29 Bayview Street
This attractive Colonial Revival/Queen Anne house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the South Union Street Historic District. It was built circa 1900 by Hamilton Peck, a lawyer who lived in the house on the northeast corner of South Union and Bayview. He and Joel Gates, a prominent Burlington businessman, were developing Bayview Street at this time.( Peck had petitioned the city to lay out Bayview Street in 1887.) It was common for developers to rent the houses they had built until they had a chance to sell them.
Thus, the first residents of 29 Bayview were the Arthur N. Cram family, first listed in the 1901 city directory. If the house had been completed in the last half of 1900 its first listing would have been in this issue of the directory. Mr. Cram was from Massachusetts; he was a bookkeeper at the furniture store of George A. Hall, at 212-214 College Street. The house was #31 at that time.
Sadly, Mr. Hall died of a brain tumor in late June of 1903. His wife Carrie and her children are listed still at Bayview in 1904, but by 1905 they had moved to 154 Loomis Street. The house is now #27, and a Samuel Vilas (no occupation given) is living there in 1905 and 106.
On July 2, 1906, Hamilton S. Peck transferred the house to Nelson W. Warner by warranty deed. Warner is a shipping clerk at E.B. and A.C. Whiting, manufacturers of brush bristles on Pine Street (now the location of Dealer.com). The deed, besides stating the property’s boundaries, gives the Warners a right of way to that part of the neighboring property of the J. Lindley Halls, #25 Bayview, which would have been necessary to maintain their own property. The Halls had purchased their lot from Peck in 1903.
In 1908 the house was first listed as #29. The Warners lived there longer than any of the other residents (so far). In October of 1943, they sold to Converse L. Barnes and his wife Mary. Converse was an accountant with the Vermont Maple Orchards. Two years later the owners were Charles D. Provost, a linoleum flooring contractor, and his wife Kathleen.
In August of 1955, John C. Creasey, a lab technician at the Mary Fletcher Hospital, and Shirley, his wife, bought the house for $16,000. Two years later the Creaseys passed the house on to Everett McCaffrey, an installer for New England Tel. and Tel., and his wife Marion, a nurse. They had the house for 16 years. The Provosts, the Creaseys, and, for a few years, the McCaffreys seem to have rented out space to various single women at this time.
The next owners were Dana and Marguerite Haskins. He was an executive with Vermont Transit who also dealt in real estate. They lived on Buell Street. Within two months Dana had sold the house for $36,750 to Kenneth and Kathleen Lee. Kenneth was an employee of UVM. This was in October of 1973.
Starting in May of 1977, the house changed hands frequently. The owners were: Francis L. and Janice C. St. Francis (paid $45,000.), Lillian M. Norfleet (paid $46,500. in July of 1977), and Robert P. Kenny (paid $46,500. In August of 1978). The 1978,1979 and 1980 city directories either had no report on the house or listed it as vacant. In 1981 Stephen and Kathleen Hutchins were renters.
In June of 1981, William and Wendy Schroeder, he a lawyer with Downs Rachlin and Martin, bought the house for $64,000. Again the house had owner-residents. Richard C. Wasserman, Abigail Foulk, and Theiodore Foulk became owners in 1983. Richard and Abigail were owners in 1985; they sold the house to Todd Randolph Lockwood and Mary Logan for $78,000. in August of 1987. Mary sold #29 to its present owner, Lawrence Meier, in August of 1913.
#29 Bayview is an example of Burlington’s many late 19th and early 20th century homes whose massing, and architectural details of porches, shingle trim, and slate roofs add to the charm of their neighborhoods.
Image Credit: Zillow
REFERENCES
Burlington Land Records
Burlington City Directories
National Register of Historic Places, South Union street, Burlington VT Historic District
State of Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey, 1977
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1919
Detail of Hopkins 1890 Map of Burlington VT