Akin House

Historical Structural Report
October 11, 2004
Akin House 762 Dartmouth Street
South Dartmouth, Massachusetts

Completed by Anne W. Baker

The Akin House is an excellent example of the classic Cape Cod building type and as a cultural resource is representative of a local building tradition tied to the 17th and 18th century farming community of South Dartmouth. As such the house stands in mark contrast to the areas existing 19th century town houses.

Deed research and physical examination indicate that the pre-Revolution Akin House was built between 1762 and 1764 by Job Mosher "house carpenter." In March of 1767 Mosher sold the homestead farm to Jonathan Delano, Jr a mariner. Nine months later, December 1767, his widow sold their homestead farm to Elihu Akin, a prominate and wealthy South Dartmouth resident and shipbuilder, who purchased the property as an investment. During the 1778 British occupation of South Dartmouth Elihu Akin's business property's and homestead farm where destroyed by fire. Financially strapped Akin moved his family into the Cape he had purchased in 1767, where he lived until his death in 1794. The ownership of the house remained in the Akin family for 204 years. In 2003 the Akin House was bought by WHALE (The Waterfront Historic Area Leaque) of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Architectural and Structural Report: The following report is based on careful and extensive analysis of the exterior and interior of the house before removing original and existing fabric.

Exterior: The Akin House is a side gabled, double pile, one-story structure. The house has two structural bays with an off-center brick chimney. The north/south gable ends are 25' 0" wide. The east/west (front/back) façade measures 27' 0". The house is positioned approximately seventy (70) feet back and east of Dartmouth Street and fifty (50) feet back and north of Rockland Street. It sits on a mound, the slope of which is 2' 4" feet lower on the east (back) side. A twenty (20) foot long one story, late 19th century barn/shed is located approximately thirty feet south and east of the house. The barn/shed framing material is circular sawn. The exterior is covered with unpainted shingles. The height of the house's front façade, from the foundation top to eaves, is 8' 0". The gable-end is 19' 0" from the foundation top to the peak. The roof is shingled and has an 8" boxed eave that meets a 5" wide rake board which has no bead. The roof pitch is 10 inches on 12. In the early 1900's a 9' 6" wide shed dormer with two double hung windows was added to the center of the east roof. The vertically oak planked exterior walls are covered with unpainted and sawn cedar shingles. The shingles are 5" to weather and extend to the top of the foundation. The plank window frames are splay headed. The corner boards are 6" wide and have no bead. The front door has six panels that consist of four recessed panels below 2 glass panels. The back door is board and batten.