{"nrhp_refnum":"82004419","name":"Tolman-Gay House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1196 Central Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Needham","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.280174643000066,"lon":-71.25038470499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood frame dwelling at 1196 Central Avenue, Needham, Massachusetts, built in 1743 by Nathaniel Tolman on its original hilltop site about 3/4 mile south of the original town center.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Needham's development since the mid-eighteenth century and sits near the original town center. Its main occupants, the Tolman and Gay families, took part in the town's military and governmental affairs. It also keeps much of its original design, interior and exterior fabric.","narrative":"This dwelling at 1196 Central Avenue in Needham, Massachusetts, was built in 1743 by Nathaniel Tolman on a high point of land south of the original town center. It began as a two-story wood frame house with an L-shaped plan, a three-bay west facade and a rear kitchen ell. Later changes include a two-bay extension of the ell, a porch and garage added around 1930, and hip roofs replacing the original gables. The central chimney, fieldstone foundation, eighteenth-century parlor paneling and a large kitchen fireplace with bake ovens remain. The house is associated with John Tolman, a carpenter who was wounded at Menotomy on April 19, 1775, and who later served the town as assessor and sexton. In 1804 it passed to Jonathan Gay, Jr., a schoolmaster and legislator, and Gay descendants owned it until 1923. Nearby streets carry family names from the subdivided farmland.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Nathaniel Tolman","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; described as well maintained by a succession of private owners since 1923.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.837469-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/7963/63796350/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004419.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004419/14d58af33d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004419/14d58af33d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NeedhamMA_TolmanGayHouse.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_TolmanGayHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796350","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolman-Gay_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7814438"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/tolman-gay-house-82004419/"}