{"nrhp_refnum":"82001985","name":"Willis, Stillman, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 Potter Park","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.384478682000065,"lon":-71.12045299199997,"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 wooden Greek Revival house built in 1839 for Stillman Willis, originally at 1740 Massachusetts Avenue and moved in 1883 to 1 Potter Park, Cambridge, Massachusetts.","why_significant":"The house is presented as a textbook example of a drastic updating of a Greek Revival house. After its 1883 move, elaborate Colonial Revival and Italianate ornamentation was added to the basic Greek Revival form. It is described as unique in Cambridge and perhaps in Massachusetts for its architectural detailing.","narrative":"Built in 1839 for Stillman Willis, this wooden house began as a plain Greek Revival home at 1740 Massachusetts Avenue, with large fields behind it and easy access to the Porter Square train station for commuting to Boston. In 1883, development pressures pushed it onto a side street, and it was moved to its present site at 1 Potter Park. There it received a large-scale modernization. The original eaves, entablature, pedimented gable, Ionic porch columns, flush siding and window layout all remain. Added to this were pressed ornamentation, bracketed window cornices, panels with cartouches, a frieze of disks and heavily molded bases at the window sills. The porch gained horseshoe arches with scrolls and openwork, along with triglyphs and garlands on its frieze. A garage was added in 1905. The house is considered unique in Cambridge, and perhaps in Massachusetts, and was recognized for the distinctive layering of Colonial Revival and Italianate detail over a Greek Revival core.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, with later Colonial Revival and Italianate ornamentation","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the form lists a garage added in 1905.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.94809-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7904/63790448/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001985.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001985/b6f3e93576-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001985/b6f3e93576-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CambridgeMA_StillmanWillisHouse.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_StillmanWillisHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790448","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stillman_Willis_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7617259"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/willis-stillman-house-82001985/"}