{"nrhp_refnum":"90000177","name":"Bickford, John, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"235 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.57736592800006,"lon":-71.06666855199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2 story, five-bay, central-chimney clapboarded frame house with a gambrel roof at 235 Elm Street, North Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1735 by John Bickford.","why_significant":"The house combines late First Period timber framing with early Second Period finish, a combination the form calls rare and uncommon in the North Reading area. It is argued to be a well-preserved transitional house under Criterion C. Its unusual gambrel roof framing may also yield information on early gambrel construction under Criterion D.","narrative":"Built in 1735 at 235 Elm Street in North Reading, this gambrel-roofed house is a 2 1/2 story, five-bay, central-chimney frame dwelling covered in clapboard. John Bickford bought the land in 1733 from his father-in-law, Samuel Hayward, and apparently moved from Salem to build it. Inside, the frame is largely exposed, with quirk-beaded girts, ties and flared corner posts typical of First Period work. Second Period features appear alongside them, including feather-edged and raised-field paneling and bolection-molded fireplace surrounds. In the attic, each bay has a single curved timber supporting both upper roof slopes, an unusual method for a gambrel with such a shallow upper slope. The house was listed for its integrity as a well-preserved transitional building and for what its roof framing may reveal about early gambrel construction. Later changes include a 1940s kitchen ell, a probable nineteenth-century rear shed, and a 1986 sun room.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"John Bickford (apparent builder); architect unknown","architectural_style":"First Period / transitional","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; present use is residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.88235-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7904/63790413/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000177.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000177/9ca0c018e0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000177/9ca0c018e0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Bickford_House,_North_Reading_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Bickford_House,_North_Reading_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790413","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bickford_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6221838"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/bickford-john-house-90000177/"}