{"nrhp_refnum":"89001270","name":"Foster, Alexander, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"45 Laurel St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38469760600003,"lon":-71.10369701299999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-family house built around 1860, now a multi-family residence, at 45 Laurel Street on the southern slope of Spring Hill in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is a clapboard Italian Villa style building.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the first and best-preserved high-style Italianate villas in Somerville, meeting Criterion C at the local level. It is typical of the pattern-book villas inspired by Andrew Jackson Downing. It also reflects the early settlement of Spring Hill by Boston lumber dealers.","narrative":"Built around 1860 on the southern slope of Spring Hill in Somerville, this clapboard house at 45 Laurel Street is regarded as the city's best-conserved Italianate villa. Its square tower recalls the country residences of rural Italy, and its design follows the pattern-book villas popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing. Notable details include paired brackets, short gable returns, panelled corner pilasters, an oculus window in the gable, 6/6 windows with bracketed lintels and sills, and a full-width front porch with quadrant struts. It was built for Alexander Foster, a Boston lumber dealer whose son, Alexander Foster II, followed him in the trade. Businessmen of this kind were among the first settlers of Spring Hill. Laurel Street was platted in 1843 but saw little building until later, and Foster was among the first to put up an Italianate villa on the slope. Few early high-style houses nearby survive in such near-original condition. The house is now a multi-family residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italian Villa (Italianate)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is multi-family residence; condition is listed as excellent with no major alterations and no outbuildings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.132062-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/7909/63790982/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001270.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001270/97c08252e4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001270/97c08252e4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SomervilleMA_AlexanderFosterHouse.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_AlexanderFosterHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790982","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Foster_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4718881"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/foster-alexander-house-89001270/"}