{"nrhp_refnum":"84002846","name":"Weston, Jabez, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"86 West St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.51214014300007,"lon":-71.12233281899995,"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 c. 1779 two-story, five-bay vernacular Georgian house at 84-86 West Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built for Jabez Weston. It faces south at the junction of two roads and was enlarged around 1790.","why_significant":"The house marks an early node of town development, where a Weston family homestead stood before 1765 along the western edge of settlement. It is tied to the locally important Weston family and to abolitionist Reuben Weston. It is also an intact example of vernacular Georgian architecture, and it was built as a two-family house, a form that was rare locally.","narrative":"Built around 1779 for Jabez Weston, this house at 84-86 West Street in Reading is a two-story, five-bay dwelling with a central door and symmetrical windows, in the Georgian-Federal vernacular tradition. An eastern extension, set on brick foundations and carrying the larger of two leanto additions, was added around 1790. The house sits at a road junction on what was once the western edge of town settlement, along the route toward Woburn and Winchester. A Weston family homestead stood across the road before 1765, and the family owned a great deal of land nearby. The building was arranged as a two-family structure, which was unusual locally even though the type is common in New England. Reuben Weston, son of Jabez and Lucy, was an ardent abolitionist and helped build Lyceum Hall on Ash Street in 1854, possibly as a meeting place for abolitionist activity. The house retains its original design, materials and setting.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular Georgian (Georgian-Federal vernacular tradition)","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 02:11:56.450792-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/6/7913/63791306/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002846.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002846/1110b81fc1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002846/1110b81fc1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_JabezWestonHouse.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_JabezWestonHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791306","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabez_Weston_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6110158"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/weston-jabez-house-84002846/"}