{"nrhp_refnum":"85003393","name":"Wells House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"568 W. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Adams","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.698520407000046,"lon":-73.13431506299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival farmhouse at 568 West Main Street in North Adams, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, built around 1840 by Orson Wells in the Braytonville mill community. Architect unknown.","why_significant":"It is a rare surviving local example of a Greek Revival farmhouse, with unusual attenuated Doric pilasters on three elevations. It is also tied to the Wells family, who ran an acid factory and took part in textile manufacturing in Braytonville. It retains integrity and reflects the area's early industrial and agricultural past.","narrative":"Built around 1840 on a knoll overlooking West Main Street in North Adams, this clapboard farmhouse reflects both Greek Revival design and the early industry of the Braytonville mill community. The house is five bays wide and two and a half stories tall, with a central entrance framed by four pilasters, sidelights and a transom. Its most unusual feature is the set of slender Doric pilasters, carved with entasis, that mark each bay on the north, east and west sides and support a frieze under the roofline. Each gable end has a full pediment. Orson Wells, who came to North Adams in 1815, built the house near an acid factory he established, no longer standing. Acid was important to tanning and woolen production, and Wells and his son Daniel were also involved in local textile enterprises. Daniel Wells still owned 160 acres around the house in 1894, and the property stayed in the family until 1968. It remains a residence with no recorded major alterations.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Orson Wells (builder); architect unknown","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as a present residence; no major alterations recorded.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:58.048596-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/69/7892/63789269/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003393.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003393/cda747f68b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003393/cda747f68b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wells_House,_North_Adams_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:Wells_House,_North_Adams_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789269","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wells_House_(North_Adams,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7981676"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/wells-house-85003393/"}