{"nrhp_refnum":"75001915","name":"Ashley, Col. John, House","other_names":["See Also:Ashley, Col. John, House (Boundary Increase)"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Ashley Falls on Cooper Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sheffield","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.059449544000074,"lon":-73.35593878099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story frame house built in 1735 on Cooper Hill Road, west of Ashley Falls in Sheffield, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was moved 3/10 of a mile on its property in 1930 and is now operated as a museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant as the home of Col. John Ashley, a surveyor, merchant, lawyer, judge, mill and quarry owner, and militia colonel. It is also a well-preserved example of a high-style mid-18th-century Connecticut River Valley house, with sophisticated interior panelling and early water-sawn lumber.","narrative":"Built in 1735 on Cooper Hill Road near Ashley Falls in Sheffield, this 2½-story clapboarded house has a center chimney, a rear ell, and a pedimented center doorway with fluted Doric pilasters. It was the home of Col. John Ashley, born in Westfield in 1709, who worked as a surveyor, merchant, lawyer, and judge. He owned mills and a marble quarry, built the first iron works in Berkshire County, and sat in the General Court. During the French and Indian War he commanded the South Berkshire Regiment of the militia. The house was moved 3/10 of a mile on its property in 1930, and the center chimney and the 1745 rear ell were rebuilt as exact replicas. The interior remains largely intact, and its second-floor study is elaborately panelled with a coffered crossbeam and a shell-carved cupboard. Some siding, floorboards, and panelling were cut by the first water-powered sawmill in Berkshire County. Today the house serves as a museum.","period_of_significance":"18th Century (1735)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial, transitional to early Georgian (Connecticut River Valley house)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent; altered and moved; in use as a museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.593669-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/56/7942/63794256/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75001915.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001915/57d761f1f9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001915/57d761f1f9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colonel_John_Ashley_House_(Sheffield,_MA).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:Colonel_John_Ashley_House_(Sheffield,_MA).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794256","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_John_Ashley_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5148137"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/ashley-col-john-house-75001915/"}