Nutting Lake Painters — Around Nuttings Lake

Long before houses, the lake was a resource. The Massachusetts Historical Commission's survey of Billerica records Native planting fields north of Nutting Lake in 1665 and notes ice fishing there. Today the lake has a public beach and is used for canoeing and sailing.

For the housing, the MHC report is cautious: it says subdivisions opened at Pinehurst around 1910–20 and probably at Nutting Lake in the same years. Across Billerica in 1915–1940, it describes most new building as modest bungalows, small Colonial Revival cottages and plain cottages with no particular style, especially in subdivisions. That is a town-wide pattern, not a survey of these streets, so it describes what to expect rather than what every lot holds.

Census Tract 3163, Block Group 2 contains Lake Street. Of its 382 housing units, 30.4% were built in 1939 or earlier and 27.5% in the 1950s; 63.4% predate 1980. Single-family detached houses make up 94.5% of units, and the same share is owner-occupied. Nearby Block Group 5, which includes Nuttings Lane, is newer, with a median build year of 1982. Both estimates carry wide margins of error.

Small houses from the early 1900s

In the Lake Street block group, 30.4% of units were built before 1940, the era the MHC ties to modest bungalows and small cottages in Billerica's subdivisions. On a house that age, loose paint is scraped back to a sound surface and bare wood primed before any finish coat. Our exterior painting page for Billerica covers that prep.

A layer of 1950s houses

The survey puts 27.5% of units here in the 1950s, though its margin of error is larger than the estimate. Homes from that decade, like the older ones, predate the 1978 lead ban, so any paid work that scrapes or sands original paint falls under federal RRP rules. The lead-safe painting page explains the containment and cleanup involved.

Owner-occupied single-family streets

With 94.5% of units detached and owner-occupied, there's rarely an association or landlord to coordinate with. Interior rooms can be done in stages around daily life; see interior painting in Billerica.

Newer houses around Nuttings Lane

The neighboring block group that takes in Nuttings Lane has a median build year of 1982, and 46.3% of its units predate 1980. A house built in 1978 or later falls outside the federal RRP rule, so checking the year built on the assessor's record tells you which kind of prep applies. For decks and steps, see deck painting in Billerica.