This eye-catching home at 506 Prospect St., is prominently located at the corner of Prospect and East streets. Built in 1923, it is one of the most recognizable homes in Methuen.
In the early 1900s, the land the house sits on was part of a large subdivision of undeveloped house lots running along the northern side of East Street from Jackson Street to Prospect Street and extending northward to just beyond what later became Fulkerson Avenue.

By that time, the Prospect Street area north of Swan Street had become a desirable residential location for many of Lawrence’s prominent doctors, lawyers, mill executives, businessmen and other wealthy individuals. Some of the finest homes in Methuen were built in this area. To keep these neighborhoods free from commercial and undesirable development, landowners placed deed restrictions on many of the lots limiting the type and placement of the homes and other structures allowed to be built there.

In 1915, Lawrence attorney Joseph Monette purchased the East and Prospect street subdivision and drew up a new 33-lot subdivision called Prospect Estates. He included several additional restrictions on all of his lots. Specifically, none of the homes could be occupied by more than two families. A two-family dwelling could not be valued at less than $8,000, and a single-family home could be no less than $5,000. No other buildings were allowed on any lot except for a private garage, which was not to be used for commercial purposes. Lots were also restricted from agricultural use.

Monette sold the lot at the corner of Prospect and East streets in 1915 to another Lawrence attorney, William J. Bradley. The deed specified lot line distances for structures within the lot, including steps. Only one single-family home and one private garage could be built on the lot. Interestingly, the deed included restrictions stating that “no intoxicating or spirituous liquors shall be manufactured or sold on any part of the premises, nor shall any part of the same be used for stores or for any manufacturing purposes whatsoever.”

Methuen was a “dry” town in those years, and the restriction on liquor was no doubt intended to prevent the house from being used for illegal purposes. More than a few homes, however, had illegal “speakeasies” during Prohibition years in the 1920s.

Attorney Bradley sold the lot in 1922 to Dr. Francis A. “Frank” Cregg, who built the impressive home there the following year. The same deed restrictions applied. It is one of only a few homes constructed of brick in Methuen.

Dr. Cregg and his four brothers were prominent professional figures in Lawrence in those days: Herbert was also a physician, John was a successful real estate agent, and Matthew and Hugh were highly regarded attorneys. Their offices were in their eight-story Cregg Building at 46 Amesbury St., on the corner of Common Street (the building still exists).

Hugh also served as a prominent Methuen town official and Essex County District Attorney. His grandson, Hugh A. Cregg III, is better known as the popular American singer, songwriter and actor Huey Lewis from the 1980s rock band Huey Lewis and the News. (Huey’s dad, Hugh A. Cregg Jr., graduated from Searles High School in 1937).

Dr. Cregg and his wife, Emily, resided in the Prospect Street home with their two children, Edward F. and Claire E. His brothers, Matthew and John, owned fine homes a short distance away at 472 and 474 Prospect St.

Emily Cregg died in 1939. Dr. Cregg continued to live in the home with his daughter Claire and her husband, Joseph F. Derby, until he passed away in 1945. Claire was a language teacher at Tenney High School for many years.

George W. and Alice R. Hajjar bought the property in 1950. George was co-owner of Lawrence Fruit and Produce Company (later Buy Ripe Corporation) in Lawrence. He retired in 1975 and passed away in 1979 at age 67. Alice sold the property in 1981. She died in Maine in 2019 at the age of 103. Their daughter, Barbara A. Hajjar, MD, was chief of pediatrics at the Bon Secours (Holy Family) Hospital. She graduated from Tenney High School in 1956. She was inducted into the Methuen High School (Searles/Tenney) Alumni Association Hall of Fame in 2012.

Ken Doherty is a lifelong resident of Methuen. He served on the Methuen Fire Department from 1980 to 2010. He is the Fire Department historian and a former member of the Methuen Historical Commission. He wrote “Á History of Methuen and its Fire Department” in 1996. He is retired and still living in Methuen with his wife, Paula.