{"nrhp_refnum":"90000193","name":"Foster, Phineas, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 Old Topsfield Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boxford","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.64886644200004,"lon":-70.98010802699997,"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 two-story, central-chimney First Period house at 15 Old Topsfield Road in Boxford, Massachusetts, dated about 1725 by visual analysis, with later additions. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The form argues the surviving First Period framing in the older section is likely to yield important information about early construction methods (Criterion D). The second-phase addition shows late First Period or transitional framing, including a run-out flat chamfer and an unusually late tusk tenon (Criterion C). The house is also said to retain integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Set on a 3.1-acre lot at 15 Old Topsfield Road in Boxford, this house dates to about 1725 and is an example of First Period construction in Essex County. It is an L-shaped, five-bay, two-story house with a central chimney and a protruding lobby entrance, later enlarged by a two-story rear ell. The right-hand rooms and chimney bay are the earliest part, followed by a second phase to the west. Attic framing of principal rafters and purlins, plus exposed flat-chamfered tie beams and late tusk tenon joints, mark the change between the two phases. Later features include Second Period raised-field paneling, a Federal staircase, and cellar stairs made from reused beams. The nomination finds that the older section may reveal early building methods and that the later addition illustrates transitional framing. Ownership in the early 1700s is poorly documented, though Phineas Foster is recorded there in 1799.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"First Period","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good; the house is in use as a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.000447-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7898/63789817/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000193.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000193/253d3c7a97-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000193/253d3c7a97-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BoxfordMA_PhineasFosterHouse.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:BoxfordMA_PhineasFosterHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789817","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Foster_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7186350"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/foster-phineas-house-90000193/"}