{"nrhp_refnum":"90000191","name":"Foster, William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"96 Central St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Andover","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.64731302900003,"lon":-71.14620075799996,"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 multi-period wood-frame house at 96 Central Street in Andover, Massachusetts, with a First Period core dated about 1720, later additions, and a surrounding five-acre remnant of the original farm.","why_significant":"The house keeps a surviving transitional First Period frame with quirk-beaded timbers typical of 1720s houses, and an unusual transverse summer beam tied to its one-cell plan. The southwest addition may hold further information. It is also linked to American education history, since William Foster Jr. ran a boys' school here for 22 years.","narrative":"Set back from Central Street in Andover, this house sits within the remaining five acres of its original farm, which keeps an agricultural feel in an otherwise suburban area. Its oldest part is a two-story, three-bay frame dated to about 1720 by visual analysis, with quirk-beaded timbers typical of transitional First Period houses. A transverse first-floor summer beam is an unusual feature. Around 1750 a one-room addition built from a reused frame was attached at the southwest corner, and about 1790-1800 a larger two-story central-chimney house was added to the north. A 19th- and 20th-century ell gives the house a modified U-plan. The Federal staircase, mantels and doors remain from the later work. William Foster Jr. kept a school here for about 25 boys for 22 years, and the late 18th-century additions provided more dormitory space. The house was listed for its architecture and its potential to yield further information about early construction.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"First Period (transitional)","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; clapboards were sandblasted before repainting in 1986, and the house was renovated in 1965. 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 02:13:05.118068-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/15/7898/63789815/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000191.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000191/fe2196526e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000191/fe2196526e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AndoverMA_WilliamFosterHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AndoverMA_WilliamFosterHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789815","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Foster_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8009257"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/foster-william-house-90000191/"}