{"nrhp_refnum":"86001871","name":"Richards, James Lorin, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"47 Kirkstall and 22 Oakwood Rds.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34382831200003,"lon":-71.20345435999997,"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 Shingle Style estate in Newtonville, Newton, Massachusetts, built in 1901 and made up of a house at 47 Kirkstall Road and a carriage barn at 22 Oakwood Road. The two buildings are now separate residences.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house and carriage barn are an unusually intact pairing of Shingle Style buildings and the work of a known architect, probably Samuel J. Brown. It also notes the house was built for James Lorin Richards, a Boston business leader active in street railways and gas utilities.","narrative":"Built in 1901 for businessman James Lorin Richards, this Newtonville property began as a single estate with a main house at 47 Kirkstall Road and a carriage barn at 22 Oakwood Road. Both are now separate residences. The L-plan, 2-1/2-story house sits under two broad gambrel roofs, with fieldstone walls on the first story and wood shingles above. Panelled oriel windows, polygonal oriels, a deep semi-circular veranda on stone piers and a stone porte-cochere give it a strong horizontal emphasis. The carriage barn repeats the fieldstone walls and gambrel roof and includes an unusual stone polygonal bay. Both buildings are attributed to Newton architect Samuel J. Brown. Richards, born in 1858, made a fortune in tobacco, then became a leader in Boston street railways, gas companies and the New Haven Railroad. The property was listed for its architecture, as an unusually intact Shingle Style house and carriage barn by a known architect.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"probably Samuel J. Brown","architectural_style":"Shingle Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as excellent. Both buildings are now used as separate residences, and the carriage barn was converted to a residence with fenestration altered in the 1950s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.874981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/7912/63791260/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001871.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001871/cab6c0d29a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001871/cab6c0d29a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_JamesLorinRichardsHouse.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_JamesLorinRichardsHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791260","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lorin_Richards_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6138231"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/richards-james-lorin-house-86001871/"}