{"nrhp_refnum":"80000517","name":"McFarland, William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"525 Salisbury St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.29023086700005,"lon":-71.83107147699997,"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, Cape Cod type farmhouse at 525 Salisbury Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built between about 1743 and 1759 (possibly about 1800) and probably without an architect. It has been a residence throughout its history.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of Worcester's finest eighteenth-century Cape Cod type houses and a rare survivor of the city's earlier rural development. Its rectangular plan, central chimney and widely spaced three-opening facade are characteristic of vernacular architecture near Worcester and recall early eighteenth-century settlement of Worcester County. It is also linked to the McFarland family, including Revolutionary War service.","narrative":"This farmhouse at 525 Salisbury Street in Worcester is a timber-frame Cape Cod type dwelling thought to date from between 1743 and 1759, though one note suggests about 1800. It may have been built for William McFarland (1722-1805) on land given to him by his father, Andrew. Because several McFarland houses stood in the area, the exact original owner is uncertain, but William McFarland Jr., a soldier in Captain David Chadwick's company in 1777, certainly owned it. The house later passed to a daughter, and in 1858 it was sold to farmer George T. Foster, who lived there through the rest of the century. It has a rectangular plan, central chimney, rear ell, rubble-stone foundation and pitched roof. Its facade has two windows flanking a central entry. Described as a rare survivor of Worcester's early rural development, it reflects the vernacular building tradition of the Worcester area.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Probably none (no architect identified)","architectural_style":"Timber-frame vernacular, Cape Cod type","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is residence; the form states the house was originally a residence (farmhouse) and has had the same use since.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.554972-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7930/63793041/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000517.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000517/700b952969-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000517/700b952969-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pvmoutside","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_McFarland_House.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:William_McFarland_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793041","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McFarland_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8015401"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/mcfarland-william-house-80000517/"}