{"nrhp_refnum":"66000655","name":"Gray, Asa, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"88 Garden St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38290635000004,"lon":-71.12806338048755,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-01-12","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame house at 88 Garden Street (corner of Madison Street) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1810 to a design by Ithiel Town and moved to its present site in 1910.","why_significant":"It is the earliest known work of architect Ithiel Town and was the home of botanist Asa Gray from 1842 until his death in 1888. Gray wrote the first complete books on North American flora, adopted the natural system of plant classification, and was a leading American defender of Darwin's theory of evolution.","narrative":"Built in 1810 on the grounds of Harvard College's Botanic Garden, this two-story frame house was designed by Ithiel Town, whose earliest known work it is. The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture built it as the home of zoologist William Dandridge Peck. Later occupants included botanist Thomas Nuttall and Harvard presidents James Walker and Jared Sparks. Asa Gray lived here from 1842 until his death in 1888 while serving as Massachusetts Professor of Natural History at Harvard. Gray published the first complete books on North American flora, adopted the natural system of plant classification, identified the relationship between the plants of eastern North America and east Asia, and defended Darwin's Origin of Species in America. The house was moved in 1910 to 88 Garden Street. It has a center-hall plan, a wing that held Gray's study with museum cabinets, and later additions. It remains a private residence.","period_of_significance":"1810; 1842-1888","architect_builder":"Ithiel Town (designer); built by the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agriculture","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a private residence, not open to the public; in fair condition, needing repainting, with some exterior woodwork appearing to decay.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 01:58:55.991099-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/7937/63793783/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/66000655_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000655/eb4870696f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000655/eb4870696f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asa_Gray_House,_Cambridge,_Massachusetts.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot at English Wikipedia</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:Asa_Gray_House,_Cambridge,_Massachusetts.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793783","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Gray_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4803125"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/gray-asa-house-66000655/"}