{"nrhp_refnum":"76000154","name":"Atwood, Thomas, House","other_names":["Atwood-Higgins House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW of Wellfleet on Boundbrook Island","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wellfleet","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.95627880400005,"lon":-70.05848229796976,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Cape Cod double house on Boundbrook Island in Wellfleet, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, begun as a half-house of uncertain date, possibly 1635-1640 and enlarged to a double house by about 1800.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a very early and typical example of the Cape Cod house style, possibly the oldest on the Lower Cape. It was carefully restored from 1919 by descendant George K. Higgins, who documented the work. The island is also described as the original site of the Town of Wellfleet.","narrative":"Set on Boundbrook Island beside the Herring River in Wellfleet, this Cape Cod double house began as a half-house of unknown date. Family accounts and antiquarians place its origin anywhere from about 1635 to 1680, and a deed of 1805 already called it an old house. Thomas Atwood bought it that year, and it had become a double house by about 1800. The frame building has clapboard siding, shingled gable ends, a center chimney, nine-over-six windows and a wooden shingle roof. After receiving the house in 1919, descendant George K. Higgins restored it, replacing only decayed wood and keeping the original character. He recorded the work in a detailed manuscript. The nomination presents the house as an excellent early example of the Cape Cod style and possibly the oldest on the Lower Cape. Reviewers limited the listing to the house itself and excluded the newer outbuildings.","period_of_significance":"17th and 18th centuries; a half-house, a double house by 1800","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Cape Cod Double House","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good and altered, on its original site. Preservation work is in progress, and Mr. Higgins holds a life tenancy as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.845669-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/7939/63793940/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000154.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000154/6d524c25fd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000154/6d524c25fd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"HABS","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WellfleetMA_ThomasAtwoodHouse_HABS.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">HABS</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WellfleetMA_ThomasAtwoodHouse_HABS.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793940","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atwood%E2%80%93Higgins_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7787206"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/atwood-thomas-house-76000154/"}