{"nrhp_refnum":"90000057","name":"Bend of the Lane","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"181 Cedar Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Swansea","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.74111319000008,"lon":-71.21938149499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A farmhouse and farmstead at 181 Cedar Avenue in Swansea, Massachusetts, built about 1740 by Harlow Luther at a bend in Cedar Avenue, with a late 19th-century barn on about 4 acres.","why_significant":"The house is an example of an 18th-century farmstead that was enlarged in stages, around 1850 and in the late 1920s, to meet its owners' needs. It has a continuous association with prominent Swansea farmers and dairying over two centuries. The form finds it significant at the local level under Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Bend of the Lane is a farmhouse at 181 Cedar Avenue in Swansea, Massachusetts, built about 1740 by Harlow Luther, a farmer and dairyman who placed it at the bend of what was then called Cedar Lane. The shingled main block is a 2½-story, double-pile gabled house facing south. A 1½-story rear ell was added around 1850. In the late 1920s a south wing was attached, a half-house moved from the old William Buffington homestead. A late 19th-century barn near the street, with a louvered cupola and sliding doors, once housed dairy machinery and later served for a time as a gift shop. Nineteenth-century owners included Victor Gardner, of a well-known farming family, and Philander Wilbur, who continued the dairy business. The property was recognized locally for its continuous ties to Swansea dairy farming and for a vernacular Georgian form that grew in stages while keeping its integrity.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Harlow Luther (recorded as builder, 1740); architect unknown","architectural_style":"Georgian vernacular","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residence; condition is described as excellent, and the barn is intact and in good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.0378-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/7896/63789607/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000057.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000057/b22e1e70ab-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000057/b22e1e70ab-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bend_of_the_Lane,_Swansea_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Bend_of_the_Lane,_Swansea_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789607","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bend_of_the_Lane","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4887007"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/bend-of-the-lane-90000057/"}