{"nrhp_refnum":"79000359","name":"Castle, The","other_names":["Middlesex Medical School","Usen Castle"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"415 South St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.367172280000034,"lon":-71.25563943199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-04-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Norman-Gothic castle-style building of seven interconnected structures around a courtyard, built from 1928 on Boston Rock at what is now Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. It was designed and built by Dr. John Hall Smith for the Middlesex Medical School.","why_significant":"The building was begun by Dr. John Hall Smith, founder of the Middlesex Medical School, the first non-quota, non-sectarian medical institution, whose property later became Brandeis University. It is a locally prominent landmark and the city's most grandiose medieval-inspired design, borrowing from Lismore and Windsor Castles. Smith economized by acting as designer, architect and contractor and by using secondhand and local materials.","narrative":"Usen Castle, also called The Castle, crowns Boston Rock on the Brandeis University campus in Waltham. Begun in 1928 in the Norman-Gothic style, it combines six linked structures of varying heights around a courtyard, plus a seventh nearby building. Towers, battlements, a bartizan and pointed-arch entrances recall European models such as Lismore and Windsor Castles. Its walls are fieldstone taken from old Baker Estate boundary walls, mixed with quarried rock and colored concrete blocks. Dr. John Hall Smith, a Boston surgeon, founded the Middlesex Medical School here and relied on personal funds, serving as designer, architect and contractor and reusing secondhand materials and windows. When the school could not meet accreditation requirements in 1945, its property passed to the group that founded Brandeis University in 1948. The building was remodeled in the 1950s into student living units and remains a residence, valued as a romantic contrast to the campus's modern buildings.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"John H. Smith (Dr. John Hall Smith, designer, architect and general contractor)","architectural_style":"Norman-Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Altered; in use as a student residence at Brandeis University, with a recent restoration noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.777969-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7959/63795913/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/79000359.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000359/4d6a654e10-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000359/4d6a654e10-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Mike Lovett","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brandeis-Usen_Castle.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Mike Lovett</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brandeis-Usen_Castle.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795913","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usen_Castle","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7721574"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/castle-the-79000359/"}