{"nrhp_refnum":"73000286","name":"Brattle, William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"42 Brattle St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.33330207500006,"lon":-71.08256175599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-05-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, five-bay Georgian house with a gambrel roof at 42 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, built about 1727 for William Brattle.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a significant example of early Georgian architecture in Cambridge, with good interior trim and its original one-room-deep gambrel-roofed form, despite rear additions and dense surrounding development. Its long adaptation to new uses, from a social union to an adult education center, is also cited as a notable example of historic preservation.","narrative":"Built around 1727 for William Brattle, a prominent Cambridge lawyer and politician, this gambrel-roofed house at 42 Brattle Street has a five-bay, two-story facade typical of early Georgian design. Inside, it keeps a center-hall plan with a carved spiral newel and elaborate balusters, though the staircase was rebuilt after a fire in 1955. Original paneling survives in the right parlor. Brattle fled Boston in 1774 because of his Tory sympathies, and during the Revolution the house sheltered Thomas Mifflin. His son Thomas restored it in 1784 and landscaped the grounds, but the estate was divided after 1801. The Cambridge Social Union bought the house in 1889, renovated it, and built Brattle Hall beside it. Since 1938 the Cambridge Center for Adult Education has used the building, adding to the rear. The house was listed for its early Georgian character and for its successful adaptation to changing uses over time.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and altered; occupied and used as an adult education center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.150555-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7958/63795895/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/73000286.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000286/2c6e97e4b2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000286/2c6e97e4b2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cambridge_Center_for_Adult_Education,_Cambridge_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cambridge_Center_for_Adult_Education,_Cambridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795895","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Brattle_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8005872"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/brattle-william-house-73000286/"}