{"nrhp_refnum":"86002078","name":"Treadwell-Sparks House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"21 Kirkland St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.376835293000056,"lon":-71.11497287499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame Regency/Greek Revival house at 21 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1838 by builder William Saunders for Daniel Treadwell. It was moved in 1968 to its present site.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be one of the finest and most innovative Greek Revival houses in Cambridge, with an early three-bay facade and severe geometric Regency forms, and the earliest and most distinguished of fewer than a dozen broad-pilastered houses there. It was also the main residence of historian Jared Sparks during the most productive years of his life.","narrative":"Built in 1838 at the corner of Quincy and Kirkland Streets in Cambridge, this two-story wooden house was designed in a cubical form with austere geometric detail. Wide pilasters without capitals, a frieze and a molded beltcourse divide the flushboarded street elevations beneath a hip roof. Cambridge builder William Saunders constructed it for Daniel Treadwell, an inventor and Harvard professor. Historian Jared Sparks lived there from 1847 until his death and served as Harvard's president from 1849 to 1853. The New Church Theological School owned it from 1889 to 1966, turning and moving it on its lot in 1901. Harvard acquired the property in 1966 and moved the house and its stable, now a garage, about one hundred yards in 1968, keeping the original orientation. The house is recognized for its early, severe interpretation of Regency forms and for its link to Sparks's productive years.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Saunders (builder)","architectural_style":"Regency/Greek Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Used as a residence; refurbished after the 1968 move as the official residence of the Preacher of the University. Owned by Harvard University.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.766642-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7920/63792058/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86002078.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002078/8e1d64d965-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002078/8e1d64d965-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Swampyank at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Treadwell-Sparks_House_in_Cambridge_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Swampyank at en.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:Treadwell-Sparks_House_in_Cambridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792058","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treadwell-Sparks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7836583"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/treadwell-sparks-house-86002078/"}