Cambridgeport Painters — Cambridgeport, Cambridge

The city defines Cambridgeport as the area bounded by Massachusetts Avenue, River Street and the Charles River, abutting MIT on the east. Settlement followed the West Boston Bridge of 1793. The National Register nomination for Central Square explains what came next: filled marshland, nearby industry and a growing immigrant population drove housing construction until most of the peninsula south of the Square was built up by the end of the 19th century, home to a large population of laborers.

Cottage Street gives a close-up timeline. A Cambridge Historical Commission memo dates the first house on the block near Magazine Street, no. 24, to 1838 and a pair of Greek Revival cottages at nos. 40 and 44 to 1839. Most of the street filled in between the late 1840s and 1870, and a few three-deckers were slipped in around 1900. The Newell House at no. 40 still has its temple-front porch with four Doric columns, 6-over-6 windows, and a mix of flush boards and clapboards.

Today the neighborhood is dense: 6,105 dwellings on 338 acres, by the city's 2023 profile. Buildings of two to four units make up 68.9% of residential properties, though large buildings of 26 or more units hold about half of all homes. In Census Tract 3533, which includes 40 Cottage Street and parts of Magazine and Pleasant streets, 75.9% of the 1,967 homes were built in 1939 or earlier, and 56.0% of occupied homes are owner-occupied.

Greek Revival details that reward careful prep

Columned porches, pilasters, flush-board fronts and multi-pane sash all have edges and joints where paint tends to break down. On houses like those on Cottage Street, scraping and priming the porch columns and window muntins can take longer than painting the flat walls.

Fort Washington's paint review

The small Fort Washington Historic District on Waverly Street is one of Cambridge's two local historic districts, and there the Historical Commission reviews paint color along with roofing, gutters and storm windows. Owners there need a certificate before work starts, so color choices go to the Commission first.

National Register streets without color review

The Upper Magazine Street Historic District, listed in 1982, takes in two blocks of Magazine Street and one of William Street, with Greek Revival and Victorian houses from the 1840s through the 1880s. That listing isn't a local district, so the color choice stays with the owner, though its Greek Revival trim and sash still need the detailed prep described above.

Two- and three-family buildings

In Tract 3533, 47.1% of homes are in buildings of two to four units. A shared exterior means one schedule and one color plan for several households; our condo painting page covers how associations can approach it.