{"nrhp_refnum":"86001793","name":"Eminence, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"122 Islington Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34997164300006,"lon":-71.25793754999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-family house in the Auburndale section of Newton, Massachusetts, at 122 Islington Road, built circa 1853 in the Italian villa style on a bluff overlooking the Charles River. It was designed by Hammatt Billings.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the last remaining estate in the Islington Park section of Auburndale, a neighborhood of grand country estates in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was designed as his own residence by Hammatt Billings, an early New England architect, which meets Criterion C. It is also one of two remaining high-style Italian villas in Auburndale.","narrative":"Built around 1853 on a 5.63-acre bluff above the Charles River in Auburndale, this clapboard house at 122 Islington Road is a high-style Italian villa. Its chief feature is a three-story square tower with a low pyramidal roof, along with round-headed windows, six-over-six sash and a bracketed veranda with chamfered posts. Hammatt Billings, a New England architect also known as a book illustrator, designed it as his own residence. He began construction in 1852, but personal and financial troubles led to its sale, and Thomas Hall finished and occupied it in 1853. An 1880s remodelling added Queen Anne and Colonial Revival touches, including a modillion cornice, a polygonal bay and a classical entrance porch. The lot came from a subdivision laid out in 1847 by the North Auburn Dale Land Company. The property is the last surviving estate of the Islington Park area and one of two remaining Italian villas in Auburndale. A carriage house with coachman's quarters also survives.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Hammatt Billings","architectural_style":"Italian villa","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is as a dwelling; condition is listed as fair. The house was remodelled in the 1880s, and the carriage house was partially converted into a 3-bay garage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.206434-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7909/63790978/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001793.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001793/1930158b33-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001793/1930158b33-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_TheEminence.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:NewtonMA_TheEminence.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790978","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eminence","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715878"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/eminence-the-86001793/"}