{"nrhp_refnum":"89000709","name":"Building at 38-48 Richardson Avenue","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"38--48 Richardson Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50140204400003,"lon":-71.07438476999994,"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 2½-story row-style apartment block with six units at 38-48 Richardson Avenue in Wakefield, Massachusetts, built about 1912 and still used as dwellings.","why_significant":"It is probably Wakefield's earliest example of a row-style multifamily apartment block. It combines Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Rational Revival features, and each of the six units is individualized by this eclectic approach. It also reflects the development of Richardson Avenue, which has the town center's greatest concentration of apartment rows.","narrative":"This six-unit apartment row at 38-48 Richardson Avenue in Wakefield, Massachusetts, dates to about 1912 and is still used for housing. It rises two and a half stories on a long corner lot facing north and is clad in fabricated shingles. The design mixes several styles: Colonial Revival porches, Tudor Revival gables with strapwork, and a Rational Revival hipped roof with exposed purlins. Banks of multi-pane second-floor windows recall those made well known by H. H. Richardson. The varied treatment gives each of the six units its own identity. The building is probably the earliest row-style apartment block in Wakefield. Richardson Avenue was laid out in the 1890s when Solon O. Richardson divided family land in the town center, and the street now holds the greatest concentration of apartment rows there. The porch was glassed in during 1944, and the building is in fair condition. It was recognized for its architecture at the local level.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Eclectic (Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Rational Revival)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently in use as dwellings; condition described as fair; the porch was glassed in 1944.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.393962-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/7906/63790695/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000709.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000709/e64d6d34d3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000709/e64d6d34d3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Building_at_38-48_Richardson_Avenue,_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:Building_at_38-48_Richardson_Avenue,_Wakefield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790695","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Building_at_38%E2%80%9348_Richardson_Avenue","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4986564"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/building-at-38-48-richardson-avenue-89000709/"}