{"nrhp_refnum":"82002749","name":"Lewis, Joshua, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"178 South St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Needham","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.26437714900004,"lon":-71.20929128299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Literature","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Georgian farmhouse at 178 South Street in Needham, Massachusetts, thought to have been built in 1776 by Joshua Lewis on a one-and-a-half-acre site overlooking the Charles River.","why_significant":"The form says the house is an interesting architectural piece, but its main significance comes from the people who lived in it. These include prominent eighteenth-century landowners, a noted woodcarver, the horticulturist Denys Zirngiebel (a friend of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), and the artist N.C. Wyeth. It is nominated under Criterion B.","narrative":"This Georgian farmhouse at 178 South Street in Needham sits on about one and a half acres above the Charles River. Joshua Lewis built it around 1776 on land his wife, Mary Lyon, inherited from her father. The wood-frame house has 2½ stories, a gable roof, a five-bay facade and a central chimney, with a simple molded entrance and six-over-six sash. Later wings were added, but the main block remains essentially as built. The house is noted mainly for its occupants. Woodcarver David Livingston owned it in 1858. Swiss horticulturist Denys Zirngiebel, who founded the Greendale Greenhouses here in 1865, later lived in it, and the poet Longfellow was a frequent visitor. In 1921 Zirngiebel's grandson, the artist N.C. Wyeth, bought it and built a studio nearby. The house appears in several of his paintings. The nomination also notes possible prehistoric and historic archaeological remains on the property.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Joshua Lewis","architectural_style":"Georgian (vernacular farmhouse)","criteria":["B"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; in excellent condition and generally in good repair after restoration by the present owner.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.749574-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/7961/63796189/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82002749.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002749/7dfab4acb8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002749/7dfab4acb8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NeedhamMA_JoshuaLewisHouse.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:NeedhamMA_JoshuaLewisHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796189","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Lewis_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6290020"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/lewis-joshua-house-82002749/"}