{"nrhp_refnum":"90000228","name":"Davis, Ephraim, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Merrimack Rd., N of jct. with Amesbury Line Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Haverhill","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.81271230400006,"lon":-71.00857135399997,"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 2 1/2-story First Period house with a rear lean-to on Merrimack Road in Haverhill, Massachusetts, dated by local history to 1705 and built by Ephraim Davis for his bride.","why_significant":"The house keeps an exceptionally well-crafted First Period oak frame, decorated with beveled chamfers, lamb's tongue stops and pips. The nomination argues the frame embodies distinctive characteristics of design and construction and retains integrity of location, design, material and workmanship, making it eligible under Criterion C.","narrative":"Built in 1705 by Ephraim Davis for his bride, this 2 1/2-story house with a rear lean-to sits on a hill above Merrimack Road in Haverhill. The right-hand room, chamber and chimney bay form the original part, and the left-hand rooms were added by the mid-18th century. Davis family members lived there until about 1880, and the house has been unoccupied since 1929. It later served as a chicken coop and is now a garage, with large garage doors cut into the front. Most exterior walls and the roof are 20th-century material, and much interior finish has been removed. The house was listed for its original oak frame, which is precisely chamfered, with lamb's tongue stops and pips on the summer beam, girts and chimney posts. Some framing was boxed in soon after construction, so its detail survives nearly pristine. The left-hand addition has Second Period raised-field paneling and a chimney with beehive ovens.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Ephraim Davis (builder); architect unknown","architectural_style":"First Period","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Deteriorated; unoccupied since 1929, formerly used as a chicken coop and now used as a garage/storage, with large garage doors cut into the facade.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.551063-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7900/63790004/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000228.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000228/1623a939e4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000228/1623a939e4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HaverhillMA_EphraimDavisHouse.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:HaverhillMA_EphraimDavisHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790004","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephraim_Davis_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5382258"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/davis-ephraim-house-90000228/"}