West of Westcott

The house, on the SE corner of Clarendon Street and Ackerman Avenue, was originality built for a single family, probably built shortly after 1912, when a building permit for a $5,000 dwelling was granted to Robert E. Floyd. Floyd appears to have lived here until at least 1925. The house fronts on Ackerman and is built deeply into the lot, so that its long northern side creates a second public face along Clarendon Street.

The lot descends to the east, so the foundation or ground story is quite high on Clarendon Street. This is built of cast stone, but in blocks of greater than normal size and detailing. The face of each block is designed to look like four shaped field stones of different sizes. Since these combination blocks can be laid up or down, this creates a seemingly very varied arrangement of stones. Only close examination reveals the repetition of the standard cast block. A garage, also of cast block, has been added on the east size.

Cast block first appeared as a building material in the late 19th century and became more and more common in house construction, especially for foundations and garages, through the 1920s.