{"nrhp_refnum":"87001394","name":"New Riding Club","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"52 Hemenway St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.34497959000004,"lon":-71.08913875999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-08-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Tudor Revival/Queen Anne style club building with an attached stable at 52 Hemenway Street, at the corner of Norway Street in Boston's Fenway area, built in 1891-1892 for the New Riding Club and designed by Willard T. Sears.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an outstanding and rare local example of half-timbered Tudor Revival/Queen Anne architecture that preserves nearly all of its original design. It is also tied to Willard T. Sears, a prominent Boston architect, and to a social club of prominent Bostonians. It meets criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Built in 1891-1892 at the corner of Hemenway and Norway Streets in Boston's Fenway area, this brick building housed the New Riding Club, a social club for prominent Bostonians. It combined clubrooms, a riding ring and a stable that offered grooming, shoeing, feeding, exercising and veterinary care for members' horses, conveniently near the new bridle paths of the Fenway. Architect Willard T. Sears of Cummings and Sears designed it, and Woodbury and Leighton built it. Its tan and red brick walls, steep roofs, half-timbered gables, rock-faced sandstone trim and corbelled cornice make it a rare local example of Tudor Revival/Queen Anne design with nearly all original elements intact. The club closed in 1934 and the Badminton and Tennis Club took over the building. The riding ring now holds tennis courts, and the stable was converted to apartments from 1985. The property was recognized for its architecture and its association with the club and with Sears.","period_of_significance":"1891-1892","architect_builder":"Willard T. Sears (architect); Woodbury and Leighton (builders)","architectural_style":"Tudor Revival/Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The former riding ring now holds tennis courts and the clubhouse dressing rooms still serve their original purpose. The former stable was converted to apartments in a certified rehabilitation begun in 1985.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.112185-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7970/63797020/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87001394.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001394/230358dccb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87001394/230358dccb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_Riding_Club.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:New_Riding_Club.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797020","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Riding_Club","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7011202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/new-riding-club-87001394/"}