Hayward House
117 Plain St
1840
Architectural Style
Greek Revival
Significance
Agriculture, Architecture
Use Type
Agricultural, Single Family Dwelling House
Neighborhood
Massachusetts Historical Commission Report
Architectural Significance
Together with its numerous farm buildings and extensive cultivated fields, this handsome Cape Cod cottage provides a glimpse of a 19th century Bridgewater farm. This well preserved dwelling is of a rectangular, center hall plan. It possesses a symmetrical 5-bay main facade and is 1 1/2 stories tall. Clad with clapboards, it is enclosed by a gable roof. Particularly noteworthy is the main entrance's Greek Revival enframements—including narrow multi-pane sidelights, paneled Doric pilasters and a heavy Doric entablature. Freize boards appear beneath the eaves of the gable roof.
Historical Significance
A visual analysis of the Hayward House points to a date of c. 1840, although a structure belonging to a Z. Hayward is indicated on or near the present house's site on the 1830 map. By the early 1850s, a Benjamen B. Hayward, carpenter, owned this house. By the 1870s Benjamen F. Hayward, shoemaker, as well as Benjamen B. Hayward, resided here. The family owned this property until at least the early 1900s.