{"nrhp_refnum":"89000646","name":"Cole House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 Mason St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winchester","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.44978313900003,"lon":-71.12934429899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story single-family dwelling at 12 Mason Street in Winchester, Massachusetts, built in 1886 by Frank and Emma Cole on a wooded hillside on the west slope of the Middlesex Fells Reservation.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is Winchester's most fully developed example of the Stick Style. It displays stickwork and vertical valances in the gables, elaborate carved porch braces and an irregular, romantic silhouette. It also retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.","narrative":"Set on a wooded hillside on the western slope of the Middlesex Fells Reservation, this house at 12 Mason Street in Winchester was built in 1886 by Frank and Emma Cole, who lived there until 1929. It then passed to Frank Sexton, who kept it until 1962. Little else is known of its history, and none of its owners appear in town histories. Its importance rests on its architecture. The house rises two and a half stories under a hip roof with cross gables and exposed rafter ends, laid out on a T-plan. A one-story porch wraps the stem of the T, supported on posts with elaborate carved braces. Shingles cover the walls beneath the porch and clapboards cover the rest. The gables carry vertical valances and stickwork, and the windows use an unusual 12/2 sash. Winchester's most fully developed example of the Stick Style, it has no major alterations and remains in excellent condition as a dwelling.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Stick Style (Queen Anne)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, with no major alterations and not moved; used as a dwelling, with a garage as an outbuilding.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.659819-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/7912/63791290/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000646.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000646/fbac05f857-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000646/fbac05f857-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WinchesterMA_OriginalColeHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</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:WinchesterMA_OriginalColeHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791290","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cole_House_(Winchester,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5142664"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/cole-house-89000646/"}