564 Commercial St

Historic District Survey information for 564 Commercial St

Architectural Description: 564 Commercial St. is a 1-1/2 story double cottage; side-gable roof is sheathed in asphalt shingles; shed dormers on front roof slope; cornice with partial returns; exterior gable end chimney on Commercial St. facade; exterior is clad in clapboard siding with wood shingles on the shed dormers; wood corner boards; building sits on a brick foundation; fenestration includes 6/6 DHS with storms; two entries with brick stoops and small wood entablatures; 1-story side ell with roof deck.

Historical Narrative: As per Josephine Del Deo (1976) "This was the home of Susan Glaspell (1882-1940), writer and playwright who, at one time, was the center of the 'Provincetown Players' together with George Cram Cook and others. Living in Provincetown the summer of 1915 among others here were Susan Glaspell and George Cram Cook, Hutchins Hapgood and Neith Boyce, the Steeles, the Zorachs, and Henry Marion halls, Edward and Stella Ballentine, Robert Edmond Jones and Joe O'Brien and myself.- Mary Heaton Vorse Susan Glaspell is a name inextricably linked with the Provincetown Players, and a number of her plays such as 'Suppressed Desires' are standard repertory theaters. She represents the period and the entire movement of writers and artists who surrounded O'Neill and Cook during the great innovative period in Provincetown when the Provincetown Players took O'Neill into their group and produced his plays. Her house should be recognized as an important community landmark.

Bibliography and/or References: Vorse, Mary Heaton. Time and the Town. Provincetown, 1942.

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Commercial Street (Provincetown, Mass.), Dwellings, and Historic Districts--Massachusetts--Provincetown

 (Mass. Historical Commission Form B)