{"nrhp_refnum":"85003242","name":"White, Benjamin, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"203 Heath St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.322437783000055,"lon":-71.14906899999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A square 2½-story clapboard house at 203 Heath Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, built in 1790 by Benjamin White in a Georgian-Federal style.","why_significant":"It is one of three buildings on Heath Street built before 1825 and a homestead of the Whites, a prosperous family in a period dominated by farming. The form states it meets criteria A, B and C. The exterior is described as generally well preserved, and its modillioned pedimented entrance echoes the one at 30 Heath Street.","narrative":"Built in 1790 by Benjamin White, this square, 2½-story clapboard house at 203 Heath Street in Brookline combines Georgian and Federal features, including quoined corners, a hip roof, shed-roofed dormers, a dentilled cornice and pedimented front and side doors. It is one of only three buildings on Heath Street dating from before 1825. The land had belonged to the Corbin family in the late 1600s and later to the White family, whose holdings spread across several nearby streets. After the Civil War the Cabot family bought the property, moved the house back from the street, turned it to face west, removed its chimneys and attached it to a large barn, with a stable and carriage house on part of the lower floor. The barn was demolished in the 1940s and the house was moved onto its site. Interior remodelling removed most original woodwork, but the exterior remains well preserved. The house represents a prosperous farming family of the period.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Benjamin White (original owner and builder); architect information not available","architectural_style":"Georgian-Federal","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the house was altered and moved in 1868 and again in the 1940s, and the interior was remodelled in 1947.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.870087-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/7923/63792389/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003242.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003242/70c32da6c8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003242/70c32da6c8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_BenjaminWhiteHouse.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_BenjaminWhiteHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792389","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_White_House_(Brookline,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715401"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/white-benjamin-house-85003242/"}