{"nrhp_refnum":"89001295","name":"Niles, Louville, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"45 Walnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38314115000003,"lon":-71.09526352499995,"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 Queen Anne style single-family house at 45 Walnut Street, on the northeast corner of Walnut and Munroe Streets on Prospect Hill, Somerville, Massachusetts. It was built in 1890 and designed by Edwin K. Blaikie.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of the most stylish and best-preserved examples of Queen Anne architecture in Somerville. It is also associated with Louville Niles, a Boston provisioner and Somerville real estate developer who typified the middle-class resident/entrepreneur of the late 19th century.","narrative":"Built in 1890 at 45 Walnut Street on Prospect Hill in Somerville, this clapboard house was designed in the Queen Anne style by Edwin K. Blaikie, who trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Notable features include a conical tower with a copper finial, half-timbered gables, asymmetrical massing, a mix of patterned shingles and clapboard, and a small oriel window in the front gable. It remains in excellent condition with no major alterations, and it is still used as a residence. The house was built for Louville Niles, a Boston provisioner born in Maine in 1839 who joined his brothers in the firm Niles Brothers. He moved to Somerville in 1882, bought the Bradshaw estate, and later developed real estate in the Prospect Hill area. His house was one of the last prestigious single-family homes built on the hill and reflects the Boston merchants who commuted from Somerville by public transportation.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Edwin K. Blaikie (architect)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residence; condition is stated 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 02:13:01.020319-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7918/63791833/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001295.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001295/52c2698afe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001295/52c2698afe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Myersj","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louville_Niles_House_SomervilleMA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Myersj</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Louville_Niles_House_SomervilleMA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791833","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louville_Niles_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6689889"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/niles-louville-house-89001295/"}