{"nrhp_refnum":"86000499","name":"Dowse, Rev. Edmund, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25 Farm Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sherborn","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.23884985500007,"lon":-71.36473788399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-01-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story clapboard house at 25 Farm Road in Sherborn, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in 1838 as a Greek Revival dwelling and later given Italianate treatment.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Rev. Edmund Dowse, longtime pastor of Sherborn's Pilgrim Church and a figure in state and local politics, and to his son William Bradford Homer Dowse, a lawyer, businessman and philanthropist. It is also a well-preserved example of Italianate styling whose later alterations reflect the sophistication of its owners. Its 1838 construction came during Sherborn's early 19th century building boom.","narrative":"Built in 1838 at 25 Farm Road in Sherborn, this clapboard house began as a three-bay Greek Revival building and was later updated with Italianate features. The 2½-story main block sits end-on to the road, with corner boards and a narrow pediment enclosing the gable. Around 1870 an open, flat-roofed porch with brackets and squared Doric columns was added, along with a two-story polygonal bay. A 1½-story, five-bay ell was added to the north in the late 19th century. The house was built the year Rev. Edmund Dowse became pastor of the newly formed Evangelical Society, later Pilgrim Church, where he served for 67 years. He also sat in the state senate, chaired the school committee and served as an Army chaplain in the Civil War. His son, William Bradford Homer Dowse, born here in 1852, became a patent lawyer and businessman and funded the Dowse Memorial Library and the Memory Statue. The house is valued for these associations and as a good example of Italianate styling.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival/Italianate","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residence; the form describes the house as well preserved and retaining integrity of setting, design, materials, location, workmanship and feeling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.731964-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/49/7919/63791949/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86000499.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000499/3008536f7c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000499/3008536f7c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SherbornMA_RevEdmundDowseHouse.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:SherbornMA_RevEdmundDowseHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791949","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rev._Edmund_Dowse_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7317674"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/dowse-rev-edmund-house-86000499/"}