Central Square Painters — Central Square, Cambridge

The Central Square Historic District on the National Register follows a seven-block run of Massachusetts Avenue from about Bigelow and Sellers streets to Lafayette Square. Its nomination counts 89 commercial, institutional, industrial and residential buildings dating from 1807 to 1987, 61 of which contribute to the district. The oldest is Dana Row, a three-story brick Federal rowhouse of 1807 at 452-458 Mass. Ave., of which two of the four original units survive. Away from the commercial core, the nomination notes, stores and housing share the same blocks.

Central Square is not one of the city's two local historic districts or four neighborhood conservation districts, so district-level paint-color review doesn't apply; individual landmarks and properties under preservation easements are handled separately. Citywide demolition review still covers any building over 50 years old.

Just off the avenue, Bishop Allen Drive shows the residential side. A Commission memo on the Bennink Rowhouses at no. 50 explains that the block between Columbia and Douglass streets was built up only after the mid-1800s, with a row of houses in 1865 and these three Italianate units in 1868. A 1959 remodel removed the projecting bays, and at some point, possibly that same year, the walls were clad in cedar shingles; the memo says the original siding would have been clapboard.

The census tract around Bishop Allen Drive, Tract 3531.01, looks very different from older Cambridge neighborhoods. Of its 1,890 homes, 30.8% were built in 2000 or later and 28.3% in 1939 or earlier. Buildings of 50 or more units hold 43.9% of homes, there are no detached single-family houses, and just 4.3% of occupied units are owner-occupied.

Remodeled cladding over old walls

The Bennink Rowhouses are a reminder that what you see may not be the original surface: shingles where clapboards once were, a brick foundation parged with concrete, 1-over-1 windows in place of 2-over-2 sash. Before choosing a coating, find out what the current surface is and what's underneath it.

Rental turnovers and lead rules

For a landlord, the gap between tenants is the simplest time to repaint an apartment. Massachusetts requires deleading in any apartment where a child under six lives, and Cambridge notes that deleaded homes are lead-safe, not lead-free, so later sanding still needs lead-safe work practices in pre-1978 buildings.

Stucco over Federal brick

Dana Row is brick underneath, but the nomination says it was stuccoed around 1925 and its first floor given storefronts. On an avenue building like that, the scope should separate stucco, any exposed brick, storefront trim and window sash, since each takes different prep, and old coatings should be tested before any removal.

Shallow setbacks

The Bennink building sits 8 feet from the Bishop Allen Drive sidewalk and less than 7 feet from the Douglass Street sidewalk. With walls that close to public walkways, ladder placement, debris control and protection for people walking below are part of the job plan.