{"nrhp_refnum":"87000326","name":"Sampson's Folly-Josiah Sampson House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"40 Old King's Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Barnstable","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.63032029300007,"lon":-70.44751229499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Federal style house at 40 Old King's Road in the Cotuit-Santuit area of Barnstable, Massachusetts, dated to 1807, with a clapboard exterior and a three-bay ell to the west.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the finest example of Federal period architecture in Cotuit and one of the finest in the town. It is also associated with the wealthy Sampson family. The form cites criteria B and C in one version and criterion C alone in another; the reviewer accepted it under criterion C.","narrative":"Sampson's Folly, also called the Josiah Sampson House, is a Federal style dwelling at 40 Old King's Road in Cotuit, part of Barnstable, Massachusetts. Dated to 1807, it is a five-bay, two-story clapboard house under a hip roof with a monitor and twin interior chimneys. A two-story, three-bay ell extends to the west. Corner quoins, a narrow cornice and 6/6 sash give it a restrained finish. The main entry has sidelights but no fan or porch, and the form suggests a porch was removed. It is described as the finest Federal period house in Cotuit and one of the best in the town. Josiah Sampson, a gentleman farmer, lived here, and the property later passed through his family. It became a two-family house, a dairy farm, and a clubhouse and inn in the 1940s and 1950s. It was restored as a single family home in 1976. Reviewers accepted it as an outstanding local example of Federal architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent; restored as a single family home in 1976 and now a dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.320336-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7890/63789048/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87000326.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000326/9bb19ba6e4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000326/9bb19ba6e4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:40_Old_Kings_Road,_Barnstable_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:40_Old_Kings_Road,_Barnstable_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789048","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampson%27s_Folly","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7410202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/sampsons-folly-josiah-sampson-house-87000326/"}