{"nrhp_refnum":"85003263","name":"Emmett Cottage","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"217 Freeman St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.34783790200004,"lon":-71.11982696499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Gothic Revival cottage at 217 Freeman Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, set on a knoll in a wooded third-of-an-acre lot beside St. Aidan's Church. Its exact build date and original owner are uncertain, though the style suggests the 1830s or 1840s.","why_significant":"The nomination cites Criteria A and C. It is a rare, well-preserved example of Gothic Revival architecture with a simple cross-gabled form, decorative sawn bargeboards, a slate roof and chimney pots. It was also owned for a long period by members of the local Irish community around St. Aidan's Church, and it keeps its mid-19th-century suburban or rural character.","narrative":"Emmett Cottage is a small Gothic Revival house at 217 Freeman Street in Brookline. It sits well back from the street on a small knoll, in an overgrown lot of about a third of an acre between St. Aidan's Church and the backs of Craig Place houses. Originally square with a cross-gabled roof, it has lively sawn bargeboards, a slate roof and handsome chimney pots, and it recalls designs by A. J. Downing. Its form resembles two altered town gatehouses. Deed and tax research could not fix its date or original owner. Its style points to the 1830s or 1840s, and it may have been a gatehouse moved from a nearby estate. Sign painter John J. Mahoney owned it by 1870, and his heirs held it until the early 1900s, when the Keegan family bought it. Its architectural quality, its largely intact character and its long ownership by members of the local Irish community support its listing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed on the inventory form as currently unoccupied; the form notes the lot is overgrown.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.977329-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/7924/63792419/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003263.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003263/b8b15847ee-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003263/b8b15847ee-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Thomas Kelley from Boston, MA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emmett_Cottage,_Brookline,_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas Kelley from Boston, MA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emmett_Cottage,_Brookline,_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792419","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Cottage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5373514"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/emmett-cottage-85003263/"}