{"nrhp_refnum":"89000523","name":"Dresser, Sylvester, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Summer St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07193904800005,"lon":-72.03422905399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick house built around 1870 at 29 Summer Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, in a transitional Italianate/Victorian Gothic style. The architect is unknown, and a carriage house stands on the one-acre lot.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Southbridge's mid-century real estate development, which its builder, Sylvester Dresser, helped drive. Its brick Italianate design with Victorian Gothic touches is stylish and unusual for local houses of the period. Dresser was a brick manufacturer, which explains the choice of brick.","narrative":"This brick house at 29 Summer Street in Southbridge was built around 1870 for Sylvester Dresser (1820-1898), a local businessman. It blends Italianate and Victorian Gothic features. Italianate traits include a squarish body, a three-bay center-entry facade, a round-arched entrance and a heavy balcony. Victorian elements include a tall facade pavilion, a high-pitched roof and gable, a jerkinhead dormer and stick-like brackets. Brick was unusual for houses of the period in Southbridge, but Dresser owned brickyards. Over his life he was a merchant, brick manufacturer, lumberman, bank director, town officer and state legislator and senator. From 1853 he bought land on Elm Street, built houses including his own, and sold house lots, helping to shape the neighborhood around Elm, Park, Everett and Summer Streets. The house is recorded as unaltered and in good condition, and it now serves as a rectory with a carriage house on the grounds.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Transitional Italianate/Victorian Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is good, with no major alterations and no move. It is currently used as a rectory and was originally residential.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.810114-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/29/7935/63793529/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000523.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000523/a074e954a0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000523/a074e954a0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SouthbridgeMA_SylvesterDresserHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SouthbridgeMA_SylvesterDresserHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793529","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvester_Dresser_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7660782"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/dresser-sylvester-house-89000523/"}