{"nrhp_refnum":"84002845","name":"Weston, Ephrain, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"224 West St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.51907405400004,"lon":-71.10771624899996,"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 two-story, five-bay Federal-style frame house at 229 West Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built around 1800 for Ephraim Weston. It sits on a granite foundation on a slight slope, with the main door facing south.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Reading's early shoemaking industry through its builder, Ephraim Weston, an early shoe manufacturer who employed many local families. It is also one of the few hipped-roof houses left in town and shows Federal architecture with later Italianate alterations. The form says it meets Criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Built around 1800, this two-story Federal house at 229 West Street in Reading is one of the few hipped-roof houses left in the town. Its five-bay facade faces south, as most Federal houses in Reading did, and is framed by corner pilasters with unusual capitals at the cornice. Windows sit flush with their frames, giving the wall a flat appearance. A bay window on a matching granite foundation and an Italianate porch were added later, and the doorway surround has been altered. Ephraim Weston, who built the house, was an early shoe manufacturer and co-owner of the Dragon Corner Store. He also dealt in real estate and groceries. He is credited as one of the first manufacturers in town to employ a considerable number of workers, many of them Reading families who sewed shoes by hand. He sold shoes to the West Indies and Baltimore. The property was listed for its role in local shoemaking, its link to Weston, and its architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Ephraim Weston (builder/original owner); architect listed as n/a","architectural_style":"Federal, with Italianate alterations","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Alterations include an 1896 bay window on the west and an Italianate porch on the south; the doorway surround has also been altered. A garage is listed as an outbuilding.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.889614-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/7921/63792124/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002845.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002845/e2c1cd3912-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002845/e2c1cd3912-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_EphraimWestonHouse.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_EphraimWestonHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792124","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_Weston_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5382348"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/weston-ephrain-house-84002845/"}