{"nrhp_refnum":"66000139","name":"Capen, Parson, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Howlett St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Topsfield","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.64332056500007,"lon":-70.94935834553134,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1960-10-09","areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story timber-frame house on Howlett Street beside the town common in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts, raised in June 1683 for the Reverend Joseph Capen. It is owned by the Topsfield Historical Society and run as a house museum.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a remarkable survival of a seventeenth-century New England house, still on its original site. It can be dated exactly because the raising of the frame, June 18, 1683, is carved on the chimney girt. Its position on the common near the meeting house reflects the parson's central role in town life, and its simplicity recalls the lives of New England pioneers.","narrative":"Built in the summer of 1683 for the Reverend Joseph Capen, Topsfield's young minister, this timber-frame house sits on a slight knoll beside the town common, across from the meeting house. Its oak frame is joined with mortise and tenon and pegged, the second story overhangs the front, and shaped brackets and carved pendants are the only exterior ornament. Inside, a central brick chimney divides the hall, which served as kitchen and living room, from the parlor used for formal entertaining. The frame can be dated exactly because the raising date, June 18, 1683, is carved on a chimney girt. The Topsfield Historical Society acquired the house in 1913 and restored it under George Francis Dow. The chimney and windows reflect that restoration, though the framing timbers are original. A modern ell was added in 1974. The house operates as a museum and is valued as a rare, well-documented seventeenth-century New England house still on its original site.","period_of_significance":"1600-1699","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Topsfield Historical Society and operated as a house museum; restored in 1913 under George Francis Dow, with a modern ell added in 1974.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 01:58:39.716498-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/7936/63793679/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/66000139_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000139/acc719f7a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000139/acc719f7a5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parson_Capen_House_-_Topsfield,_Massachusetts.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot.</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parson_Capen_House_-_Topsfield,_Massachusetts.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"03001488","name":"Topsfield Town Common District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/topsfield-town-common-district-03001488/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793679","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parson_Capen_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7140019"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/capen-parson-house-66000139/"}