{"nrhp_refnum":"82004418","name":"Mills, Davis, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"945 Central Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Needham","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.28814338800004,"lon":-71.25135990199993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story wood frame Federal-style house at 945 Central Avenue in Needham, Massachusetts, built in 1834 by Davis Collins Mills on a three-acre hillside site overlooking the old town center.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a good local example of late Federal vernacular design with a delicate doorway and unusual circular stairway. It also stresses the visually striking site and its long association with the locally prominent Mills family. It is judged significant at the local level under Criteria B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1834 on a sloping three-acre site above Needham's old town center, this wood frame house is a local example of late Federal design. It has two and a half stories, a gable roof, a five-bay facade, twin rear wall chimneys and six-over-six windows. The center entrance has slender pilasters, a dentillated frieze and narrow sidelights, and inside a steep circular stairway rises to the second floor. A kitchen ell was added to the rear, with a second ell in 1916. Davis Collins Mills, a butcher and selectman from a family present in the area since the 1600s, built the house after buying the land from the First Parish with the condition that the house be as large as a neighbor's. The Mills family kept the property until 1891, and later owners preserved it well. It was listed for its architectural quality, its prominent site and its long link to the Mills family.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Unknown (built by Davis Collins Mills, according to the narrative)","architectural_style":"Late Federal","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; described as in excellent physical condition and unaltered apart from minor changes to the rear wings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.810631-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7963/63796348/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004418.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004418/6398c21339-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004418/6398c21339-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Davis_Mills_House,_Needham_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Davis_Mills_House,_Needham_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796348","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis_Mills_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715449"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/mills-davis-house-82004418/"}