{"nrhp_refnum":"84002677","name":"House at 16 Mineral Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"16 Mineral St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52606714500007,"lon":-71.11428244399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Second Empire house at 16 Mineral Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1873 and originally called a \"French cottage.\" It was built by the local firm of Bancroft and Temple, and Milo Allen was probably the original owner.","why_significant":"The house is significant for its part in the 19th-century residential development of Reading's west side, having been built by the well-known local firm of Temple and Bancroft. It is also an excellent example of a \"French cottage.\" It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Built in 1873 on a rise facing Mineral Street in Reading, this clapboard house was known as a \"French cottage\" when new. Its mansard roof, covered in fish-scale patterned slate, makes the full two stories look like one and a half. Octagonal hood moldings top the dormers, and an Italianate entry portico and bay windows add detail. Only three bays face the street, but rear extensions make the house roomier than it looks. Temple and Bancroft, local builders, put up the house in the 1870s, when this part of town saw heavy real-estate activity. They built houses for quick resale to newcomers or to younger sons of established families. Milo Allen, a clerk in Melrose, lived here by 1875 and was still listed in 1889. The street was once called Bancroft Street and took its present name from mineral springs that a local man tried unsuccessfully to develop commercially. The house was listed for its role in the area's residential growth and as a fine example of the style.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Bancroft and Temple, builder (David C. Temple and Wendell Bancroft)","architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Altered by a rear extension and an enclosed porch; a garage stands on the lot. Present use is 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 02:11:56.540241-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/87/7918/63791887/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002677.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002677/e135c7201b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002677/e135c7201b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_at_16_Mineral_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_16_Mineral_Street,_Reading_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791887","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_16_Mineral_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5913988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-16-mineral-street-84002677/"}