{"nrhp_refnum":"89000730","name":"House at 23 Avon Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"23 Avon St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50434684500004,"lon":-71.07338689099998,"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 Italianate house at 23 Avon Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts, built around 1855 and shown on an 1857 map. It faces south on a raised lot behind a granite embankment.","why_significant":"The form describes it as a well preserved, very high style example of Italianate design that stands out among similar houses in its neighborhood. It also reflects the development of Avon Street, laid out in 1848, which helped shift finer residential building toward the west side of town. It is argued to meet criterion C at the local level.","narrative":"Built around 1855, this 2½-story house at 23 Avon Street in Wakefield is a high-style example of Italianate design. It was originally T-shaped, with its gable end to the street, a plan common from the Greek Revival period onward. A wide eaves overhang rests on paired, scrolled brackets that suggest Italian villas. Windows have cornice lintels and footed sills, the one-story wing porch has panelled pillars and scrolled brackets, and the gable window is arched. The house sits on a raised lot behind a granite embankment and is used as a dwelling and offices. Avon Street was laid out in 1848 on land held by the heirs of shoe manufacturer Lemuel Sweetser, as Wakefield's population grew quickly. The street filled with quality homes, helping move finer residential development toward the west side of town for the rest of the century. The house was judged notable for its integrity and its standing among neighboring Italianate houses.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is dwelling/offices; condition is listed as fair, with a noncontributing c. 1940s garage and later one- and two-story additions on the north side.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.330405-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/7910/63791028/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000730.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000730/f8fe2f0ba2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000730/f8fe2f0ba2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:House_at_23_Avon_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_23_Avon_Street,_Wakefield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791028","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_23_Avon_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715575"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-23-avon-street-89000730/"}