North Nurses Home
Location
42.3914, -71.20503History
The North Nurses Home was the first of four residences for nurses working at the Fernald institution. Built in 1904, it was located in a far northeastern corner of the campus for those working in the nearby male dormitories. In 1925, an perpendicular wing was added to the building's northern facade, relieving congestion and providing rooms for employees who were living off-campus at the school's expense. The interior of this building was heavily renovated in the 1980s for residential use for patients and was last home to DMR Region 6 operational offices, providing procurement, contracts, and union relations services.
Architectural Description
All four nurses' residences were built in a similar fashion. They are three-by-seven-bay rectangular-plan structures, made of red brick and accentuated with varying patterns. Designed by Preston, they exhibit features typically found in other early buildings at Fernald. They rise two stories from fieldstone foundations to slate hip roofs with central and facade chimneys. Their nearly symmetrical facades are centered on transomed entries recessed within large round-arched openings whose spandrels are picked out with burnt headers surmounted by triple-arched windows. Windows with 8/8 sash display sandstone sills and splayed brick lintels, though most have been modernized to 1/1. A burnt header beltcourse forms the sill for the second-story windows. The 1925 addition is in similar size and appearance as the original structure. Both wings contain Romanesque Revival-style openings to their entrances.
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