This two-story gable-front and wing house is distinguished from its neighbors by the projecting bay windows on the southern side of the structure, both on the first and second floor. This was most likely a three-by-two bay home, but the enclosed porch on the front makes it impossible to tell. Siding now replaces the original clapboards. The windows are one-over-one double-hung sash windows. There is a small entrance portico on the south side of the porch.
David Blow identifies Rev. William Henry Harrison Murray, famous proponent of the Adirondack Mountains, as relocating to this address in approximately 1885.1 It is assumed that a man as popular as W.H.H. Murray would be included in the Directory upon arrival. However, the first mention of Murray in the 1888-89 Directory states his home as the northeast corner of North Bend and North Avenue, which would be 244 North Avenue. Indeed, the following Directory reveals 244 North Avenue as Murray’s address. However, in 1890, the Directory states that Murray was located at 230 North Avenue.2 As the address numbers along this section of North Avenue have remained fairly stable, it is likely that Murray first lived in 244 North Avenue before moving, in 1890, across the street to 230 North Avenue.
As for an approximate date of construction of this house, research in the Directories for another property showed that Joseph Duran had a home at 230 North Avenue from 1888-89 to 1889-90 while employed as a salesman for Ripley and Holton on Church Street.3 It seems likely that the house was built in 1888, and that Duran lived here until 1890, at which point Murray moved in.
Mrs. F. M. Murray is named on the 1890 Hopkins map for this property, but research in the Directories reveal that she was living at 250/252 North Avenue during this time.4 1David J. Blow, A Historic Guide to Burlington Neighborhoods (Burlington, VT: Chittenden County Historical Society, 1991), 12.
2Burlington City Directory, 1888-89; 1889-90; 1890.
3Ibid.
4Ibid.