{"nrhp_refnum":"89001291","name":"Parker-Burnett House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"48 Vinal Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38473004600007,"lon":-71.09701704199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential Italianate house at 48 Vinal Avenue in the Prospect Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts, built in 1873-1874 by developer Silas Parker and sold to James Burnett.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is historically and architecturally significant as a representative Italianate dwelling from a period of rapid residential growth in Prospect Hill. It is a well-detailed, well-conserved example of a popular post-Civil War house type and a focal point at the end of Pleasant Avenue. It retains integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.","narrative":"Built in 1873-1874 at 48 Vinal Avenue, this Italianate house sits on the west side of the street at the head of Pleasant Avenue in Somerville's Prospect Hill neighborhood. Prospect Hill was farmland until the mid-1800s, when investors and well-to-do merchants bought large tracts. Vinal, Pleasant and Grandview Avenues were part of an 1870 subdivision plan by Ira Hill and others. Lot 27 was subdivided by Robert Vinal and sold in 1873 and 1874 to Silas and Emma Parker, who developed many Prospect Hill properties. They built the house and sold it to James and Sophia Burnett; he was a machine blacksmith in Boston. The clapboard dwelling keeps its paired cornice brackets, a two-story molded bay, and a projecting entrance porch with brackets, squared columns, pilasters and a paired panelled door. A large two-story rear ell extends behind. It remains in excellent condition and is a focal point of the Pleasant Avenue streetscape.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Silas Parker (developer); architect unknown","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as excellent; present use is residential, with no major alterations and not moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.592368-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/69/7917/63791769/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001291.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001291/1913bc9bd8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001291/1913bc9bd8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SomervilleMA_ParkerBurnettHouse.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_ParkerBurnettHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791769","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker%E2%80%93Burnett_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7138262"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/parker-burnett-house-89001291/"}