{"nrhp_refnum":"84002616","name":"Foster, Walter K., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"57 Central St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stoneham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.48187470200003,"lon":-71.09831458099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A side-hall Italianate house at 57 Central Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts, built around 1870 for Walter K. Foster. It is a clapboard-sheathed residence on a brick foundation.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a totally intact example of a side-hall Italianate house, one of three such houses in Stoneham. It also represents the more fashionable residences built near the town center after the mid-nineteenth century. It is tied to Walter K. Foster, owner of a pencil sharpener factory and an inventor.","narrative":"Built around 1870 at 57 Central Street in Stoneham, this clapboard house was the home of Walter K. Foster, who owned a pencil sharpener factory and worked as an inventor. It is a side-hall Italianate dwelling, and the nomination counts it among three such houses in town. The entry sits in a two-bay gable end facing Central Street, framed by paneled pilasters that carry paired brackets and the cornice return. A heavy bracketed hood shelters a door with paired arched lights, and the windows have bracketed caps and two-over-two sash. The house rests on a brick foundation and has no recorded alterations, outbuildings or relocation. It was listed for its architectural value as a well-preserved local example of the Italianate style, and for its association with Foster, a known local industrialist. It also illustrates the fashionable residences that were built near the town center after the middle of the nineteenth century.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a residence; the form reports no major alterations, no outbuildings, and that the building has not been moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.313129-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7921/63792176/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002616.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002616/19a34be537-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002616/19a34be537-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walter_K._Foster_House,_Stoneham_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:Walter_K._Foster_House,_Stoneham_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792176","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_K._Foster_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7965306"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/foster-walter-k-house-84002616/"}