{"nrhp_refnum":"84002676","name":"House at 79-81 Salem Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"79-81 Salem St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52653814800004,"lon":-71.09847109899994,"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 two-family dwelling at 79-81 Salem Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built about 1840-1850 for Samuel R. Allen. It is a five-bay, one-and-one-half-story cottage in a Federal-Greek Revival style.","why_significant":"The house is significant for its role in the development of Salem Street as a 19th-century residential and commercial neighborhood. It is also a largely intact example of a Federal-Greek Revival cape-style cottage, notable for an unusually elaborate Greek Revival doorway. It meets Criteria A and C.","narrative":"This two-family house on Salem Street in Reading was built between about 1840 and 1850 for Samuel R. Allen, a carpenter or house builder. It is essentially a Federal cottage with narrow cornerboards, a cornice and short gable returns, given an unusually elaborate Greek Revival doorway. The doorway has a tall entablature and pilasters enriched with a Greek key design, and its generous proportions set it apart from many similar five-bay, one-and-one-half-story cottages in the area that lacked classical doorway surrounds. The windows also project from the plane of the wall. Allen died in 1853, and his widow, Lucy, lived in half of the house for many years. Later occupants included cabinet-trade workers and a German family, reflecting the cabinetmaking industry that dominated the neighborhood. A planing mill nearby served that industry until 1906. The house is valued for its place in Salem Street's development and as a largely intact local example of its style.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal-Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a two-family dwelling; alterations include a south extension and changes to fenestration, including dormers.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.811563-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7909/63790944/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002676.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002676/53300097be-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002676/53300097be-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_at_79-81_Salem_Street,_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:House_at_79-81_Salem_Street,_Reading_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790944","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_79%E2%80%9381_Salem_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5914466"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-79-81-salem-street-84002676/"}