{"nrhp_refnum":"85003266","name":"Fisher Hill Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Clinton and Sumner Rds., Boylston St. and Chestnut Hill Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.331417000000044,"lon":-71.1408981435714,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about 150 acres on and around Fisher Hill in Brookline, Massachusetts, laid out in 1884 by Frederick Law Olmsted and developed mainly from the 1880s to the 1920s.","why_significant":"The district is argued to meet criteria A, B and C as a planned residential community from Brookline's period of rapid suburbanization. It is an intact subdivision planned by Frederick Law and John Charles Olmsted. It was home to prominent residents and contains well-preserved late 19th and early 20th century houses in several styles.","narrative":"Fisher Hill is a hilltop residential district in Brookline, Massachusetts, covering about 150 acres between Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill Avenue, Clinton Road and Sumner Road. Until the 1880s it held large estates. In 1884 landowners asked Frederick Law Olmsted to plan a subdivision, and he and John Charles Olmsted used curving streets to suit the uneven terrain. Developer Jacob Pierce laid out several roads and built houses on speculation, aiming to keep the area high-class. In 1914 165 property owners signed a covenant barring apartment houses, two-family houses, garages, stores and hospitals. The result is a collection of single-family houses in Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial, Medieval Revival and Craftsman styles, designed by well-known Boston architects. Residents included Galen Stone, John Longyear, Arthur Rotch and several noted musicians. A 1981 condominium development on the former White/Galen Stone estate, a college campus and some modern houses are considered non-contributing.","period_of_significance":"1890-1920","architect_builder":"Frederick Law Olmsted and John Charles Olmsted (subdivision plan); houses by many architects including Peabody and Stearns, Chapman and Frazer, Kilham and Hopkins, C.H. Blackall, Hartwell and Richardson, and Winslow, Wetherell and Bigelow","architectural_style":"Queen Anne, Shingle, Jacobethan, Colonial, Georgian, Medieval Revival, Craftsman; a Federal style house also noted","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Largely intact residential neighborhood; the 1981 Fisher Hill Estates development and several mid-20th century houses are classed as non-contributing.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.920592-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7926/63792652/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003266.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003266/e713a871f0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003266/e713a871f0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BrooklineMA_FisherHillHD.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_FisherHillHD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792652","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_Hill_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5454804"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/fisher-hill-historic-district-85003266/"}