{"nrhp_refnum":"84002516","name":"Brande House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"54 Woburn St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.524061947000064,"lon":-71.10581446799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Queen Anne style house at 54 Woburn Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1895 for Dr. Mahlon Brande. It is a wood-clapboard dwelling on a flat corner lot facing north, with a garage.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an example of residences built by local real estate developers for sale to railroad commuters. It is also tied to Dr. Mahlon Brande, a Reading dentist and real estate entrepreneur. It is a good example of whimsical Queen Anne architecture with Shingle Style influence.","narrative":"Built in 1895 at 54 Woburn Street in Reading, this wood-clapboard house was put up by Dr. Mahlon Brande, a dentist who also invested actively in local real estate. It is considered one of the town's more complex houses. Queen Anne in character, it also shows the influence of the newer Shingle Style through its flowing massing and smooth wall surfaces. Three round windows pierce one gable, a tall ornamented chimney sits between two gables, and a deep porch is set back into the wall. Diamond-pane windows and a rubblestone foundation recall Tudor or medieval imagery, and stick-style decoration fills the gable fields. The house is significant as an example of homes built by local developers for sale to Boston and Maine railroad commuters, for its link to Brande, and as a good example of whimsical Queen Anne design. It retains its original location, design, setting, materials and workmanship. Woburn Street was a distinguished western entry into town.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; built by Dr. Mahlon Brande","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"No major alterations recorded; the form lists the property as a dwelling.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.310981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7918/63791817/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002516.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002516/af8ee0a830-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002516/af8ee0a830-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brande_House,_Reading_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:Brande_House,_Reading_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791817","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brande_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4956609"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/brande-house-84002516/"}