{"nrhp_refnum":"89000727","name":"House at 21 Chestnut Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"21 Chestnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50356863400003,"lon":-71.07409136799998,"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 two-story Italianate dwelling at 21 Chestnut Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts, built about 1850 and designed by local architect John Stevens.","why_significant":"The form describes it as one of the best-preserved and highest-style Italianate houses in Wakefield, meeting Criterion C at the local level. It was designed by John Stevens, one of the few recorded 19th-century architects working in Wakefield. It was also long the home of local historian Ruth Woodbury and earlier of printer Nathaniel Dearborn.","narrative":"Built around 1850 on Chestnut Street in Wakefield, this clapboard house is a well-preserved example of high-style Italianate design. It stands two stories tall and three broad bays wide, with a gable roof running parallel to the street. An intersecting gable on the south facade holds a pair of arched windows, and full-length first-floor windows, an eared door surround with etched glass sidelights, and a one-story verandah on slender paired colonnettes add to its character. Paired brackets decorate the eaves and porch. Local architect John Stevens, who also designed the present Town Hall, is credited with the design. Chestnut Street was laid out in 1847 and built up fairly quickly with Italianate houses. Printer Nathaniel Dearborn lived here in the 1870s, and the house was later owned for many years by physician Frank T. Woodbury and historian Ruth Woodbury. Its excellent condition and lack of major alterations support its local architectural importance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Stevens","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as excellent, with no major alterations; a garage from the early 1900s is noncontributing. The house is in use as a dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.709806-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/7910/63791026/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000727.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000727/bd5e8eafc3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000727/bd5e8eafc3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WakefieldMA_21ChestnutStreet.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:WakefieldMA_21ChestnutStreet.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791026","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_21_Chestnut_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5914119"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-21-chestnut-street-89000727/"}