{"nrhp_refnum":"87000289","name":"Robbins, Joseph, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 Bay St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barnstable","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.62889595300004,"lon":-70.38781649099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c. 1820-1830 five-bay Cape Cod style house with Federal and Greek Revival elements at 12 Bay Street in Osterville, Barnstable, Massachusetts. It was moved to its present site in 1938.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be a rare surviving Federal period dwelling in the Osterville village center, where most 19th-century buildings have been demolished or altered. It is also a good example of vernacular Federal architecture. It is associated with Joseph Robbins, an artisan painter whose graining work survives on some doors.","narrative":"This five-bay Cape at 12 Bay Street in Osterville, Barnstable, dates to about 1820-1830. It has a center entry and chimney under a gable roof, a multi-pane transom typical of the Federal period, and a relatively high roofline reflecting later Greek Revival influence. Windows are simply enframed with 6/6 sash, and a narrow frieze runs beneath the cornice. Joseph Robbins (1807-1888), a skilled house painter, owned the house; some of its doors show his graining technique, and he was noted for painting the figurehead of the U.S.S. Constitution. Later it belonged to Capt. Joseph Adams, a coastal master. Originally on Main Street in the village center, the house was absorbed into a neighboring estate by 1907 and moved in 1938 to Bay Street, close to its first site. Because most historic buildings in Osterville Center have been lost or heavily altered, it survives as a rare reminder of the village's 19th-century character.","period_of_significance":"c1820-1900","architect_builder":"Architect unknown","architectural_style":"Federal/Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; no major alterations recorded; barn on the property is not original to the house.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.861009-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/7891/63789189/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000289.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000289/bc5e0f5307-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000289/bc5e0f5307-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joseph_Robbins_House,_Osterville_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Joseph_Robbins_House,_Osterville_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789189","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Robbins_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6286587"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/robbins-joseph-house-87000289/"}