{"nrhp_refnum":"89000708","name":"House at 12 West Water Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 W. Water St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50200588700005,"lon":-71.07087543699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c. 1860 single-family house at 12 West Water Street in Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in the Mansard style. It sits on a high raised lot facing north, and the form lists an architect as not applicable.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of the better preserved mansard-roof houses in Wakefield and one of the few remnants of that type built in the town center in the 1860s and 1870s. Many similar buildings have been altered or lost. It is also linked to Cyrus Wakefield's development of West Water Street, possibly as housing for his employees.","narrative":"Built around 1860 on a high raised lot facing north, this house at 12 West Water Street in Wakefield is a Mansard style dwelling. It has a slate mansard roof with a patterned surface, pedimented dormers and paired brackets under the eaves. The north facade is three bays wide with a wide double-door entry at the side and a porch with unusually fine posts, whose capitals are carved with acanthus leaves. The exterior was shingled and additions were made on the south side around 1900. West Water Street was laid out after 1830 and had no houses on the 1857 map. By 1874 Cyrus Wakefield owned all lots on the north side and had probably sold the first six lots on the south side. He is known to have built houses and sold them to employees. The house was listed as one of the better preserved mansard houses in the town center, where many similar buildings have been altered or lost.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mansard Style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good; the building is in present use as a dwelling, with shingles over the exterior and additions on the south side from about 1900.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.188352-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/7910/63791072/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000708.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000708/d4d82087bc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000708/d4d82087bc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_at_12_West_Water_Street,_Wakefield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_at_12_West_Water_Street,_Wakefield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791072","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_12_West_Water_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5913925"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-12-west-water-street-89000708/"}