{"nrhp_refnum":"80000509","name":"Smith-Thaxter-Merrifield House","other_names":["Merrifield House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"158 Holden St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.31269687500003,"lon":-71.81836913699993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A timber-frame farmhouse at 158 Holden Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built before 1741 and altered in the late 18th century. It has been used as a children's home since 1946.","why_significant":"The house is among Worcester's oldest buildings and an excellent example of eighteenth-century vernacular architecture. Central-chimney, hip-roofed houses were once common in the city but only three remain. Its ownership history also traces the settlement and farming of North Worcester.","narrative":"Known locally as the Merrifield House, this farmhouse at 158 Holden Street in Worcester dates to before 1741 and is among the city's oldest surviving buildings. It is a timber-frame structure with a nearly square plan, clapboard walls, a hip roof and a massive central chimney. The symmetrical south facade has a center entry with a twelve-panel door set between thin pilasters under a dentilled cap. Central-chimney, hip-roofed houses were once common in Worcester, but only three examples remain. The house may have been enlarged in the late eighteenth century, when the hip roof and front entry were probably added. Its likely first owner was Elisha Smith II, followed by Benjamin Thaxter and later the Merrifield family, who farmed the property from about 1849. James Libby bought it in 1866, and the Norton Company acquired it around 1915. Since 1946 it has served as an institutional residence, now a children's home.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Probably none; original owner Elisha Smith II","architectural_style":"Timber-frame vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a children's home (institutional residence after 1946).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.335307-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/7930/63793011/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000509.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000509/cc059914ea-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000509/cc059914ea-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pvmoutside","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith-Thaxter-Merrifield_House_Worcester_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pvmoutside</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Smith-Thaxter-Merrifield_House_Worcester_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793011","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith-Thaxter-Merrifield_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7544934"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/smith-thaxter-merrifield-house-80000509/"}