{"nrhp_refnum":"82001982","name":"Urban Rowhouse","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"40-48 Pearl St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36389875500004,"lon":-71.10348805899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A row of five residential townhouses at 40-48 Pearl Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1875 for original owner Edward Hixon. They combine brick and wood under slate mansard roofs.","why_significant":"The row, together with the brick rowhouses at 30-38 Pearl Street, shows two contrasting 1870s responses to Cambridge's growing housing needs and rising land prices. The two rows form a solid wall of housing unusual in Cambridge. With few alterations, the houses are considered unusually elegant examples of local rowhouses.","narrative":"Five attached townhouses at 40-48 Pearl Street in Cambridge were built in 1875 for Edward Hixon and have remained residential. Their architect is unknown. Brick and wood are blended beneath patterned slate mansard roofs, a form of housing the record describes as unusual for the city. Polygonal bays rise to the roofline and advance and recede along the facade, while wooden surfaces are scored to imitate masonry. Paneled trim decorates the bays and raised entrance porches, and deep bracketed cornices appear to support the roofs, which are pierced by consoled dormers. Together with the brick rowhouses next door at 30-38 Pearl Street, the group illustrates two different 1870s answers to Cambridge's growing need for housing at a time when land prices were climbing. The two rows create a continuous wall of densely packed homes. Because few alterations are evident, the houses are regarded as especially elegant surviving examples of Cambridge rowhouse design.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mansard","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the form reports no alterations and no moves.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.925462-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7905/63790552/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001982.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001982/304bdc49ed-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001982/304bdc49ed-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CambridgeMA_40_48_PearlStreet.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CambridgeMA_40_48_PearlStreet.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790552","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_Rowhouse_(40%E2%80%9348_Pearl_Street,_Cambridge,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7900007"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/urban-rowhouse-82001982/"}