{"nrhp_refnum":"85003240","name":"Twitchell, Ginery, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"17 Kent St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.333330000000046,"lon":-71.11774999999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential house at 17 Kent Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, built between 1844 and 1855 (shown on an 1855 map) and probably built for Ginery Twitchell. It is a clapboard building on a lot of about 6,170 square feet.","why_significant":"The form argues the house is a well-preserved example of the Greek Revival/Italianate transitional style, with double brackets, jigsaw detailing and distinctive porch supports. It also reflects the size and scale of domestic architecture in early Brookline Village. It is tied to Ginery Twitchell, a pioneer of stagecoach transportation between Boston and Worcester.","narrative":"Located at 17 Kent Street in Brookline, this clapboard house dates from between 1844 and 1855. It does not appear on an 1844 map but is shown on an 1855 map, and an 1858 map identifies Ginery Twitchell as its owner. The house keeps the basic form of the Greek Revival style but carries Italianate details, including double brackets, jigsaw trim over the windows and bays, and distinctive porch supports. This mix gives it a transitional character among the Italianate-influenced houses along the lower part of Kent Street, once called Harrison Place. Twitchell was an express rider who later owned stage lines between Boston and Worcester, became president of the Boston and Worcester Railway and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is recorded as living at 40 Kent Street. The house was converted to two families in 1927 and remains residential. It survives as an intact example of early domestic architecture in Brookline Village.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect information not available; probably built by Ginery Twichell","architectural_style":"Greek Revival/Italianate transition","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; converted to two families in 1927; garage outbuilding.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.682385-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/7927/63792718/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003240.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003240/5de0f8e14c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003240/5de0f8e14c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_GineryTwitchellHouse.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:BrooklineMA_GineryTwitchellHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792718","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginery_Twichell_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5562970"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/twitchell-ginery-house-85003240/"}