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The Manse
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The Manse, 54 Prospect Street
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Location	54 Prospect St., Northampton, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°19′20″N 72°38′12″W / 42.32222°N 72.63667°W / 42.32222; -72.63667
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1744 (1744)
Architectural style	Georgian
NRHP reference No.	76000263
Added to NRHP	October 14, 1976

The Manse is a historic church manse in Northampton, Massachusetts. With a construction history dating to 1744, it is in part a good example of vernacular mid-18th century architecture. It has also had a procession of locally notable owners and residents. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Description and history

The Manse is located in a residential area north of downtown Northampton, on the west side of Prospect Street at its junction with Trumbull Road. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a gambrel style roof and twin interior chimneys. Three dormers pierce the steep slope of the gambrel, the center one with a rounded arch roof, the outer two with hip roofs. A square cupola rises at the center of the roof. A 2+1⁄2-story ell, the oldest part of the building, extends to the rear.

The property's history begins in the 17th century, when it was part of a land grant to Reverend Solomon Stoddard, whose parsonage was built here in 1684. Stoddard was the pastor of the first church in Northampton and the grandfather of Jonathan Edwards, a leading force in the First Great Awakening who briefly lived in that house. In 1744, Stoddard's son John built what is now the rear ell as a replacement for that house. John Stoddard was active in a civic affairs, serving in the provincial militia and the provincial legislature. His son, also named Solomon, built the front portion of the house in 1782; he served as sheriff of Hampshire County. Other notable residents include Josiah G. Holland, writer and founder of Scribner's Monthly, and Dr. Benjamin Barrett, a prominent local politician. The house was purchased in 1940 by Dorothy Douglas, a professor at Smith College, who oversaw its restoration. She also commissioned a series of murals that now adorn its walls; these were executed by Oliver Larkin.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
2. ^ "NRHP nomination for The Manse". National Archive. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
3. "MACRIS inventory record for The Manse". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2013-12-18.

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• Houses completed in 1744
• Buildings and structures in Northampton, Massachusetts
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• National Register of Historic Places in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
• Houses in Hampshire County, Massachusetts
• 1744 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies