{"nrhp_refnum":"90000188","name":"Hopestill Bent Tavern","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"252 Old Connecticut Path","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wayland","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.34185015600008,"lon":-71.37017533299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two and one half story, L-shaped clapboarded house at 252 Old Connecticut Path in Wayland, Massachusetts, begun about 1710 as a tavern and now used as a residence.","why_significant":"It keeps integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship in two joined First Period frames, which show distinctive construction under Criterion C. Unusual features include a chamber with no fireplace and an exceptional amount of reused timber in upstairs rooms. Its roof of all principal rafters is a variant found mainly in Middlesex County.","narrative":"Located at 252 Old Connecticut Path in Wayland, this clapboarded house began about 1710 as a double-cell building facing west, with a chimney bay between its rooms. Hopestill Bent (1672-1725) kept a tavern here, and it operated until 1780. Around 1800 a second First Period frame, a one-over-one plan building, was drawn up and attached on the east side, giving the house its L shape and a Federal vernacular exterior with evenly spaced sash windows and simple molded trim. Inside, exposed decorated framing includes quirk-beaded beams, chamfered posts and a triple-run staircase that appears original. Much of the framing is reused, and reused timbers appear in upstairs rooms rather than only in the attic or cellar, which is unusual. One chamber has no fireplace, and the roof uses principal rafters throughout. These features, together with the joining of two early frames, led to its listing for architectural significance. The house remains a residence in good condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"1st Period core with Federal vernacular exterior","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residence; condition is good. The barn was rebuilt in the 1980s after a fire, and a two-story addition was built within the L at the rear in the late 1980s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.992276-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/7907/63790793/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000188.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000188/dac1866ea8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000188/dac1866ea8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hopestill_Bent_Tavern,_Wayland_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:Hopestill_Bent_Tavern,_Wayland_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790793","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopestill_Bent_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5899951"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/hopestill-bent-tavern-90000188/"}