{"nrhp_refnum":"84002785","name":"Parker, Stillman, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"484 Summer Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.511019075000036,"lon":-71.10501091199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival house at 484 Summer Avenue in Reading, Massachusetts, built about 1851-54 for shoe manufacturer Stillman E. Parker. It faces south, close to the road, on roughly 48,612 square feet.","why_significant":"The nomination cites its role in the religious dissent that formed the Bethesda Congregational Church and its link to prosperous shoe manufacturer and civic leader Stillman E. Parker. It is also described as a largely intact example of the colonnaded-porch type of Greek Revival architecture. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Built in the early 1850s at 484 Summer Avenue in Reading, this Greek Revival house was the home of Stillman E. Parker, a well-to-do shoe manufacturer. It shares a regional vernacular form with its neighbor at 472 Summer Avenue, a form seen in only three Reading houses. A high peaked roof extends over a covered veranda, and fluted Doric columns support a heavy cornice. Paneled pilasters edge the flushboarded facade, and triple-hung 6/6/6 windows and the sidelighted central door have fluted architrave surrounds with corner blocks. A Queen Anne dormer was added later, along with a rear ell. Parker belonged to the Bethesda Congregation Church, served as selectman, assessor and overseer of the poor, and sat on the School Committee for twenty-two years. The house and its neighbor were built by brothers-in-law. It is valued for its link to the church's formation, to Parker, and for its largely intact Greek Revival design.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival (with a later Queen Anne dormer)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.642365-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7921/63792144/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002785.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002785/7e61cde5e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002785/7e61cde5e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_StillmanParkerHouse.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_StillmanParkerHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stillman_Parker_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7617256"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/parker-stillman-house-84002785/"}