{"nrhp_refnum":"84002524","name":"Brooks, Francis, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"78-80 Prescott St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.519258845000024,"lon":-71.11234835399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-unit dwelling at 78-80 Prescott Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1887-1888 for Francis E. Brooks. It is a wood-clapboard Queen Anne/Stick Style house on a raised lot with a garage outbuilding.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant for its connection with local entrepreneur Francis E. Brooks and as one of the town's finer examples of Queen Anne detailing. It displays sunbursts, jigsaw ornament and decorative shingle patterns, and retains its integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Built in 1887-1888 at 78-80 Prescott Street in Reading, this wood-clapboard house was constructed for Francis E. Brooks on land that had belonged to the Prescott family. It is regarded as one of the town's finer Stick Style Queen Anne houses, with sunbursts, jigsaw ornament and decorative shingle patterns, all set on a high brick foundation on a raised lot facing the street. Brooks was a local entrepreneur whose ventures ranged from wood engraving to bicycle sales and repairs, and he ran the Hill Brush Company, which made so-called magnetic hair brushes and other appliances. The house was built as the surrounding Prescott farmland was being sold and developed, when Pratt Street and Sunnyside Avenue were cut through. Together with its neighbors, it recalls a New England town of the 1880s and 1890s. It has undergone no major alterations and keeps its original character.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne / Stick Style","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Well maintained, with no major alterations; still used as a dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.913744-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/7915/63791502/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002524.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002524/ae0cbd06c3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002524/ae0cbd06c3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_FrancisBrooksHouse.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_FrancisBrooksHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791502","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Brooks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5480342"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/brooks-francis-house-84002524/"}