{"nrhp_refnum":"75000271","name":"Brooks, Shepherd, Estate","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"275 Grove St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Medford","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.433455845000054,"lon":-71.13897645927142,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large red brick Queen Anne summer house with its original carriage house and shed, set on a sixty-acre tract at 275 Grove Street in West Medford, Massachusetts. Designed by Peabody and Stearns and built by Norcross Brothers in 1880-1881 for Shepherd Brooks.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it Medford's best example of a Boston gentleman's late 19th century summer house and farm that keeps much of its acreage. The house and outbuildings are Peabody and Stearns' major local commission and a significant work in the firm's development. The sixty-acre site is also an important part of Medford's conserved open space.","narrative":"Set on sixty acres in West Medford, this red brick Queen Anne house was commissioned by Shepherd Brooks in 1880 as a summer home and working farm. The Boston firm Peabody and Stearns designed it, and Norcross Brothers of Worcester, builders for Henry Hobson Richardson, finished it in 1881 at a cost of $39,361.42. A brick carriage house and a decorated wooden shed remain beside it. Brooks spent summers cultivating the family farm and winters in Boston, and his crops were known along the East Coast. The house combines a hip-roofed core with irregular elevations, brownstone window trim, a three-story entrance bay, and a two-story porch. Inside, much original woodwork survives, including built-in cabinets and mantelpieces. A Harvard-affiliated scholar cited in the nomination described it as a rare blend of two stylistic approaches. The estate was given to the City of Medford in 1950 for use as a nursing home, and its grounds are valued as conserved open space.","period_of_significance":"1880-1881","architect_builder":"Norcross Bros / Peabody & Stearns","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Given to the City of Medford in 1950 and used as a nursing home; the house is in good condition, with its interior woodwork largely retained and an iron fire escape added after the nursing home conversion.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.590787-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/7955/63795514/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000271.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000271/dc9be91c8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000271/dc9be91c8f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MedfordMA_ShepherdBrooksEstate_MainHouse.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:MedfordMA_ShepherdBrooksEstate_MainHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795514","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherd_Brooks_Estate","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7494465"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/brooks-shepherd-estate-75000271/"}