{"nrhp_refnum":"90000026","name":"Towle, Loren, Estate","other_names":["Newton Country Day School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"785 Centre St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34562895450006,"lon":-71.191591115165,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large estate at 785 Centre Street in Newton Corner, Newton, Massachusetts, built 1920-26 as a Jacobethan Revival mansion with several outbuildings and Olmsted Brothers grounds, designed by Arthur W. Bowditch for Loren Towle. It is now used as a school.","why_significant":"The estate is argued to be the best preserved and most elaborate of several estate houses developed along the crest of Centre Street in the early 20th century. It is a fine example of Jacobethan Revival design with lavish imported interior finishes. Its quality is enhanced by the Olmsted Brothers landscape, surviving dependencies, and a chapel and school wing by Maginnis and Walsh.","narrative":"Begun in 1920 for Boston real estate investor Loren Towle, this hilltop estate at 785 Centre Street in Newton includes a Jacobethan Revival mansion and six original dependencies. Boston architect Arthur W. Bowditch designed the buildings, which are built of buff Roman brick with Indiana limestone trim, Vermont slate roofs and Deer Isle granite foundations. They were fireproof and equipped with central heating, electricity and a pressurized water system. The interiors featured English oak, teak, mahogany and marble, and the Olmsted Brothers laid out terraces, a rose garden and a sunken garden. Towle died in 1924 before the house was finished and never lived there. In 1924 the mansion and 17 acres were acquired by Sacred Heart School, which added a chapel and school wing by Maginnis and Walsh in 1926 and a further wing in 1960. Its design quality, landscape and surviving outbuildings make it the best preserved of the Centre Street estates.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Arthur W. Bowditch (mansion and outbuildings); Maginnis and Walsh (chapel/school wing); Olmsted Brothers (grounds); Lord and Burnham (greenhouse)","architectural_style":"Jacobethan Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is as a school; condition described as good. The greenhouse is gone, marked only by its foundation and rear shed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.220651-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/56/7910/63791056/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000026.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000026/6d15019757-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000026/6d15019757-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buildings,_Newton_Country_Day_School_-_IMG_0292.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Buildings,_Newton_Country_Day_School_-_IMG_0292.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791056","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loren_Towle_Estate","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6680436"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/towle-loren-estate-90000026/"}