{"nrhp_refnum":"77000187","name":"Pill Hill Historic District","other_names":["High Street Hill"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Boylston St., Pond Ave., Acron, Oakland and Highland Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.32803000000004,"lon":-71.11969541634471,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-12-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Education","Science","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Pill Hill Historic District is a roughly 52-acre residential neighborhood of 127 properties in the southeast corner of Brookline, Massachusetts, on a hill above Brookline Village. Most buildings are single-family houses dating from the early 1800s through the 1920s, along with a church and a hospital.","why_significant":"The district is an aggregation of high-quality works by leading Boston and national architects, unified by consistent scale, materials and landscaping, some of it by Frederick Law Olmsted. It was also home to reformers, educators and many doctors, which gave the hill its name. The Free Hospital for Women, founded by early resident circles and moved there in 1895, was innovative in teaching, gynecology and radiation treatment for cancer.","narrative":"Pill Hill is a hillside neighborhood in the southeast corner of Brookline, Massachusetts, covering about 52 acres and 127 properties. Winding roads, stone walls, picket fences and mature trees frame mostly single-family houses, and several grounds were landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted. From the hilltop, views reach toward Boston. Houses range from the 1822 Federal-style Tappan-Philbrick estate to Shingle Style, Queen Anne, Stick Style and Colonial Revival homes of the late 1800s, many designed by prominent Boston firms such as Peabody and Stearns and Ware and Van Brunt. Brick, stone, shingle and clapboard recur throughout and give the area a unified look. Development followed the 1844 annexation of Roxbury land and the arrival of the railroad in 1848. Residents included abolitionist Samuel Philbrick, educators and many physicians, which likely gave the hill its name. The Free Hospital for Women moved here in 1895 and pioneered teaching and cancer radiation treatment.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Peabody and Stearns; Ware and Van Brunt; William Ralph Emerson; Shaw and Hunnewell; Arthur Little; Weston and Rand; Clarence Luce; Cabot and Chandler; Hartwell and Richardson","architectural_style":"Mixed late 19th-century styles: English Cottage, Greek Revival, Mansard, Stick Style, Shingle Style, Queen Anne and Colonial/Federal Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked excellent to good, with the district occupied and mostly private residences.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.978502-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/7963/63796306/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/77000187.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000187/81a114fc14-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000187/81a114fc14-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_PillHillPhilbrickCommon.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796306","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pill_Hill_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7194103"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/pill-hill-historic-district-77000187/"}