{"nrhp_refnum":"84002503","name":"Batchelder, Nathaniel, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"71 Franklin St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.55414940900005,"lon":-71.10037139899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vernacular Georgian farmhouse at 71 Franklin Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built between about 1756 and 1765 for Nathaniel Batchelder. It is a clapboarded dwelling facing south on a hill above the road, with a barn extension.","why_significant":"The house is a largely intact example of the ample Reading dwellings built from the mid-18th century into the early 19th century. It is also an early farm homestead tied to the locally important Batchelder family, notably educator and public official \"Master John\" Batchelder. Its ownership history shows living and inheritance patterns in a close-knit farming community.","narrative":"This farmhouse at 71 Franklin Street in Reading was built between about 1756 and 1765 on land the Batchelder family had likely held since the early 1700s. It was probably built by Nathaniel Batchelder after the 1763 division of the family farm, and it appears on an 1765 map. The clapboarded house faces south on a granite foundation, with high second-story windows, a tall doorway surround with a simple entablature, and a shed extension of a type commonly used locally to gain enclosed space. Successive generations of Batchelders lived here, and relatives sometimes occupied one end of the house, reflecting how scarce housing was in a tight farming community. John \"Master John\" Batchelder, a Harvard graduate, headed a local academy, served on the school committee for 30 years, and was a selectman and state representative. The house stayed in the family until 1971 and retains much of its original character.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular Georgian (Georgian-Federal)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Remained in the Batchelder family until 1971; alterations include new chimneys in the same place and sidelights added probably in 1968.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.841558-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7913/63791304/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002503.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002503/317f20ff62-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002503/317f20ff62-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_NathanielBatchelderHouse.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_NathanielBatchelderHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791304","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Batchelder_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715750"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/batchelder-nathaniel-house-84002503/"}