{"nrhp_refnum":"02000431","name":"Whitcomb Inn and Farm","other_names":["Whitcomb, David and Tilly House and Farm","Wheeler, Samuel, House and Farm"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"43 Old Sugar Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bolton","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.446300971000056,"lon":-71.58293492047633,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A colonial double saltbox farmhouse with a mid-19th-century barn and surrounding farmland at 43 Old Sugar Road, Bolton, Massachusetts. The oldest part was built by David Whitcomb before 1708, with later additions in the 18th century.","why_significant":"The property is described as keeping the feeling of a colonial farm better than any other in Bolton. It is tied to the Whitcomb family, early settlers of the area, and to the first tavern in Bolton, licensed in 1718. It also shows a 1930s scholarly colonial restoration by architect and archaeologist Philip Phillips, and it retains a rural setting of 76 open acres.","narrative":"Set on Old Sugar Road in Bolton, this 76-acre farm centers on a double saltbox house that grew in three 18th-century stages. The west section was built by David Whitcomb before 1708, a jet-by was added about a decade later, and a long east section followed near the end of the century. Whitcomb held a license in 1718 to sell drink at the house, making it the first tavern in Bolton, and his wife Mary, known as Doctress Mary Whitcomb, treated the sick with herbal medicines. The house keeps a rare fieldstone chimney and early framing details, while the barn across the road dates to the mid-19th century. In 1937-1938 architect and archaeologist Philip Phillips led a careful colonial-style restoration that shaped much of the present exterior. Open pastures, stone walls, trails and a pond preserve the rural setting, though Interstate 495 runs nearby. The property is recognized for its architecture, its early settlement history and its 1930s restoration work.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"David Whitcomb (built original west house); Philip Phillips, architect/archaeologist (1937-1938 renovation)","architectural_style":"Colonial: Postmedieval English; Georgian","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Operated as a small horse farm; current function listed as single dwelling and agriculture.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.238077-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/7973/63797334/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/02000431.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000431/65cf29558a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000431/65cf29558a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoltonMA_WhitcombInnAndFarm.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoltonMA_WhitcombInnAndFarm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797334","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitcomb_Inn_and_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7994228"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/whitcomb-inn-and-farm-02000431/"}