{"nrhp_refnum":"89001279","name":"House at 16-18 Preston Road","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"16--18 Preston Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.383835496000074,"lon":-71.10160317899994,"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 three-decker multi-family house at 16-18 Preston Road in Somerville, Massachusetts, built around 1910 in the Colonial Revival style. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that this is Somerville's best-detailed example of the three-decker form of multifamily housing, and it meets Criterion C at the local level. It retains integrity of location, design, materials, feeling, workmanship and association. It was also one of the last buildings on the George Ireland subdivision of Preston Road, a former apple orchard.","narrative":"Built around 1910, this Colonial Revival three-decker on Preston Road in Somerville is considered the city's best-detailed example of its type. The flat-roofed building has projecting eaves and an elaborate modillioned cornice. A full-height polygonal bay sits offset to the left, and tiered porches with flat roofs rest on clustered colonnettes. The entrance has a door with an oval panel of bevelled glass beneath a transom. Curved porch balustrades and a newel post topped by a large spherical finial are typical of the style. The third tier of the front porch has since been removed. The house was among the last built on George Ireland's subdivision of a former apple orchard, and the road was named for his wife, Jane Preston. The adjoining barn/garage was built for the neighbouring house at number 20 and later became part of this lot. The building keeps its original character and is in excellent condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as excellent; it is currently used as a multi-family house. The third tier of the full-height front entrance porch has been removed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.069278-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/7906/63790665/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001279.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001279/0f7213e8e9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001279/0f7213e8e9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SomervilleMA_HouseAt16-18PrestonRoad.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_HouseAt16-18PrestonRoad.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790665","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_16%E2%80%9318_Preston_Road","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715570"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-16-18-preston-road-89001279/"}