{"nrhp_refnum":"85003316","name":"Spurr, Eliphalet, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"103 Walnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookline","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.33110699800005,"lon":-71.11877905799997,"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 single-family house at 103 Walnut Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, built about 1798 for Eliphalet Spurr. It is clapboard-sided and sits on a lot of about 7,091 square feet.","why_significant":"The house is considered a rare local example of a vernacular Georgian-style house and is by far the oldest in its neighborhood. Its first owner, Eliphalet Spurr, was a known figure in local transportation who ran the first stagecoach line between Brookline and Boston.","narrative":"Built in 1798 at 103 Walnut Street in Brookline, this clapboard house is one of the few Georgian-style buildings remaining in the town. Its simple ridge roof, five-bay facade, cornerboards, horizontal emphasis and dentiled cornice mark it as a vernacular Georgian design. It is by far the oldest house in a neighborhood now filled with triple-deckers, and its comparatively large lot and generous setback make it stand out. The first owner, Eliphalet Spurr, started the first coach line between Brookline and Boston, with stages leaving from the Punch Bowl Tavern. The venture lasted only a year or two because the twenty-five cent fare was thought too high, and residents kept walking to Boston instead. The land was part of a 1638 grant to Thomas Leverett and later passed through the Gardner and White families. After Spurr died in 1817, Thomas Aspinwall and his sister Elizabeth owned the property until 1842. The house is still a residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian influence (vernacular Georgian)","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the form lists a rear stair installed in 1977 as the only major alteration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.587505-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/7927/63792716/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003316.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003316/3db9320dfb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003316/3db9320dfb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eliphalet_Spurr_House,_Brookline_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eliphalet_Spurr_House,_Brookline_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792716","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliphalet_Spurr_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5361291"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/spurr-eliphalet-house-85003316/"}