{"nrhp_refnum":"84002491","name":"Batchelder, Alden, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"797 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.528536651000024,"lon":-71.10243413399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A mid-19th-century Italianate house at 797 Main Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1849 for the Rev. John Cookson, on a hill at the intersection of two main roads.","why_significant":"The house is significant for its link to Alden Batchelder, one of Reading's more prominent cabinetmakers. It is also an example of how conservative Reading builders gave the familiar Georgian-Federal house plan an Italianate look through later stylistic details. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Built in 1849 at 797 Main Street in Reading, this clapboard house sits on a hill facing south at the meeting of two main roads, behind a high granite retaining wall with a step inscribed \"Batchelder.\" Its basic shape is the Georgian-Federal rectangle, but bracketed roof details, arched gable windows, a two-story bay, a central gable and a veranda with turned balusters give it an Italianate character. Its first owner was the Baptist minister Rev. John Cookson, and A. Pitman appears to have rented it in the 1850s. By 1875 it belonged to Alden Batchelder, a cabinetmaker who took over Solon A. Parker's business in 1864 and employed 25 workmen making parlor desks and bookcases for Southern and later Western markets. A fire destroyed his factory in 1876, and he then moved to Charlestown. The house was listed for this association with a notable local cabinetmaker and as an example of conservative local builders adapting an older house plan with newer details. A side porch was enclosed and the house became a two-family dwelling in 1962.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Converted to a two-family dwelling in 1962; side porch enclosed; Italianate barn remains as an outbuilding.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.950063-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/7921/63792172/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002491.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002491/d5b1497017-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002491/d5b1497017-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_AldenBatchelderHouse.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:ReadingMA_AldenBatchelderHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792172","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alden_Batchelder_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4713530"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/batchelder-alden-house-84002491/"}