{"nrhp_refnum":"86001311","name":"Montrose, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1648 Massachusetts Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.381321988000025,"lon":-71.12071107299994,"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 brick apartment house at 1648 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1898 to designs by J.S. Harold.","why_significant":"The Montrose and its neighbor the Dunvegan were the first luxury French flat apartment houses built in Cambridge. The building illustrates the transformation of Massachusetts Avenue from large homesteads to apartments and commercial uses after the turn of the century. It also has Italian Renaissance architectural details.","narrative":"Built in 1898 at 1648 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, the Montrose is a six-story yellow brick apartment house designed by J.S. Harold. Its Italian Renaissance details include a copper cornice with modillions, belt courses, a different window treatment on each story, and small marble-faced circles above the center entry. The arched wooden classical entry is supported by fluted Ionic columns. The building blends well with its neighbor, the Dunvegan. Together, the two were the first luxury French flat apartment houses constructed in Cambridge. Each floor originally held two ten-room units. After the turn of the century, the large homesteads along Massachusetts Avenue increasingly gave way to apartment buildings and then commercial development, as the trolley brought in a different class of residents. The Montrose is valued both for its architectural character and for showing how that change took place along the avenue. It remains in residential use with no major alterations recorded.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"J.S. Harold","architectural_style":"Italian Renaissance","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as residential in present use, with 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 02:13:01.068072-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7917/63791748/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001311.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001311/445b0e33f1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001311/445b0e33f1-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Montrose,_1648_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4433.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Montrose,_1648_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4433.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791748","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Montrose","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7752132"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/montrose-the-86001311/"}