed, with sillboards and corner boards above the brick foundation. A shallow box cornice with moldings, frieze, and returns trims the slate roof, which is broken by a central brick chimney and a wide shed dormer on the rear (southeast) slope. In the center of the five bay wide street (northwest) facade is the main entry, a modern paneled door with two small lights, flanked by full length single plane sidelights with plain frames, topped by a molded lintel, and served by concrete steps. The other four bays contain two-over-two sash windows, with plain frames butting up against the cornice and non-contributing slat shutters. Similar frames and shutters ornament the six-over six sash windows of the gable ends, and the two six-over-six sash windows of the rear (southeast) facade. The rear facade also boasts a rear entry, a glazed and paneled door, plain frame, concrete steps, and a gable roofed hood, supported by simple braces and featuring latticework sides, exposed rafters and board ceiling. The wide shed dormer has wooden shingled walls, cornerboards and simple eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. The dormer's three two-over-two sash windows have plain frames.

The ell is also clapboarded above a brick foundation. Its slate roof is trimmed with simpler eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. Plain frames surround the older windows, a two-over-two sash window in the narrow streetside (northwest) facade, two six-over-six sash windows and a large two pane window in the northeast facade. The southwest facade has a new kitchen window, a triple casement window with three pane sash and simply molded frames. To the rear of the kitchen window can still be seen parts of the plain frame of an opening with canted corners for the blacksmith shop-wagon shed. The opening has been filled with clapboarding and now contains a glazed on paneled door and four modern windows, all with plain frames.

The one story barn covering the southeast gable end of the ell is sheathed with board and batten siding, save for the rear (southeast) gable, which is sheathed with vertical boarding. Simple eaves with sloping soffit and frieze trim the corrugated metal gable roof. In the center of the southwest facade is found the barn's large tall double board doors. The two twelve pane southwestern windows, the two six pane northeastern windows, the two pane southeastern window, and the board doors, one each in the northeast, southwest and south east facades, all have either plain frames or no finish trim at all.

Attached to the rear gable end of the barn is a low, one story shed with solid board and batten walls on the northeast and southeast. Most of the southwest facade is open, but the western third is partially closed by horizontal boarding, with a doorless opening. The corrugated metal shed roof has a plain box cornice on the north east and part of the southwest side, open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards on the remainder of the southwest side, and close verges on the southeast.

8A. West Corncrib; c.1900. Behind the attached shed is a one story corncrib, which is known to have been standing in the 1920's. The corncrib is sheathed with narrow vertical boards spaced to allow ventilation. The asphalt shingled gable roof has open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards. The only opening is a board door in the southwest gable end.

8B. East Corncrib; c.1900. Next to the west corncrib stands another one story corncrib, again known to have been standing in the 1920's, but probably of a somewhat earlier date. The corncrib is topped by a corrugated metal shed roof, again with open eaves having exposed rafters and fascia boards. The walls are covered with square slats spaced to provide ventilation. As the slats are relatively short, three levels of them are needed to cover each facade. A now doorless opening is found in the southeast facade.

8C. Playhouse; c.1978. South of the barn stands the non-contributing playhouse, built in the late 1970's. The small, one story building has wooden shingled gable ends and corrugated plastic lateral facades. The gable roof, also of corrugated plastic, has exposed rafters and purlins in the eaves. A four panel door and a four pane window in the northwest gable end are the only openings.

8D. Garage; c.1925. Behind the playhouse stands the garage. L-shaped in plan, the garage consists of two one story sections: a gable roofed unit to the north, which, appears to have been built in the 1920's, and a one story, shed roofed section to the south, added by Clarence Torrey in the 1930's. Both are clapboarded and covered by asphalt shingled roofs. The smaller gable roofed section has a fieldstone foundation, simple box cornices, and fascia boards. The northeast gable end is largely filled by double paneled doors with multipane windows. This section is lit by six-pane windows, two on the south east, one on the northwest. The larger shed roofed section has a concrete foundation and plain eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. In each "gable" end are found double doors, glazed and paneled doors on the northwest, and beaded board doors on the southeast. This section is lit by four pane windows, five on the southwest, two on the southeast and two on the northeast.

9. Harlow House; c.1825.
The steep roof pitch of this vernacular Cape suggests a late date for the building type, probably in the 1820's. An exterior chimney was built in 1941 or 1942. A dormer to house a bathroom appeared on the Cape's rear roof slope in 1944. In 1943 and 1944, other changes were made to the ell, notably an overhead garage door and a bank of casement windows. The present owners installed a triple casement window in the Cape's northeast gable end in 1984.

To the rear of the Cape that is the main block of the house is a one and a half story, gable roofed ell, which has three one story shed roofed additions, two covering the northeast facade and one covering the southeast gable end.

The cape, set on a concrete foundation, is clapboarded, and trimmed with cornerboards, and shallow box cornices with moldings, friezes, and slight returns. The steeply pitched slate roof has a shed dormer in the center of its rear (southeast) slope. The five bay wide street (northwest) facade has a central entry, a glazed and paneled door with two small lights, plain frame, and a five pane transom window, reached by concrete and stone step with wrought metal hand rails. The other four bays of the street facade, the three bays of the southwest gable end, the two bays of the northeast gable end and the single visible bay of the rear facade contain two-over-two sash windows with plain trim and, in most cases, louvred shutters. The only exception is a first story window in the northeast gable end, a triple casement window with single pane sash and metal frames. The southwest gable end also has a modern exterior brick chimney with one sloped shoulder. On the rear slope of the cape's roof is a bathroom dormer, clapboarded with cornerboards, close verges, simple lateral eaves with sloping soffit and frieze, a small two-over-two sash window with plain frame, and an asphalt shingled shed roof.

The ell is clapboarded and trimmed with cornerboards, close eaves and verges, a concrete foundation, and is covered by a slate roof. The southwest facade has a plain framed two-over-two sash window and a bank of five eight pane, non-contributing casement windows with simply molded frame, as well as an overhead garage door and a glazed and paneled door, both with plain frames. The latter door has a stone and concrete step, and a hood (c. 1910) with triangular braces, exposed rafters with shaped tails, and a slate covered gable roof. The ell's southeast gable end has a six pane window in its gable, the first story being covered by a shed roofed addition with fieldstone foundation, clapboarded walls, cornerboards, three plain framed windows, and open eaves with exposed rafters, fascia boards and friezes. The northeast facade of the ell is covered by two shed roofed additions, both having a concrete foundation, clapboarded walls, cornerboards, and plain window and door frames. The western addition, trimmed by eaves with moldings, sloping soffit, and frieze features a four panel door and two one-over sash windows with louvred shutters, one in each (northeast and northwest) facade. The eastern addition, having simple eaves with sloping soffit and frieze, has only one two-over-two sash window.

9A. Barn; c.1860. To the rear of the house, a row of five outbuildings stretches along the northeast lot boundary. The westernmost is a two story, gable roofed barn with a one story, gable roofed shop attached to its northwest gable end. The barn, set on a concrete and stone foundation, is sheathed with board and batten siding, save for a small section of boarding on the second story of its southwest facade and a larger section of vertical boarding in the center of its northeast facade. The slate roof overhangs the gables, but not the eave sides. The southwest facade has tall double sliding board doors, and a shorter and smaller beaded board sliding door, topped by a board hayloft door. Plain frames surround the windows, one boarded up window in the southeast gable end and three windows (with a single pane, nine panes and six panes) in the northeast facade. The attached shop is clapboarded with cornerboards above a fieldstone foundation. Its slate roof is trimmed by open eaves with exposed rafters, fascia boards, and friezed. A brick chimney in the northeast slope of the roof serves the shop's forge. A large sliding board door with a small window dominates the southwest facade, while the other two facades each have two two-over-two sash windows with plain frames.

9B. Corncrib; c.1950. Behind the barn is the non-contributing corncrib. The corncrib and the neighboring brooder house (#9C) were built elsewhere in the late 1940's or early 1950's as chicken range houses. Both were later moved to their present sites to serve other purposes. The one story, gable roofed corncrib is sheathed with vertical boarding, save for the main level of its rear (northeast) gable end, which is covered with vertical slats spaced for ventilation. No finish trims the doorless opening in the southwest gable end, the windowless opening on the southeast, or the asphalt shingled gable roof.

9C. Brooder House; c. 1950. Next to the corncrib is the non-contributing brooder house, a one story, shed roofed structure, with walls of horizontal boarding and tarpaper, broken only by a doorless opening in the southwest facade. The opening and the corrugated metal roof have no finish trim.

9D. West Chickenhouse; c.1947. Behind the brooder house stand two shed roofed, two story chicken houses, both built in 1947 and therefore classified as non-contributing. The west chickenhouse served a dual purpose, the first story being open for the storage of vehicles, etc., the second story housing chickens. Sheathed with red "brick" asphalt siding and trimmed with cornerboards, the west chickenhouse has a low pitched shed roof with open eaves having exposed rafters and fascia boards. The first story of the southwest facade has four open bays, separated by the building's exposed posts with braces. The second story has a central plain-framed board door and six two-pane windows. The second story was also served by three pane windows in the northeast facade and a board door in the southeast facade. This door was originally connected by a bridge to an exterior stairway that served a second story door in the east chickenhouse. (The bridge and the stairway have both since disappeared.)

9E. East Chickenhouse; c.1947. The non-contributing east chickenhouse has a concrete foundation, red "brick" asphalt siding, cornerboards, open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, and a low pitched shed roof. The northwest gable end has a doorless opening in the first story and a board door in the second story. Both stories of the southwest facade share the same pattern of fenestration, each having a long bank of fifteen windows, with a group of five six pane windows in the center, flanked on each side by taller twelve pane windows. Each of these, in turn, is flanked by a group of four six pane windows. (The sash of the first story windows and three of the second story windows have been removed.) The southeast end has two boarded up windows in each story, while the rear (northeast) facade has four three pane windows in each story.

10. Lane House; c.1800.
One of the very finest houses in the district based upon architectural significance, this Federal style, Georgian plan house with a Greek Revival style entrance, is associated with Henry C. Lane-its occupant during the second half of the nineteenth century.

Lane was born in 1824. At age 16 he had to forego his plans to attend college due to his father's illness and "financial embarrassment", in order to manage the family farms of 300 acres in Westminster, in an area known as "Wellington Hill". At about age 30 (in about the year 1854) by then a prosperous farmer, he sold the family farm and moved to this house in Westminster Village. Lane may have seen an opportunity to pursue a more intellectual career there, due to the increased activity triggered by the arrival of the railroad in 1850. From 1866 to 1878, Lane served on the board of selectmen and other offices, including trial judge. Though never formally trained in law, he also acted as a legal and financial counselor in town. In 1881, he was elected president of the Savings Bank at Bellows Falls. Lane was probably responsible for the remodeling of the entrance of the house to the Greek Revival style, probably shortly after his arrival in about 1854.

The proportions of the 5 x 2 bay, Georgian plan, Federal style main block of the Lane House suggests a date of c.1800. Around 1850, the entrance was remodeled by a fine Greek Revival style doorway, which was enriched by a Queen Anne style entrance porch, probably added c.1890. The complex of house, ell, sheds and barns grew throughout the 19th century and perhaps the early 20th century. The only recent change to the house appears to be the addition of a small bathroom dormer on the ell in 1984, and the present system of louvred shutters which do not correspond to the width or spacing of the windows.

On the street front of the two-and-a-half story, gable roofed main block is a wide, one story entry porch. The one and a half story, gable roofed ell to the rear of the main block has recessed porch in its southeast gable end. Stretching back from the ell is a long row of attached structures, including, respectively, two one-story gable roofed barns: a one and a half story west barn (with a one-story shed roofed addition on the southwest) and a two story east barn.

The main block and the ell share a high brick foundation. The main block is clapboarded and trimmed with cornerboards and sillboards. Its slate roof is trimmed by lateral box cornices with moldings and friezes and by shallow molded gable cornices with returns. At each end of the roof ridge is an ornate brick chimney with wide base and corbeled cap. In the center of the five bay wide street (northwest) facade is an impressive entry, containing a glazed and paneled door flanked by three-pane full sidelights. Both door and sidelights are topped by three pane transom window. The entry is enclosed by a wide paneled frame, ornamented with Greek fretwork in the side and lintel panels, and by concentric squares in the upper cornerblocks. The other four first story bays contain two-over-two sash windows, while the five second story windows have six-over-six sash and butt up against the cornice. The windows all have plain frames and louvred shutters. The hip-roofed entrance porch has a shallow projecting central bay, topped by a gable roof. The porch has a latticework base, board floor, turned posts decorated with brackets incorporating both sawn and turned ornament, balustrades with turned balusters and molded rails, a valance screen with turned spindles and molded lower rail, a box cornice with moldings and frieze, and a triangular panel in the small entry gable The two bay wide northeast and southwest gable ends are identical in their composition, each having two windows with plain frames and louvred shutters in both the first and second stories and two plain framed four pane windows in the gable. The facades differ in the first and second story windows, the southwest gable end having one-over-one sash windows, while, on the northeast, the windows have four-over-four sash, save for one two-over-two sash window in the second story. (Also, one northeast gable window has been replaced by a louver.) The main block has only one rear facade window, a plain framed one-over-one sash window in the first story.

The more visible southwest facade of the ell has a sillboard and a molded cornice, while the southeast gable end and the northeast facade lack sillboards and have only close eaves and verges. Plain frames surround the two one-over-one sash windows on the southwest, the two two-over-two sash windows and one four-over-four sash window on the northeast, and the four-over-four sash windows in the south east gable. The northeast and southwest slopes of the slate roof are each interrupted by a large gable wall dormer. Each dormer is clapboarded, has plain eaves with sloping soffit and frieze, and is covered by a slate gable roof. The two dormers differ only in the number of plain framed six-over-six sash windows, there being two in the southwest dormer, but only one in the northeast dormer. Between the main block and the ell's southwest wall dormer, there has recently been inserted a small shed roofed bathroom dormer, whose short clapboarded wall is topped by a simple box cornice and which is lit by a modern single pane awning window. The southern two thirds of the southeast gable end's first story is taken up by an inset porch, one bay deep on the southwest facade and two bays wide on the southeast facade. The southwest bay is topped by a semi-elliptical arch which is half filled by a solid beaded board railing. The two untrimmed rectangular southeast bays are separated by a square post. The porch interior has a board floor, flush boarded walls, a paneled door with window on the northwest, a four panel door on the northeast, an an unfinished board ceiling with exposed rafters. The two southeast bays of the porch are sheltered by a metal sheathed shed roofed hood, supported by plain braces. The hood is continued over a small addition to the north. This shallow one story addition, in the corner of the ell and the first attached shed, has a brick foundation, clapboarded walls, corner boards, close eaves and verges, and a four pane window in its south east facade.

The first attached shed, which we will call the west enclosed shed, has a brick foundation, clapboarded walls, a northeast sillboard, cornerboards, close molded lateral eaves, close verges, and a slate roof. The southwest facade has a high nine pane window and double board doors. The northeast facade has another nine pane window, a four pane window, a board door, and a shallow privy projection, covered by an extension of the main roof, and by the same walls and trim. The privy is served by a wide cleanout door and is lit by a small single pane window.

The next shed, the east enclosed shed, is again a one story structure on a brick foundation, with a slate roof. The southwest facade, sheathed with vertical boarding and board and batten siding, lacks any trim on its eaves, corners, and its double board doors. The wood shingled southeast gable end has cornerboards and close verges, as well as plain frames around its twenty-four pane main level window and its single pane gable window. The blank northeast facade is clapboarded and has cornerboards and close eaves.

Attached to the east corner of the east enclosed shed is the west open shed. The two one story open sheds have vertical boarding on their southwest facades (and on the west shed's northeast gable end), board and batten siding on their rear (northeast) facades, open eaves with exposed rafters, and slate gable roofs. The only openings are a board door in the west shed's northwest gable end, a wide opening with rounded upper corners in the west shed's southwest facade, and a large rectangular opening in the east shed's southwest facade.

Covering the southeast gable end of the east open shed is the large west barn, a one and a half story structure with vertical boarding, close eaves on the northeast, close verges on the southeast gable and simple overhanging eaves on the northwest gable. The northwest gable end contains tall double board doors, topped by a fourteenpane transom window. The southwest facade of the west barn is completely covered by a one story addition, set on a fieldstone foundation and sheltered by a shed roofed extension of the barn's slate roof. The addition's northwest end is clapboarded, as is the west half of ate southwest facade. The rest of the southwest facade (east of an open bay) and the southeast end are sheathed with vertical boards. The northwest end continues the same eaves as the northwest gable of the barn, but the other facades have close eaves and verges. Plain frames surround the three small windows and board door in the clapboarded section of the southwest facade. But no trim graces the southeastern board door and the four pane southwestern window of the vertically boarded section.

Covering the southeast gable end of the west barn is the two-story east barn, which is sheltered by a slate gable roof. There is tar paper sheathing on the northeast facade, but only remnants of tar paper cling to the vertically boarded southwest facade and southeast gable end. No eaves finish is found on the lateral facades, although close verges trim the southeast gable. The first story of the southwest facade has a simple board door and three open bays, two of them filled by half-height partitions. A doorless second story opening appears in the same facade, while a single window is found in each of the other two facades.

10A. Shed; c.1865. Southwest of the west barn stands a shed, which is inscribed "Built 1865" on an interior post. The tall, one story, gable roofed shed has vertical boarding in its gable ends and northwest facade. The narrow vertical boards of its southeast facade are spaced to allow ventilation. The slate roof is trimmed by open lateral eaves with exposed rafters and plain gable eaves. The only opening is a board door in the northeast gable end.

11. Bond House; 1884.
This vernacular house was built for Henry and Maria Bond in 1884. Bond was a roofing contractor who installed slate roofs. In the mid-20th century, a new kitchen and bathroom in the ell resulted in the installation of small modern windows. The building was resheathed with aluminum siding about 1960, which appears to have entailed removal of window, entrance and corner ornament, probably in the Italianate style. In the 1960's, the attached barn was demolished and replaced with a detached garage.

The house consists of a two-and-a-half story, gable roofed, eaves front main block and a two-and-a-half story, gable roofed ell to its rear. One-story hip roofed porches cover the northwest (street) facade of the main block and the southwest facade of the ell. Both the main block and the ell are set on a high brick foundation, and are sheathed by aluminum siding. With the exception of the main block's bay window, all of the window and door frames have been reduced to narrow aluminum strips. The main block and wing have heavy box cornices with moldings, frieze, and returns. The house's red slate roofs are ornamented with a band of red and blue diamond shaped slates across each roof slope.

The main block's three bay wide street (northwest) facade has a central entry, an Italianate style, glazed and paneled door with two tall lights. Above it in the second story is a two-over-two sash window. The side bays in each story contain pairs of tall, narrow one-over-one sash windows. The full front porch has a latticework base, brick and concrete steps serving the open central bay, board floor, chamfered posts with molded bases and capitals on pedestals with chamfered edges and molded caps, railings with molded rails and decoratively sawn slats, a box cornice with moldings and frieze, a beaded board ceiling, and an asphalt shingled hip roof. The three bay-wide northeast gable end has two-over-two sash windows in the first two stories and a pair of one-over-one sash, in the gable. The two bay southwest gable end has a single two-over-two sash window in each of the two lower stories and a pair of one-over-one sash windows in the gable. The eastern bay of the facade is occupied by a two story, three sided bay window. Set on a brick foundation, the bay window has been sided with aluminum siding beneath the windows. The central two-over-two sash windows and the narrower side one-over-one sash windows all have plain frames. Each story is sheathed with flush boarding and corner moldings between the windows and is topped by a heavy box cornice with moldings, frieze, and returns. The first story cornice trims a narrow decorative roof. The bay window is topped by a hip roof, again of red slates with a band of diamond shaped red and blue slates.

The ell, as already noted, has similar foundation, sheathing, cornice and roof as the main block. The two bay wide northeast facade and the southeast gable end have small one-over-one sash windows in their first stories and normally sized two-over-two sash windows in the second story of the northeast facade and in the southeast gable. The three-bay-wide southwest facade has two-over two sash windows in the two western bays of each story, while the eastern bay contains a glazed and paneled door in the first story and a small four-pane window in the second story. The side porch covering the southwest facade of the ell has a slat base, board floor and steps, (the latter with wrought metal hand rails), three square posts, a simple but deep box cornice with moldings and frieze, and a low pitched, asphalt shingled hip roof.

11A. Garage; c.l960's. Behind the house stands the non-contributing garage, built in the 1960's. The one story, two stall garage, set on a concrete foundation, is sheathed with novelty siding and trimmed with cornerboards, close verges, and simple lateral eaves with sloping soffits. Plain frames surround its two southwestern overhead garage doors, the single one-over-one sash window in each gable end, and the two one-over-one sash windows in the rear (northeast) facade.

12. U.S. Post Office; c.1960.
Needing more space, the U.S. Post Office Department entered into a rental agreement with George Cote to provide a separate building for the Westminster village post office. Cote built the present building in 1960, according to plans provided by the Department. No exterior changes have been made to the building since the Post Office was moved here in January of 1961.

The non-contributing Post Office is a one story, gable roofed, rectangular building set on a concrete foundation. The walls are sheathed with wide clapboarding and trimmed by close verges and lateral box cornices with moldings. A plain brick chimney with flue breaks the asphalt shingled roof. In the center of the three bay wide street (northwest) gable end is the main entry, a paneled door with window and narrow molded frame. Served by concrete steps with wrought metal hand rails, the door is protected by a gable roofed hood supported by plain braces The hood has a plywood ceiling, close eaves and verges, a clapboarded gable, and an asphalt shingled roof. Each side bay has a twenty-four pane window with the narrow molded frame found on all of the windows. In the gable, the title "U.S. POST OFFICE/WESTMINSTER, VT" appears in applied letters. The other facades all have one-over-one sash windows, four in the southwest facade, three in the northeast facade, and one in the rear southeast gable end. Also in the rear facade is another paneled door with window, narrow molded frame, and concrete steps.

13. Safford House; c.1810.
The main block of the Safford House displays hallmark proportional features of the Federal style such as a low pitched hip roof and windows butting up against the cornice. In the mid-19th century, a Greek Revival doorway and a full-length porch were added to the street front of the main block, while a two-story addition was added on its rear facade. In the summer of 1985 (at this writing), the house was being renovated. Asbestos shingle siding and a modern picture window were removed. The present owners also plan to in stall twelve-over-twelve sash to replace the later two-over-two sash, to re-open the now filled in arches in the ell, and to clapboard the gable end of the ell.

The northwest (street) facade of the two-story, hip roofed main block is covered by a one-story porch, while the rear (southeast) facade is almost completely covered by a two-story, gable roofed ell on the north and a two story, shed roofed addition on the south.

The main block now has a concrete foundation, but retains its clapboarded walls, cornerboards, and slightly projecting box cornice with moldings and frieze. The rear slope of the asphalt shingled hip roof is broken by two massive brick chimneys with corbeled caps. The five bay front facade has a central six panel door, flanked by four-pane full sidelights and topped by a peaked lintel board. A simple outer molding frames the entry. The windows of the five bay street facade and the two bay (northeast and southwest) ends all have two over two sash, molded frames, and louvred shutters.

The one story veranda, set on stone and brick posts, has a board floor and a beaded board ceiling. Four tapered square posts with rounded corners and molded capitals support a full entablature and the low pitched, metal sheathed hip roof. Railings with square balusters and molded rails fill two of the three front bays and both end bays. Concrete steps serve the open central bay. The ell is set somewhat lower than the main block on a concrete and fieldstone foundation, and is covered by a slate roof. The lateral (northeast and southwest) facades are clapboarded beneath open eaves with exposed rafters and friezes. The southeast gable end (to be clapboarded in the near future) is now sheathed with horizontal boarding and tarpaper and is topped by tarpaper and metal sheathed close eaves. Besides a small four-pane window, the southwest facade's first story is distinguished by two semi-elliptical arched openings, each now filled in with clapboarding and containing a door and a window. The second story has two six-pane kneewall windows with molded frames. The northeast facade has a two-over-two sash window with molded frame and louvred shutters and a recent twelve-over-twelve sash window with plain frame. The unfinished gable end has only a board door and screened opening.

The shed roofed addition on the southeast facade of the main block is clapboarded above a concrete foundation. The main block's box cornice is continued on the southwest facade of this addition, but the rear (southeast) facade has only close eaves. The roof is an asphalt shingled extension of the main block roof. The southwest facade has a four-over-four sash window and a glazed and paneled door in the first story and two-over-two sash window in the second story. The southeast facade has two-over-two sash windows in each story. The door and the windows all have molded frames.

13A. Playhouse; c.1984. Behind the house stands the non-contributing playhouse, built in Barre, VT in August 1984 and moved to the present site in May 1985. The tall, one story structure has plywood walls with cornerboards, open eaves with fascia boards, exposed rafters and purlins, and a steeply pitched, asphalt shingled gable roof. Plain frames surround the plywood door and the three four pane windows.

14. Aldrich House; c. 1790.
The Aldrich House is said to have been built in the late 18th century, a date which is confirmed by the proportions of this steep-roofed, Georgian plan house. The entrance was remodeled to the Greek Revival style in the mid-19th century. The early shed roofed porch that once covered the street facade collapsed in January of 1940 and was replaced by the present small entry porch. A previous owner, Clarence Torrey, added the secondary door in the street facade in the same year to serve an upstairs apartment. In 1941, Torrey demolished the old ell and built the present ell. In the mid 1960's small modern windows appeared in the first story of the northeast facade of the ell. A bow window was installed in the main block in 1980. In 1982, a porch serving the secondary street door was removed and the building was sheathed with vinyl clap boarding.

The house consists of the two-and-a-half story, gable roofed, eaves front main block and a two story, gable roofed ell to its rear. Both are set on brick foundations and are now covered with vinyl siding. The main block has a wide pedimented box cornice with moldings. Its steeply pitched slate roof is broken by two simple brick interior chimneys, one at each end of the ridge. In the center of the street (northwest) facade is the main entry, a four panel door with five pane full sidelights and a plain wide outer frame. The entry is sheltered by a small porch with concrete steps and floor. Two pairs of cruciform posts support a simple pedimented box cornice, flush boarded gable and ceiling, and a steep asphalt shingled gable roof. On each side of the man entry are found two two-over-two sash windows with plain vinyl frames and decorative louvred shutters. At the north end of the first story appears a secondary entry, a four panel door with concrete steps and plain frame. The second story has five two-over-two sash windows with decorative louvred shutters and simple vinyl frames. The same frames and, usually, the shutters, distinguish virtually all of the main block windows. The northeast gable end has a two pane window and two two-over-two sash windows in the first story, a two-over-two sash window in the second story, and two six-over-six sash windows in the pedimented gable. The southwest gable end has two six-over-six sash windows in the gable, as well as two-over-two sash windows, three in the second story and one in the first. The southwest gable end also has a shallow non-contributing oriel bow window, supported by simple sawn brackets. The bow window has three casement windows with six pane sash. The rear (southeast) facade has only two windows, both found south of the ell, a one-over-one sash window in the first story, a two-over-two sash window in the second story.

The ell's corrugated metal gable roof has a simple box cornice with returns. Its two entries, a four panel door in the southwest facade and a paneled door with window in the southeast gable end, are both served by concrete steps with plain wooden railings, and are sheltered by hoods, with simple braces, open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, open gables, and asphalt shingled gable roofs. The ell windows all have plain vinyl frames. The double casement windows with six-pane sash (one in the first story of both the southwest gable end) also have louvred shutters. The other windows are a small one-over-one sash window and a two-over-two sash window in the first story of the northeast facade, a one-over-one sash window in the southeast gable end's first story, and three six-pane kneewall windows, two on the southwest and one on the northeast.

14A. Garage; c.1915. Behind the house stands the garage, which, before the replacement of the ell in 1941, was attached to the house. Known to have been standing in the 1920's, the garage can be assigned an early 20th century date. In 1941, the building was resheathed by Clarence Torrey with clapboards and asphalt shingles, and given new garage doors. (The central door was replaced by a modern overhead garage door in the 1970's.) Torrey also built a small addition on the southeast end to house a blacksmith shop. The present owners added a greenhouse in 1983. The two story shed roofed main block is clapboarded on the northwest and southwest facades, but sheathed with asphalt shingles on the less seen southeast and northeast facades. The facades are all trimmed with cornerboards, plain window and door trim, close verges, and plain lateral box cornices with friezes. The three bay wide southwest facade has three garage doors in the first story, a modern overhead garage door in the central bay, older double paneled doors with multipane windows in the side bays. Above the central door is found double, beaded board hayloft doors, while above the side facades appear six pane windows. Two more six-pane windows are found in the first story of the rear (northeast) facade as well as two small cantilevered projections with asphalt shingled sides and metal sheathed shed roofs, built to accommodate larger cars about 1970.

The southeast gable end is covered by two one-story shed roofed additions, the older shop addition to the north, the small modern greenhouse to the south. The shop has asphalt shingled walls, cornerboards, close verges, and lateral box cornices with friezes. Plain frames surround its six-pane windows, two on the northeast and one on the southeast gable end. The corrugated plastic walls and roof of the shallow greenhouse are interrupted only by a windowless opening on the southwest and by a plastic door with wooden frame on the southeast.

14B. Barn; c. 1910. Behind the garage stands the former barn, whose form again suggests an early 20th century date and which is said to have once been a henhouse. In 1969, the first floor of the barn was remodeled into an apartment, a change that required the installation of new windows and doors and of an exterior chimney. It is a two-story, shed roofed structure, covered by board and batten siding, save for some vertical boarding in the first stories of the southwest and north east facades. Its corrugated metal roof is trimmed by a plain box cornice with frieze. The main southwest front retains two original, plain framed six-pane windows in the second story, as well as two large beaded board sliding doors in the first story. A concrete block exterior chimney now divides the facade. The first story has two glazed and paneled doors and six casement windows with single pane sash (two single windows, three double windows, and a triple window), all with narrow molded frames. In the first story can also be found an awning type single pane window on the northwest end, a board door with no trim on the southeast end, two double casement windows with single pane sash and narrow molded frames, and a one over-one sash window with plain frame in the northeast facade. Attached to the southeast gable end is a narrowed shed. The long one story shed is sheathed by horizontal boarding with remnants of tarpaper. The shed roof is trimmed with close verges and simple box cornices and is covered with asphalt roll paper. Three large openings and a smaller doorless opening appear In the southwest facade, while the southeast end has a windowless opening. At the rear of the lot is a modern swimming pool, surrounded by a concrete floor and a post and rail fence.

15. Metcalf and Cahalane Store; c.1922.
The old village store on this site burned in 1922. The present store was built as its replacement in the same year by the Walpole, N.H. firm of Metcalf and Cahalane, who purchased the lot in August. Sometime between 1945 and 1970, the original high flat-topped false front was removed, revealing the building's gable roof. The store windows were shortened at some unknown time before 1970 by infills of clapboarding. In 1983, the front porch and a shed roofed addition on the southwest side were built.

The building consists of a one and a half story, gable front main block, with a one-story, shed roofed full front porch, and one-story shed roofed additions covering both its southwest and southeast

The main block, set on a concrete foundation, is clapboarded on the northwest (street) gable end, but is otherwise sheathed with novelty siding. The facades are trimmed with cornerboards and a box cornice with moldings. The northeast facade is also trimmed with a sill board with watertable. A large window occupies most of the street gable end and the western bay of the northeast facade. The central store entry is a modern aluminum framed door with a plain frame, full sidelights, and a transom window over the door and the side lights. The store windows are large plate glass windows with plain frames and a short base of vertical beaded boarding. the front windows, a wider double window to the north of the store door, and a narrower single pane window to the south of the door, are now shortened by a low infill of clapboarding. But the large plate glass store window on the northeast facade still appears in its original full length. South of the storefront in the street facade is a beaded board door with two boarded up windows, and a plain frame. Plain frames also surround the boarded up window in the northeast facade and the short horizontal double window with three pane sash in the rear gable.

The three bay wide front porch has a board floor, square boxed posts, simple wooden railings, wrought metal hand rails flanking the open central bay, plywood half gables with close verges, wide overhanging lateral eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, and a corrugated metal shed roof.

The one-story rear addition, used for storage and believed to be part of the original building, is set on a concrete foundation, sheathed with novelty siding, trimmed with cornerboards, plain window and door frames, and the same cornice as the main block, and covered by a corrugated metal roof. It has two-over-two sash windows in the rear (southeast) facade and double paneled doors in the southwest facade. (The eight triangular panels of each door are filled with vertical boarding.)

The narrow addition on the southwest side of the main block, covered by a shed roofed extension of the main block's corrugated metal roof, is set on concrete posts, sheathed with novelty siding, trimmed with cornerboards, plain window and door frames, and topped by a box cornice similar to the cornices of the main block and the rear addition. Each narrow (northwest and southeast) end has a door of the same design as the double doors on the rear addition and a rectangular louver in the half gable. The long southwest facade has four small three-pane windows.

16. May House; c.1795.
The most significant structure in the district, this Georgian style house was built by Eleazar May soon after his arrival in Westminster in 1789 from Haddam, Connecticut. In the front part of the house. according to Child, May opened the first store in town, which accounts for its crossroads location. The house is a rare example of the Georgian style in Vermont, and is especially notable for its fine detailing. Though some of the original detailing has been replaced in what appears to have been a nineteenth century restoration, much of the cornice dentils, and the cornices of the four second and attic story windows in the north gable end, appear to be original. All other window cornices have been replaced with cornices of different profile.

In the early nineteenth century, May worked in partnership with Mr. Cone, later with Mark Richards, and eventually with his son James, who was born in 1797. James May apparently took over his father's business, for both McClellan's Map of 1856, and Beer's Map of 1869 show "J. May" living here. James May died in 1877. Eleazar May had also built a brick store next to the house in the early nineteenth century, in which was located the State Bank from 1807 to 1811. That store burned in 1922, to be replaced by the present one, #15. In 1925, Louise Crum bought the house from Abbey Holton Buck and her daughter, who had lived there for over twenty years.

The bay window, the Italianate style porches, the two-over-two sash, and probably, the windows' molded lintels all appear to be late 19th century in date. The vinyl clapboarding on the front porch and the modern triple window in the northeast gable end are modern, non-contributing additions.

The two-and-a-half story gable roofed main block has a wide, one story, hip roofed entry porch on its street (northwest) facade. To the rear is a one story, gable roofed ell. In each corner of the main block and the ell is found a one-story rear entry porch.

The main block, set on a brick foundation, is clapboarded, and is trimmed with sillboards, on all but the rear (southeast) facades. Rusticated, staggered wooden quoins appear on the corners of the three public facades, but the rear facade has only cornerboards. The public facade windows have heavily molded cornices, while the rear facade windows have only plain frames. Virtually all of the windows have louvred shutters. The same distinction also appears the cornices: the main (northwest) facade is topped by a rich box cornice with moldings, dentils, and modillions. The shallower gable cornices have moldings, dentils and returns, but no modillions. The rear lateral box cornice has simpler moldings and a frieze, but neither dentils nor modillions. The slate gable roof is broken by two interior ridge brick chimneys with wide bases and metal caps. The main entry in the center of the five bay wide street (northwest) facade is a four panel door with four pane transom. The door and transom share a molded frame and are flanked by fluted pilasters supporting a shallow entablature cut off by the porch roof. In the second story above the main entry is a double window with one-over one sash. The four side bays of each story contain two-over-two sash windows. The molded cornices of the second story windows overlap, and, indeed, duplicate, the lower moldings of the facade's box cornice.

The front entry porch, has low, vinyl sided walls topped by wide wooden copings. Beaded boarding sheathes the insides of the low walls, as well as the ceiling. In the central bay, board steps with metal hand rails lead up to the board floor. Four square, paneled posts with molded capitals rest on the low walls and support the box cornice with moldings and frieze and the low pitched hip roof.

The two bay wide northeast gable end has two-over-two sash windows in the first two stories and two six-over-six sash windows in the gable. The eastern first story window was replaced by a triple window with a large central plate glass window, flanking single pane casement windows, simply molded frame, and louvred shutters. In the southwest gable end, the first story has three two-over-two sash windows and, in the western bay, a three-sided bay window. The bay window, set on a brick foundation, is flushboarded, and trimmed with sillboards and corner moldings. Molded panels appear below and above the windows. The wide central two-over-two sash window and the one-over-one sash windows on the angled sides share a continuous sill and are topped by molded cornices similar to those found on the main block windows. A box cornice with moldings and frieze trims the low pitched hip roof. Above the bay window in the three bay wide second story is a double window with one-over-one sash. The central second story window has been clapboarded in, but the east window retains its two-over-two sash. The two gable windows have six-over-six sash. On each side of the ell in the first story of the rear facade is a multipane glass door with plain frame. The second story has four plain framed windows, three two-over-two sash windows and a modern louvred window.

The two rear porches both have lattice work bases and board floors. The southerly porch, visible from Grout Avenue, is more formal. Reached by board steps, served by a simple hand rail, the porch has a single chamfered post with molded base and capital set on a pedestal with paneled sides and molded cap. The low pitched hip roof has a beaded board ceiling and a box cornice with frieze and moldings. The northerly porch, served by stone steps, has a single square post, ornamented only by chamfered edges. The shed roof has a flush boarded half gable, and open eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards.

Attached to the rear facade of the main block, the one story ell is placed on a high foundation of fieldstone, brick and concrete. Clapboarded and trimmed with cornerboards, the facades are topped by close eaves on the southwest, close verges on the southeast gable, and a shallow molded cornice on the northeast. The gable roof is sheathed with asphalt shingles. A molded frame distinguishes the five panel door in the southwest facade that opens onto the southerly rear porch. Plain frames surround the other doors, the large sliding board door in the southwest facade, the board door in the southeast gable end, and the four panel porch door in the north east facade. The two two-over-two sash windows found in both lateral (northeast and southwest) facades have plain frames and louvred shutters.

16A. Shed; c.1978. Behind the house, almost on the rear property line, stands the non-contributing shed, built in 1978. The small one-story shed has a concrete block foundation, novelty siding, cornerboards, open lateral eaves with exposed rafters and fascia boards, slightly overhanging gable eaves, and an asphalt shingled gable roof. The two two-pane windows and the door of novelty siding have plain frames.

Grout Avenue

17. Driscoll House; c.1865.
No building is shown at this site on the McClellan county map of 1856, but a house does appear here on the village plan found in Beers' county atlas of 1869. Stylistic details would suggest that this vernacular house was built in the latter part of time span, perhaps in the late 1860's. Clapboarding on the inner walls indicates that the addition on the rear of the wing is not original, although it is known to be at least forty years old. The present entry porch was built about 1980.

The house is T-shaped in plan, with a one and a half story gable roofed main block set with its gable end facing the street, and a one-and-a-half story gable roofed ell in its southeast facade. A one story, shed roofed entry porch is found in the south (street side) corner for the main block and the ell. A one story, shed roofed addition covers the rear (northeast) facade of the wing.

The main block and the wing are both clapboarded, with trimming sillboards and cornerboards, and are sheltered by slate roofs. The main block is set on a brick foundation and trimmed by a box cornice with moldings and frieze. Its cornerboards are decorated by simply molded capitals. On its front (southwest) gable end, the lower corners of the box cornice's raking frieze are rounded to blend with the cornerboards. The main block windows all have molded lintels. The windows of the more visible two-bay-wide southwest gable end and the four bay wide northwest facade, as well as the one window in the southeast facade, looking onto the entry porch, have two-over-two sash. But the windows of the one bay wide rear (northeast) gable end contain possibly original six-over-six sash. (One northwest window opening is now filled with clapboards.)

The wing has a concrete and stone foundation, and widely projecting box cornices. The main entry, an Italianate, glazed and paneled door in the western bay of the four bay wide street facade, has a molded lintel. Plain frames surround all of the windows, the three two-over-two sash windows in the street facade, the two six-pane windows in the second story of the two-bay-wide southeast gable end, and the two-over-two sash window and the six-over-six sash window in its first story. The small entry porch in the corner of the main block and the wing has a board floor, stone steps with simple hand rail, two plain square posts, a plywood ceiling, vertical grooved plywood half gable, raking frieze, a simple box cornice, and an asphalt shingled shed roof. On the southwest slope of the roof are found two gable-roofed dormers, each with a plain framed two-over two sash window, a flush boarded front, clapboarded sides, corner boards, a pedimented box cornice with frieze, a clapboarded gable, and a slate roof.

The addition covering the rear (northeast) facade of the ell actually consists of two sections, a shallow section in the western third, a deeper section to the east, all under the same asphalt shingled shed roof. Both sections are clapboarded. The western section has a simple box cornice with frieze, while the eastern sect ion has sillboards, close verges, and simple lateral eaves with sloping soffit and frieze. The western section has a single six-over-six sash window with molded lintel. The eastern section is served by a glazed and paneled door in the southeast and by a board door in the center of its three bay northeast facade, which also has two six pane windows. The western section's windows and doors have plain frames.

17A. Garage; c.1970. The non-contributing two-stall garage, built about 1970, is a one story structure, placed southeast of the house, with its gable end facing the street. Set on a concrete foundation, the walls are sheathed with wide clapboards (save for the gables, which are covered by vertical boards with beveled edges) and are trimmed with cornerboards. Close verges and simple box cornices frame the asphalt shingled gable roof. The two overhead garage doors in the southwest gable end, the glazed and paneled door in the northwest facade, and the four one-over-one sash windows all have plain frames.

18. Wood House; c.1948.
The Westminster Inn, which once stood on this site, burned on New Year's Day in 1947. The present house was built on the same location by George and Gretta Wood in 1948. The house was deliberately built in a vernacular Colonial Revival style and in a two-and-a-half story, gable roofed form to match the other buildings at this major intersection of the village (#16, #41, and #55). Vinyl siding was installed in the mid 1970's. Two exterior chimneys have been added, a brick chimney in the 1970's and a concrete block chimney in 1984.

The non-contributing two-and-a-half story gable roofed house has a one story, gable roofed entry porch on its front facade, a two-story, shed roofed porch at the north end of its southeast facade, and a one-story gable roofed basement entry on its southwest gable end. Set on a concrete foundation, the house is covered by vinyl siding. The windows, virtually all of which have six-over-six sash, are ornamented by plain frames and decorative louvred shutters. The fenestration is somewhat irregular, changing from story to story, so that there is no pattern of bays. The main entry is set slightly north of the center of the street (northwest) facade. The paneled door with built-in, four-pane, semicircular window has a plain frame, but is sheltered by a large entry porch with concrete floor and steps, two modern metal columns with molded bases and capitals, and an asphalt shingled gable roof. The northeast gable end is dominated by a large central exterior brick chimney, which is set on a concrete floored patio. The patio spans the entire gable end, and turns the corner to extend down the rear facade beneath the two story porch. It is partially enclosed by a wrought metal railing.

18A. Garage; c.1970. Behind the house stands the non-contributing garage, built c 1970. The one and a half story, gambrel roofed structure is set on a concrete foundation and is sheathed with board and batten siding. The gables are trimmed with box cornices, but the eaves are open with exposed rafters. The doors of the garage each have two large plain framed panels with diagonal boards crossing vertical boarding. Plain frames surround the two windows and the doors, double doors in both the northeast gable end and the southeast facade, a single door in the northwest facade and a hayloft door in the southwest gable. A small false door of the same design as the functional doors appears in the main northeast gable. Behind the house is a modern swimming pool.

19. Westminster Institute; 1923-1924.
In 1875, Isaac Butterfield left a generous bequest to the East Parish of Westminster for the construction and maintenance of a public library. The money, however, was not to become available until after the death of his invalid son. By that time, because of the decline in value of Butterfield's real estate, the fund had shrunk to $33,000. This sum was not considered adequate to build the library and the community center desired for the community. Therefore, George A. Dascomb contributed the remainder of the $90,000 cost of the building and donated the site. The impressive Colonial Revival building was designed by architect Eliot Putnam of the Boston firm of Putnam and Chandler. The contractor, Hoyt Construction Company of Holyoke, Massachusetts, began work in April of 1923. The completed building was dedicated on July 30, 1924.

The Institute is T-shaped in plan. The one and a half story, 5 x 2 bay, eaves front main block has a grand, 1-bay entrance portico in the center of its street (northwest) facade and a one story, gable roofed gymnasium/auditorium ell to the rear (southeast). One story entries to the high basement are found on the rear (southeast) gable end of the rear wing, and in the east corner of the main block and the rear wing. The building is of brick, laid in Flemish bond (with darker burnt headers) on a nearly visible concrete foundation.

The top of the main block's high basement is marked by a marble watertable. The rich box cornices are ornamented with moldings, modillions, and shallow molded friezes. The shallower molded gable cornices with returns are interrupted by the central brick chimneys in each gable end. The chimneys, with their corbeled tops and concrete caps, are flush with the end walls, and break through the slate gable roof.

In the center of the northeast (street) facade is the main entry, sheltered by the large portico. The portion of the wall sheltered by the portico is plastered and painted white. The entry itself is a double leaf paneled door, flanked by five-pane two-thirds side lights above molded panels. Over the doors and sidelights appears a large semicircular fanlight, decorated with undulant tracery along the outer rim. The entire entry has a wooden sill and molded wooden frame. To each side of the entry, but still sheltered by the portico, are narrow four-over- six sash windows with molded wooden frames and plastered sills. A simple rectangular recessed panel is found in the plaster wall above each of the side windows. The portico itself is set on a high brick sided base. Seven concrete steps, as wide as the portico and flanked by wrought metal hand rails, lead up to the concrete portico floor which has similar wrought metal railings at each end. Four wooden columns with molded bases and capitals (the latter decorated with fluting) stand on concrete plinths and support a pedimented entablature. (Two wooden pilasters of simpler design with molded bases and capitals attached to the main block facade also support the entablature.) The entablature is a continuation of the main block's cornice with the addition of a deeper frieze and an architrave. The titles "Westminster Institute" and "Butterfield Library" appear on painted signs in the frieze. The pediment's tympanum is flush boarded, while the portico's gable roof is slate covered. An ornate, original electric light hangs from the center of the portico's beaded board ceiling with ceiling molding.

To each side of the portico on the southwest facade are found three basement windows, each of which have brick sills and marble lintels with sloped ends. With the exception of one four-pane window, the basement windows all have six panes. The four side bays of the main level each contain a large, tall six-over-nine sash window with molded wooden frame, marble sills, marble lintels with keystone and sloped ends, and louvred shutters. Above each window, a shaped marble tablet is set flush in the brick wall. On the northwest slope of the roof appears six gable roofed dormers, three on each side of the portico. The dormers have six-over-six sash windows with molded frames, slate covered sides and roofs, pedimented box cornices with moldings, and flush boarded tympana.

The two bay wide gable ends each have two main level windows of the same design as the street facade windows, and again topped by shaped marble tablets. In each gable appears two quadrant lights with muntins radiating from the inner corners, undulant tracery, molded wooden frames, marble sills, and quarter-circular brick arches. The gable ends differ only in that the southwest gable end has two six pane basement windows, while the northeast end has none. The rear facade has two six-pane windows south of the wing. In the corner north of the wing is found a basement entry with the usual brick walls, a two panel door with molded wooden frame, close molded wooden eaves and verges, and a corrugated metal shed roof. To the north of the basement entry is a former basement window with brick sill and marble lintel, but now filled with a louver. On the rear facade's main level there appears, to each side of the rear wing, two six-over-nine sash windows of the same design as their counterparts on the other facades, save that they lack louvred shutters, and are not topped by marble tablets. On the rear (southeast) slope of the roof are found four more dormers like the northwestern dormers, two on each side of the rear wing.

The rear ell is somewhat simpler than the main block. Its high basement is topped by a two course brick watertable, incorporating a course of headers and a course of stretchers. The lateral and gable cornices trimming the slate gable roof are the same design as the main block counterparts, save that the lateral cornices lack any modillions. The long northeast and southwest facades are virtually identical, each having five basement windows with brick sills and flat brick arches. (Each facade has four six-pane windows and one boarded up window.) In the main level of each lateral facade appears four tall semicircular arched windows, each with eight-over-twelve sash beneath a tympanum window with two central quarter-circular panes and six outer radiating panes. These windows have molded wooden frames, brick sills, and brick semicircular arches. The rear gable end has a one six-pane basement window with brick sill and flat arch to each side of the central basement entry. The one story basement entry has Flemish bond brick walls, close molded eaves and verges, and a slate gable roof. Two paneled doors with molded wooden frames in the southeast gable end are served by descending concrete steps.

The three bay wide gable end of the rear ell has a central triple window with eight-over-twelve central sash and flanking four-over six sash. The side bays each contain an eight-over-twelve sash window. In the gable are quadrant lights similar to those of the main block. All four main level and gable windows have molded wooden frames, brick sills and arches.

The grounds serve as the village playground, and have playground equipment and a ballfield with a backstop of wire fencing on wooden supports. Flagpoles stand beside the front walk and the baseball field.

20. D. Arnold Hills House; c.1885.
This modest, late 19th century house was built by David Arnold Hills, apparently with money acquired from the California Gold Rush. While the house was probably built in 1886 and 1887, consistent with an inscription in the barn, the left ell, judging from decorative and framing details, was added a few years later. The only major alteration to this well preserved house is the pre-fabricated, Colonial Revival style front entrance, which was installed around 1965 to replace a double leaf, Italianate style entrance similar to that of #48.

Hills was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire in 1817, and came to Westminster with his mother at age two, after the death of his father. At age 17, he went to Claremont, New Hampshire to learn cabinet and furniture making-a business that he continued in Walpole until 1840. It is likely that the house contains some of Hill's handiwork. In 1841, Hills moved into a house in the district, and in 1850 supervised the construction of a section of the Vermont Valley Railroad. Later that same year, he went to California via the "Isthmus route", stopping in Havana and Shagris. Upon arrival in California, he struck gold at Rough and Ready, and was soon joined by his brother, Edward. The two also mined at Forest Hill until 1854, when Arnold returned to Westminster due to news that his wife was sick. In 1858, Hills, his wife, two sons and daughter moved to Minnesota, but were driven off by Indians four years later, and returned to Westminster. In 1885, Mrs. Hills died. This house may therefore have been built when Hills re-married.

The Federal style, revival manner of this vernacular, Victorian period house attests to the perceived historical character in the district as long as a century ago. The proportions of the gable front are similar to the gable ends of the Federal style numbers 14 and 41 in the district. Interior details show that the rear wing is older than the main block. Presumably, the rear wing is the building acquired by the Arnolds, when they purchased the property in 1848. According to a neighborhood tradition, the main block and the attached barn were added to the wing at the same time, the rear wing being renovated on the exterior to match the addition. The side ell is said to have been added two to four years later. On a stairwell in the barn appears the inscription "Built in winter 1886 and 1887 by S. A. Richardson & G H. Underwood". If the inscription refers to the construction of the barn (and not simply the stairs on which it is found), it fits well with the mid-Victorian style of the building, which suggests a date of the same period.

The two-and-a-half story, gable front, sidehall plan main block is set with its gable end facing the street and with one story entry porches on the northwest facade is a two and a half story, gable roofed side ell, while a two and a half story, gable roofed rear wing is found on the main block's southeast gable end. The rear wing, which has its own small entry porch on the southwest, connects the house to the one and a half story, gable roofed barn.

The main block and the side wing are set on a brick foundation. Both are clapboarded, and have cornerboards and sillboards with watertables. They share a box cornice with moldings and frieze that is pedimented on the northwest (street) gable of the main block and on the equally visible northeast gable of the side ell, but only has returns on the rear (south-east) gable of the main block. Both are covered by slate roofs. The main block has a wide brick chimney with corbeled cap on its southwest slope, while the side wing has a simple brick chimney on the ridge.

The main entry, which appears in the left bay of the main block's northwest gable end, is a modern Colonial Revival style entry, with a six panel door, two-thirds sidelights above panels, fluted door and window side trim, and a peaked lintel board with molding. The entry is sheltered by a porch, which one continued to the north veranda that covered the side ell's street facade, but has been reduced to an entry porch. The porch, served by stone and wooden steps, has turned posts, side railings with simple balusters and molded rails, valance boards shaped to give the openings upper rounded corners, a heavy box cornice with moldings and frieze, and a low pitched hip roof. The southern first story bay contains a three sided bay window on a brick foundation. The bay window has a sill board with watertable, panels beneath each window, continuous molded window sill and lintel, three one-over-one sash windows with plain frames and louvred shutters, a box cornice with moldings and deep frieze, and a low-pitched hip roof. In the second story of the street facade are three two-over-two sash windows with plain frames and louvred shutters, which, like all the second story windows of the main block, ell and wing, butt up against the cornice. In the pedimented gable are two smaller two-over-two sash windows with plain frames and louvred shutters, which, although separate windows, share the same sill and the same lintel board, the latter continued across the entire gable. The four bay southwest facade and the one bay wide southeast gable end have two-over-two sash windows with plain frames and louvred shutters. The southwest facade also has a glazed and paneled door with plain frame, sheltered by the hip roofed side porch. The side porch has a slat, board, and latticework base, board floor and steps, as well as the same turned posts, valance boards, and box cornice as is found on the front entry porch. The northeast facade has only one window, a first story one-over-one sash window west of the side wing, but two bays with plain framed two-over-two sash windows (and one four pane window in the first story) east of the ell.

The side ell is one bay wide and one bay deep. The northeast gable end has a double window with one-over-one sash in the first two stories and a smaller two-over-two sash window in the pedimented gable. The gable window is distinguished by an ornately shaped sill apron and by a lintel board which is continued across the gable. A two-over-two sash window appears in each story of the lateral (northwest and southeast) facades. All of the lower windows have plain frames and, usually, louvred shutters.

The rear wing, set on a new concrete block foundation, is clapboarded and trimmed with sillboards, cornerboards, and plain frames on the older windows. The slate roof is trimmed by a box cornice with moldings, frieze, and returns, that is shallower and simpler than the main block cornice. In the southwest facade appears a side entry, a glazed and paneled door and plain frame, sheltered by a small entry porch with slat base, board steps and floor, two pain boxed posts, side railings with plain balusters and molded rails beneath the latticework that fills both side openings, eaves with moldings, sloping soffit and frieze, a triangular panel in the flush boarded gable, and an asphalt shingled gable roof. The first story of the southeast facade also contains a one-over- one sash window and a two modern triple windows with central plate glass window flanking four pane casement windows, and simply molded trim. The second story contains three two-over-two sash windows. Two more such windows appear in the rear (southeast) gable end. The northeast facade has a paneled door with two lights and plain frame, as well as a double modern casement window with simply molded frame and two one-over-one sash windows in the first story, and three two over-two sash windows in the second story.

The attached one-and-a-half story barn, set on a brick and concrete block foundation, is clapboarded, trimmed with sillboards, corner boards, a box cornice with moldings, frieze, and returns, and has a slate gable roof. The barn's six windows all have plain frames and two-over-two sash. In the southwest facade are found two overhead garage doors with plainframes. Above the west door is a beaded board hayloft door which projects up into a short triangular wall dormer. The basement has two windowless openings and a doorless opening on its exposed southeast side. An earthern ramp with stone sidewalls descends to this lower level.

21. Congregational Church; 1835.
The Congregationalists worshipped in the town meetinghouse from its construction in 1769 until a controversy over the use of the building in 1834. The Congregationalists then decided to build their own church, and organized a society for that purpose in the summer of 1834. This building was subsequently erected the following year and dedicated on November 18, 1835. The church is transitional in style, being basically Greek Revival, but with early Gothic Revival features such as the painted sashes in its public facades and in the belfry. In 1867, the Congregational Society voted to erect a spire on the belfry. Stained glass windows were installed in the 1880's. Dated photographs reveal that between 1889 and 1901 the clapboarding and louvers within the large arches were replaced by decoratively cut wooden shingles. In 1902 (according to the town history) or 1903 (according to the church history), the church was raised and a new first story built to provide a vestry and a kitchen. (The two former entries in the main facade arches were replaced by stained glass windows.) The five sided apse on the rear of the church was probably built at the same time.

The church consists of a two-and-a-half story, gable roofed main block, with a two stage tower astride its roof ridge above the main (northwest) gable end, and with a five-sided, two story apse in the center of its rear (southeast) gable end.

The main block, set on a fieldstone foundation, is clapboarded, trimmed with sillboards. A cornice with moldings and frieze, which marks the top of the 1902 (or 1903) first story, divides the cornerboards on the rear and side facades. On the front (northwest) gable end, the first story has its own wide corner pilasters applied over wide cornerboards. The upper level (the original church) also has similar wide corner pilasters applied over wide cornerboards. The upper pilasters incorporate large square panels in their molded capitals. A heavy, pedimented box cornice with moldings and frieze tops the three public facades. The rear southeast gable has only a shallow molded cornice with frieze and returns. The tympanum of the front pediment is sheathed with flush boarding.

The present main entry, in the center of the northwest gable end, is a large, double, leaf eight panel doors flanked by four pane four-fifths sidelights above simple panels. The door and sidelights have plain frames and are served by a wooden step flanked by modern wrought metal hand rails. The entry is sheltered by a gabled hood supported by large ornate brackets, decorated with curvilinear sawn and carved ornament, and by triangular panels with cut-out quatrefoils. The hood has a beaded board ceiling with ceiling molding, a box cornice with moldings and frieze, a triangular panel in its flush boarded gable, and a metal sheathed roof. Next to the entry hangs the painted wooden church sign. Because of the balcony at the northwest end of the church auditorium, the fenestration of the front gable end of the upper level is divided into two stories, instead of the one story seen on the other facades. The windows of both stories are incorporated in two large Gothic arches, with fluted side trim ornamented by upper and lower cornerblocks, but with a plain pointed arch. Each includes four levels, a shingled four panel base, a quadruple stained glass window, another shingled section, and the tympanum, with a rectangular stained glass window surrounded by more shingling. The shingles are all cut to the same decorative pattern. The four panels of the base and the four lower level windows share the same beaded side trim. The lower windows are embellished by molded sills and lintels. In the lower windows, the two narrower outer windows have ornate geometric pattern stained glass, while the two wider inner windows have borders of smaller stained glass panes. The shingled panel above the lower windows is topped by a molded sill between the upper cornerblocks. On the sill sits the upper rectangular stained glass window which incorporates a Gothic arch into its geometric patterned glass. The rest of the arch's tympanum is filled with decoratively cut shingles. The flush boarded pediment crowning the facade is enlivened by a large triangular louver with a molded frame, whose shape echoes that of the pediment.

Astride the slate gable roof above the northwest gable end is the two stage square tower. The base is clapboarded, and has a box cornice with with moldings, frieze and architrave. The smaller upper belfry stage is sheathed with flush boarding and trimmed with cornerboards and a box cornice with moldings and frieze. In each face of the belfry stage, rectangular louvers are set in plain framed Gothic arches, with decoratively cut wooden shingles filling the tympana. The steeple's tall octagonal spire is sheathed with wooden shingles and trimmed with corner moldings. The spire is crowned by a simple cornice and a metal weathervane.

The long, three bay wide northeast and southwest facades are identical. Each first story has three paired windows with four over-four sash and plain frames that butt up against the cornice. The upper level has three large, tall, plain framed Gothic arches above paired rectangular stained glass windows. The stained glass windows incorporate Gothic arches in their geometric glass pattern. The tympanums are filled with wooden shingles cut in the same pattern used in the main facade arches.

The main block's rear gable end is covered by the apse. A plain framed four-over-four sash window is found on each side of the apse in the first story. A tall plain exterior brick chimney is found in the south corner of the main block and the apse. Two rectangular metal louvres appear in the gable.

The five-sided, two-story apse is clapboarded. The cornice that tops the first story of the main block is also continued around the apse. A pronounced box cornice with moldings and frieze trims slate covered hip roof. The narrow side (southwest and northeast) facades are windowless. The diagonal (south and east) facades each has a four pane window and a double window with four-over-four sash, all with plain frames, in the first story. In the second story of the diagonal facades appear tall double stained glass windows with the same glass pattern used in the side windows of the main block, but here found in plain rectangular frames. The rear (southeast) facade has a four-panel door and a four-pane window, again with plain frames, in the first story.

22. Congregational Church Parsonage; c.1860.
At a special meeting on March 18, 1856, the Congregational Society voted "to buy or build a Parsonage" (1) and instructed the Prudential Committee to carry out that task. On March 31, the lot just south of the church was purchased for $450, a price which suggests that a building, perhaps a house, was included with the property. Indeed, the ell was described in the late 19th century by at least two local historians as a late 18th century building, the site of Vermont's first printing office in 1778. In December, the Society voted to mortgage the parsonage for $500. It is, however, unclear whether the purpose of the mortgage was to pay for the original purchase or to enlarge the building. The style of the Gothic Revival main block suggests a construction date in the 1850's or 1860's, so either possibility seems likely. Save for the late 19th century entry porch, there seems to have been no major changes to the exterior of the parsonage.

The parsonage's one-and-a-half story main block has a cross gable roof and a one story entry porch. Stretching to the rear (south east) of the main block are a one and a half story, gable roofed ell (with a one story side porch), a one story, gable roofed shed, and a one story, gable roofed barn.

The main block, set on a cut granite block foundation, is clapboarded, and trimmed with sillboards and round corner moldings. The wide eaves with moldings, sloping soffit, and frieze are embellished with undulant vergeboards on the three gables. The slate roof, which includes a cross gable in the center of the northwest (street) slope, is broken by two small brick chimneys, one at each end of the ridge. The three bay wide main (nort