{"nrhp_refnum":"89001266","name":"Barnes, Walter S. and Melissa E., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"140 Highland Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38804765300006,"lon":-71.10271565299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-family Stick Style/Queen Anne residence at 140 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts, dated ca. 1835-95 in the form, on a lot of less than one acre on a busy main route.","why_significant":"The final version argues the house is an intact, largely unaltered Stick Style/Queen Anne residence, one of few such examples in Somerville, and meets Criterion C at the local level. An earlier draft also cited Criterion B for its association with politician Robert Luce, but the accepted version dropped it.","narrative":"Standing at 140 Highland Avenue on the south side of a heavily traveled east-west route through Somerville, this clapboard house blends Stick Style and Queen Anne design. Dormers, bays, porches and chimneys give it a symmetrical appearance. Gables are set into a steep hipped roof, with a half-round window in the central gable, and a brace-supported shed-roofed porch shelters the entry. The house has no recorded major alterations and has kept its location, design, materials and workmanship, making it one of the few unaltered examples of its style in Somerville. It was first owned by Walter S. Barnes, who worked in the paper box business in Boston. From 1903 until his death in 1945 it was the home of Robert Luce, a Harvard graduate, state representative, lieutenant governor and longtime congressman. The final listing rests on the building's architectural integrity, judged significant at the local level.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; first owner Walter S. Barnes, a Boston paper box businessman","architectural_style":"Stick Style/Queen Anne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good, with no major alterations, no outbuildings, and not moved; current use is residential.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.968126-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/92/7912/63791292/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001266.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001266/60031830e9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001266/60031830e9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SomervilleMA_WalterSAndMelissaEBarnesHouse.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:SomervilleMA_WalterSAndMelissaEBarnesHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791292","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_S._and_Melissa_E._Barnes_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7966052"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/barnes-walter-s-and-melissa-e-house-89001266/"}