{"nrhp_refnum":"86001279","name":"Dunvegan, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1654 Massachusetts Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38150198500006,"lon":-71.12071713599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-05-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story yellow-grey brick apartment house at 1654 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1898 to designs by W.M. Bacon.","why_significant":"The building is cited under Criterion C for its Italian Renaissance details and wraparound corner-lot form. It is cited under Criterion A as one of the first luxury French flat apartment houses in Cambridge, illustrating how Massachusetts Avenue's large homesteads gave way to apartments and then commercial uses.","narrative":"Built in 1898 at 1654 Massachusetts Avenue, the Dunvegan is a six-story apartment house of yellow-grey brick designed by W.M. Bacon. It wraps around its corner lot and shows Italian Renaissance detailing: rusticated first and second stories, a copper cornice with modillions, belt courses, and window treatments that differ from story to story. The center entrance sits recessed behind a limestone arch. The Dunvegan and its neighbor, the Montrose, were the first luxury French flat apartment houses built in Cambridge. Each floor originally held two ten-room units, and the Dunvegan also offered two-room bachelor apartments. After 1900, large homesteads along Massachusetts Avenue increasingly gave way to apartment buildings and then commercial development, as the trolley brought a different class of residents. The building was recognized for its architectural character and for showing that change along the avenue. It remains in residential use, with no major alterations recorded.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"W.M. Bacon","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the form lists no major alterations and says the building has not been moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.024304-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/7917/63791746/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001279.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001279/41808976fb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001279/41808976fb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunvegan,_1654_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4427.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Dunvegan,_1654_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4427.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791746","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dunvegan","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7731229"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/dunvegan-the-86001279/"}