{"nrhp_refnum":"86001896","name":"Whittemore's Tavern","other_names":["Bourne House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"473 Auburn St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34548005700003,"lon":-71.25279937099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c.1724 vernacular Georgian farmhouse at 473 Auburn Street in Auburndale, Newton, Massachusetts, also known as the Bourne House. It is a clapboard dwelling set in a suburban residential area overlooking the Massachusetts Turnpike.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it meets Criterion A as a structure built by one of the area's first settlers, which briefly operated as a tavern in the 1760s. It also meets Criterion C as one of Auburndale's very few surviving 18th century structures with characteristic pre-Revolutionary farmhouse features.","narrative":"Built around 1724, this vernacular Georgian farmhouse at 473 Auburn Street in Auburndale is one of very few 18th century buildings left in the village. It was probably constructed by William Robinson II, son of one of the area's original settlers. The clapboard house is two and a half stories, rectangular in plan, faces south to catch winter sun, and has a two-room, central hall layout with two wings on the north side and a pair of interior chimneys. The uneven window placement on the front suggests it began as a half-house and was later enlarged. A tavern operated from the house in the 1760s, and Auburn Street was laid out in 1729. In the 19th century the Bourne family owned it; farmer William Bourne and his brother Benjamin laid out nearby streets and sold house lots as Auburndale suburbanized. A porch was added to the west side in the 20th century, and the house is recorded as in fair condition and vacant.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Probably built by William Robinson II; architect unknown","architectural_style":"Vernacular Georgian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as a dwelling in fair condition, with a 20th century porch added to the west elevation; the form notes the present use as dwelling (vacant).","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.979002-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/7920/63792085/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001896.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001896/e52890f0a7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001896/e52890f0a7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_WhittemoresTavern.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_WhittemoresTavern.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792085","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whittemore%27s_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7996834"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/whittemores-tavern-86001896/"}