{"nrhp_refnum":"85003247","name":"Arcade Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"314--320A Harvard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.343088289000036,"lon":-71.12343044899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story commercial arcade building at 314-320A Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Massachusetts, built in 1926 and designed by George N. Jacobs.","why_significant":"The building is described as unique in Brookline and a regional example of an arcaded commercial building, with two stories of shops and offices around a skylit atrium and a largely intact interior. It also represents later commercial development at Coolidge Corner, one of Brookline's two major commercial areas, as Harvard Street lost its residential character.","narrative":"Built in 1926 at 314-320A Harvard Street in Brookline's Coolidge Corner, this arcaded commercial building was designed by George N. Jacobs. Two stories of shops and offices surround a skylit atrium. The flat-roofed structure is faced in cast stone, with Gothic spires and Gothicized piers dividing its five bays, and a precast concrete frieze along the top. Original second-story windows include Chicago-style windows in the outer bays and a tripartite fixed-pane group in the center. The interior remains largely intact. It is the only building of its type in Brookline, and its prototype is thought to be the Middle Eastern bazaar. It went up as Harvard Street, once an early road to Cambridge lined with farms and houses, was becoming a commercial center. Its value lies in representing that later commercial growth and in being a rare regional example of an arcade building. Several storefronts were altered in 1927 and 1958, and the building still houses shops, services and offices.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"George N. Jacobs","architectural_style":"20th Century Commercial Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used for retail shops, services and offices, as originally; several storefronts were altered in 1927 and 1958.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.801626-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/7924/63792496/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003247.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792496","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcade_Building_(Brookline,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4785067"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/arcade-building-85003247/"}