{"nrhp_refnum":"86001863","name":"Peabody-Williams House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 Norman Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.32561910100003,"lon":-71.20439590499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Shingle Style residence at 7 Norman Road in Newton Highlands, Newton, Massachusetts, built in 1891 and designed by Boston architect J. Williams Beal.","why_significant":"The house is presented as an elaborate, well-preserved example of the Shingle Style by a well-known Boston architect. It is also closely associated with the wood-carver Andrew Lees, who carved mantels and other interior details. It meets criteria B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1891 at the corner of Norman and Lakewood roads in Newton Highlands, this house was designed by Boston architect J. Williams Beal for William Edes Peabody, a Boston lawyer. It is a Shingle Style residence with a complex roofline, turrets, dormers, a belt course of molded trim and cut shingles, and a large elliptical hood over the entrance. Beal's early residential work showed a Richardsonian influence, and this house is cited as typical of it. The interior remains largely as built and contains work by the Scottish-born wood-carver Andrew Lees of Wellesley Hills, including eight mantels, bas-relief details in the Lake Room and a carved scallop over the front door. Lees's daughter married into the Williams family, who bought the house around 1895 and owned it until 1965. The property is recorded as unaltered apart from new wiring, plumbing and a furnace, and it is still used as a residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"J. Williams Beal (architect)","architectural_style":"Shingle Style","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and in use as a residence, with no major alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.546853-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/7914/63791473/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001863.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001863/ae125778d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001863/ae125778d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peabody-Williams_House,_Newton_Highlands_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:Peabody-Williams_House,_Newton_Highlands_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"76002137","name":"Woodland, Newton Highlands, and Newton Centre Railroad Stations, and Baggage and Express Building","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/woodland-newton-highlands-and-newton-centre-railroad-stations-and-baggage-and-ex-76002137/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791473","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peabody-Williams_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7157217"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/peabody-williams-house-86001863/"}