{"nrhp_refnum":"80000671","name":"Stearns, R. H., House","other_names":["Stearns,R.H.,Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"140 Tremont St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35564009600006,"lon":-71.06241596599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A department store building at 140 Tremont Street at Temple Place in Boston, Massachusetts, facing Boston Common. It was erected in 1909 as a ten-story steel-frame structure designed by Parker, Thomas & Rice, with an eleventh floor added in the late 1920s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant for its role in Boston's social and cultural history as a prestigious department store catering to the carriage trade. It is also significant as an example of the work of Parker, Thomas and Rice and as an important example of restrained Beaux Arts classical commercial architecture. Its construction used current technology, including an early sprinkler system in Boston.","narrative":"Rising across from Boston Common at Tremont Street and Temple Place, this department store was built in 1909 for R.H. Stearns & Co. Parker, Thomas & Rice designed the ten-story steel-frame building, faced in limestone, granite and brick, in a restrained Beaux Arts classical style. A floor was added behind the parapet in the late 1920s. The exterior remains largely intact, though the interior was repeatedly changed as the store evolved. The firm was regarded by contemporary critics as among Boston's most skillful designers, and a 1913 journal described the store as simple and reticent, like a good old Boston family. Stearns, founded in 1847, built its reputation on etiquette, style and selective merchandising for the carriage trade, and the building advertised that understated elegance to Back Bay and Beacon Hill. It also used the latest technology, including one of Boston's first sprinkler systems. The store closed in 1977, and the building was then being converted to housing for the elderly.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1909)","architect_builder":"Parker, Thomas & Rice, architects; Wells Bros. Co., builder","architectural_style":"Restrained Beaux Arts classical","criteria":[],"status_note":"R.H. Stearns closed its Boston store in 1977; the building was purchased and was being rehabilitated for housing for the elderly. Exterior largely unaltered; interior detailing mostly removed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.198137-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7967/63796744/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000671.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000671/6aa47d6742-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000671/6aa47d6742-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R._H._Stearns_Building_Boston_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:R._H._Stearns_Building_Boston_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796744","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._H._Stearns_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7273680"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/stearns-r-h-house-80000671/"}