William B. Sherman Farm facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
William B. Sherman Farm
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
(2010)
Location in Massachusetts Show map of Massachusetts Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	10072 State Rd. North Adams, Massachusetts
Built	c. 1830 (1830)
Built by	William Sherman
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Italianate
MPS	North Adams MRA
NRHP reference No.	85003419
Added to NRHP	October 25, 1985

The William B. Sherman Farm is a really old farmhouse in North Adams, Massachusetts. You can find it at 1072 State Road. This house was built way back in the 1820s! It's special because not many houses from the 1800s are still standing in North Adams. Even though it's old, it still looks a lot like it did when a fancy porch was added in the 1870s. Because it's so important, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

What Does It Look Like?

The William B. Sherman Farm is in the western part of North Adams. It's on the south side of State Road, also known as Massachusetts Route 2. The house is made of wood and has two and a half stories. It has a roof that slopes down on the sides and two chimneys inside.

Special Features of the House

The outside of the house is covered with wooden boards called clapboards. The corners of the building have wide, flat columns called pilasters. These go up to a decorative band called an entablature. This band continues under the triangular parts of the roof on the sides, which are called pedimented gables.

The front of the house has five sections, or "bays." A single-story porch stretches across the entire front. The porch roof has a decorative edge called a cornice. This cornice is decorated with cool, cut-out wooden pieces called jigsawn brackets. The spaces between the porch posts also have large, rounded jigsawn woodwork. The windows on the first floor under the porch are long. The front door is a French door, which means it's made of glass panels.

A Look Back in Time

William Sherman built this house in the 1820s. He was from Rhode Island and moved to this area in 1780. In 1813, Sherman bought a big piece of land. Back then, this land was part of Williamstown.

Changes Over the Years

In 1900, the land where the house stands became part of North Adams. Most of Sherman's original land was sold off for building new things in the 1900s. This left the house standing on a smaller piece of property.

The house was first built in the Greek Revival style. This style was popular in the early 1800s. It's one of the oldest farmhouses still around in North Adams. What makes it really stand out is its Italianate porch. This fancy porch was added in the 1870s during some changes to the house.

In 1843, William Sherman sold his house and farm to his son, Eber. Eber also built another house nearby. After Eber, the property was owned by several different people over the years.