35 ASH STREET Overview of Historic District and Source of following text. 60. Farley House, 35 Ash Street (a.k.a. 28 Broad Street), c.1830. Contributing building.
The Farley House is a 2 1/2-story, 5 x 2-bay Federal style residence which faces Broad Street (despite its Ash Street driveway and address). Set above a granite foundation, the clapboarded dwelling is capped by an asphalt-shingled roof with a large brick (rebuilt) chimney and a shallow gable pent on the gable ends. The center entrance contains a six-panel door with partial sidelights filled with leaded glass geometric tracery above raised panels. The door is capped by a semi-elliptical divided fanlight. The single-story entrance porch is a single bay wide and is supported by large Ionic columns which are echoed by Ionic pilasters adjacent to the door. The entablature displays a wide frieze with a two-part architrave and is capped by a copper, hip roof. An additional entrance on the east gale end consists of a transom-topped six-panel door. Most windows on the building contain 6/6 sash; those on the first floor are capped by entablature lintels. At the rear there are some 2/2 sash.
Extending behind the main house block is a single-story ell which has been greatly altered. Fenestration includes 6/6 sash and multilight picture windows. On the east side there are continuous transom lights under the eaves. The recessed, Greek Revival-inspired entrance on the west side consists of a six-panel door with side and transom lights with an additional row of transom lights at the top. At the rear, the large, side-gabled 19th century attached barn is set just a few feet from Ash Street. The barn is clapboarded with wide cornerboards, a simple water table and cornice returns. The rear elevation facing Ash Street displays a large door opening which has been filled with a multi-paned window and capped by a transom. Two levels of 6/6 windows have been inserted on either side and on the gable ends. Double six-panel doors on the west side face the large parking lot. The front yard is enclosed by a reproduction wooden spindle fence with chamfered posts.
This house was built about 1830 by Deacon Leonard Farley who purchased the land from William Emerson in 1828. The house remained in the family for many years. Leonard Farley was a bridge builder who built the last covered wooden bridge across the Nashua River and was also the builder for the Edward Hardy House (32 Broad Street, by 1849). By the 1880s the house was owned by Charles Pollock, the grandson of Leonard Farley. Mrs. Pollock is shown as the owner on the 1892 map. The house was sold in 1904 to Abbie Read who lived here with her sisters, Mary Lizzie and Nellie Read (Mrs. William) Worcester. After their death, the ownership of the property passed to by Nellie Read Worcester’s son, William Warner Worcester who sold it in 1941 to Reginald Cahalane. Jack Farley Boyd bought the property in 1953 and in 1976 Marion Boyd sold the property to Bradford and Jeanne Wild who owned it until 1986. The building was converted into commercial/office use about 1989. The present owner purchased the property in 1992. |