{"nrhp_refnum":"75000157","name":"Highland House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Off U.S. 6 on Cape Cod National Seashore","address_restricted":false,"city":"Truro","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":42.040373138000064,"lon":-70.06503554199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-06-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Highland House is a two-story clapboard and shingled building, about 32 by 92 feet, built in 1907 by Isaac M. Small near Highland Light in Truro, Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It was built as a guest house for summer visitors and now serves as a museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a survivor of a vanished way of life on Cape Cod, an early structure designed for summer visitors before 'summer people' began buying their own land and houses. It was part of a complex that included guest cottages and one of the two oldest golf courses in the United States (1892), and it lies near Highland Light and the Life Saving Station.","narrative":"Highland House, a two-story clapboard and shingled building measuring roughly 32 by 92 feet, was built in 1907 by Isaac M. Small in the Highland Light area of Truro. It replaced an earlier 1835 farmhouse built by James Small, which had taken in summer visitors and has since been moved away. Small continued the guest house tradition, adding several guest cottages, and the complex also included a golf course dating to 1892, described as one of the two oldest in the United States. The building kept original doors, windows, casings, a metal ceiling and a large first-floor dining room. Later changes include a converted north veranda, a kitchen on the east end and a south ell. It operated as a restaurant until at least 1968 and is now a museum run by the Truro Historical Society. The nomination values it as a surviving example of purpose-built accommodation for early Cape Cod summer visitors.","period_of_significance":"1907 (19th and 20th centuries checked)","architect_builder":"Isaac M. Small (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a museum by the Truro Historical Society under a Special Use Permit from the National Park Service; described as structurally sound, in fair condition, and in need of some restoration. It was used as a restaurant as late as 1968.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.544341-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/7939/63793993/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000157.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000157/8adafaf1be-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000157/8adafaf1be-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_House,_North_Truro_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Highland_House,_North_Truro_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793993","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_House_(Truro,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5758850"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/highland-house-75000157/"}