{"nrhp_refnum":"82001930","name":"Buildings at 15-17 Lee St.","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15-17 Lee St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36896181800006,"lon":-71.10730043699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large double house at 15-17 Lee Street in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in 1856 and designed by architect John Webber.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as an excellent example of a pattern-book Italian villa type that is not found elsewhere in Cambridge in its original form. It has heavy classical details and a cupola. The reviewer recommended listing under Criterion C for architecture.","narrative":"Number 15-17 Lee Street in Cambridge is a large double house built in 1856 in the Italianate style. Architect John Webber designed it, and the local carpenters Moses and Jedidiah Ricker built it for original owners Warren Bacon and Lucius Stiles. It is a two-and-one-half-story wood-clapboard building with heavy classical details and a cupola. Quoins mark the two lower stories and support a cornice below the attic story, which alternates windows and panels with balusters. Paired arched windows sit under a large cornice on the ground floor, and a large ornamented porch completes the front. Local recorders described it as an excellent example of a pattern-book Italian villa not found elsewhere in Cambridge in its original form. That rarity of surviving original character, together with its architectural quality, is the basis on which it was listed under the architecture criterion. The house has been used as a residence since it was built, and the survey form records no alterations.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect John Webber; built by Moses and Jedidiah Ricker, local carpenters","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the form records no alterations and no move.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.082763-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/7904/63790464/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001930.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001930/fefdffda77-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001930/fefdffda77-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buildings_at_15-17_Lee_St_Cambridge_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Buildings_at_15-17_Lee_St_Cambridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790464","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buildings_at_15%E2%80%9317_Lee_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4986637"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/buildings-at-15-17-lee-st-82001930/"}