{"nrhp_refnum":"83000787","name":"Building at 1707-1709 Cambridge Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1707-1709 Cambridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37544682300006,"lon":-71.11213275899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, gable-roofed Greek Revival double house at 1707-1709 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1845 as a rental property for real estate speculator Royal Richardson. Mather Hayward was the builder.","why_significant":"It is one of a pair of nearly identical Greek Revival double houses, and the form calls them high points of the vernacular Greek Revival style in Cambridge. The surviving building contracts show that existing houses were copied for appearance and materials, which sheds light on building practices without working drawings. The houses are significant under Criterion C as examples of the style.","narrative":"This double house at 1707-1709 Cambridge Street in Cambridge was built in 1845 by Mather Hayward for Royal Richardson, a local real estate speculator who put up rental housing. It is a two-story, clapboard, gable-roofed building with a full-width Doric porch, set with its gable flank to the street. It originally belonged to a row of four similar houses built between 1840 and 1845, each with a Doric portico and four pedimented dormers; two have since been demolished, and this house and its neighbor at 1715-1717 remain. The original building contracts survive and name existing houses to be copied for appearance and quality of materials. That practice points to a lack of working drawings and explains the use of pattern book ornament. Details such as Gothic sash and panelled Gothic doors show mixed stylistic influences. The house is recognized as an important example of Greek Revival architecture in Cambridge, and it remains in residential use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Mather Hayward, builder","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; two of the four original Richardson houses in the row have been demolished, and the two remaining survive. The form records no alterations or moves.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.516451-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/7905/63790536/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000787.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000787/1cfeee175e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000787/1cfeee175e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1707-1709_Cambridge_St.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1707-1709_Cambridge_St.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790536","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_at_1707%E2%80%931709_Cambridge_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4986544"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/building-at-1707-1709-cambridge-street-83000787/"}