{"nrhp_refnum":"86001897","name":"Woodward, John, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"50 Fairlee Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.322556030000044,"lon":-71.22309863299995,"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 two-and-a-half-story Colonial farmhouse at 50 Fairlee Road in Waban, Newton, Massachusetts, dated to 1686, with later additions. It is used today as a dwelling.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the Woodward family, among the earliest settlers of Newton, and is one of the city's few surviving seventeenth-century dwellings. It was among the earliest houses on Sherborn Road, a major early thoroughfare, and Woodward family members lived there for almost 275 years. The form cites Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Built around 1686 at what is now 50 Fairlee Road in Waban, this farmhouse is one of the few seventeenth-century dwellings left in Newton. It is a two-and-a-half-story, two-room-plan house with a shallow gable roof and a massive central chimney. The original roof was dismantled in the early eighteenth century and the early framing members were reused in new rafters. Later changes include a Federal-period lean-to, a Greek Revival-period ell, replacement 6/6 windows and a Colonial Revival enclosed entrance porch. The long hall with rooms opening off one side suggests it may once have served as an inn. John and Rebecca Woodward bought the house and land in 1686. John Woodward, a weaver, served as highway surveyor, constable and selectman. His descendants stayed in the house for almost 275 years, and one, Deacon John Woodward, moderated the 1776 Town Meeting that urged independence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Woodward","architectural_style":"Colonial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is a dwelling; the form lists a garage as an outbuilding and says the house has not been moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.421499-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/7920/63792074/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001897.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001897/a3dc6660bf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001897/a3dc6660bf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Woodward_House,_Waban_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:John_Woodward_House,_Waban_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792074","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Woodward_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6264853"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/woodward-john-house-86001897/"}