{"nrhp_refnum":"84002560","name":"Damon, Washington, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"38 Salem St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52640352200007,"lon":-71.10090154399995,"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 Greek Revival house at 38 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built about 1839 for cabinet maker Washington P. Damon and extensively remodeled in the Colonial Revival style in 1906.","why_significant":"The nomination cites its link to Reading's cabinet-making trade and to the locally important Parker and Damon families. It also notes the connection to necktie manufacturer Joseph Temple, who commissioned the remodeling. Its exuberant 1906 Colonial Revival remodeling of an earlier Greek Revival house is also cited.","narrative":"Built around 1839 on Salem Street in Reading, this clapboard house began as a fairly simple Greek Revival dwelling with its gable end to the street. Original features include granite foundations, Greek key ornament on doorway pilasters, corner pilasters and a wide cornice forming a pediment. Its first owner, Washington P. Damon, was a cabinet maker from the large Parker family and part of the Damon family, who owned considerable land. He apparently did not prosper, and by 1855 he was running a boarding house. In 1906 Joseph Temple, a partner in the Damon, Temple Co. necktie firm, had the house extensively remodeled in the Colonial Revival style. That work added a one-story veranda with fluted Ionic columns, a pedimented portico, a corner entrance enclosure and a Palladian window in the front gable. The house is recognized for its role in Reading's cabinet-making trade, its ties to local families and its Colonial Revival remodeling, although it is now in poor condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, with Colonial Revival remodeling (1906)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as now in poor condition; the form states it retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.626491-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7908/63790858/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002560.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002560/98d32354c4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002560/98d32354c4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Damon_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:Washington_Damon_House,_Reading_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790858","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Damon_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7971835"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/damon-washington-house-84002560/"}