{"nrhp_refnum":"86001892","name":"Thaxter, Celia, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"524 California St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36154897100005,"lon":-71.20917397199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A house at 524 California Street in the Nonantum/Newtonville area of Newton, Massachusetts, probably built in 1856 on a corner lot at California and Nevada streets. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"It was the home of the poet Celia Laighton Thaxter and her husband Levi Lincoln Thaxter, and it is tied to Newton's literary history. Writers such as Whittier, Lowell, Hawthorne, Howells and Longfellow visited, and Thaxter wrote her first published poem here in 1860. The form says it meets criteria A and B.","narrative":"Built probably in 1856 at the corner of California and Nevada streets in Newton, this front-gabled Italianate house has bracketed eaves and well-preserved ornate wood trim. A wing on the eastern side was remodeled in the Victorian era, most likely while Charles Binney lived here, adding a high roof and a curving, awning-roofed veranda. The house is best known as the home of poet Celia Laighton Thaxter and her husband Levi Lincoln Thaxter, who settled in what was then a semi-rural setting. Visitors included major literary figures of the mid-19th century, among them Whittier, Lowell, Hawthorne, Howells and Longfellow. Celia Thaxter wrote her first published poem here in 1860. She spent much of her time away because of family illness and an unhappy marriage, and the house was sold at auction about 1880. The Binney family, whose business was umbrellas, lived there by 1884. It remains a residence in fair condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate/Late Victorian","criteria":["A","B"],"status_note":"Listed as a present residence in fair condition; a wing and veranda were added in the late 19th century.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:12:59.741858-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/7922/63792285/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001892.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001892/d52b47e9ab-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001892/d52b47e9ab-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Swampyank at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celia_Thaxter_House_in_Newton_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Swampyank at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celia_Thaxter_House_in_Newton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792285","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celia_Thaxter_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5058023"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/thaxter-celia-house-86001892/"}