{"nrhp_refnum":"90000259","name":"Gould, Capt. Joseph, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"129 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Topsfield","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.641801161000046,"lon":-70.96683246699996,"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 six-bay, two-and-one-half-story clapboarded house at 129 Washington Street, Topsfield, Massachusetts, dated to about 1710 in the inventory form. It combines an older First Period core with an early 18th-century western addition.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house keeps its integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship in two First Period frames, and meets Criterion C for distinctive design and construction. It is apparently the only surveyed example of a First Period house built two rooms deep and two stories high from the start. Other First Period buildings were usually altered later to reach that plan.","narrative":"Capt. Joseph Gould House, at 129 Washington Street in Topsfield, is a six-bay, two-room-deep, two-and-one-half-story clapboarded dwelling. Its original section, the three easternmost bays, predates 1700. Three bays were added to the west in the early 18th century. The house was listed because its two First Period frames show distinctive construction. It appears to be the only house of its kind in the survey area built two rooms deep and two stories high from the outset, whereas other First Period buildings were generally altered later to reach that plan. Exposed framing includes transverse summer beams with flat chamfers and lamb's tongue stops, molded story posts, and a roof framed with principal rafters, purlins and collar beams. The western section has a staircase whose single lower run divides into two upper runs. The eastern section keeps simple Federal style trim. A c. 1700 barn once on the property was dismantled and stored in 1983, and a nineteenth century barn remains.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"First Period core with Second Period addition; vernacular exterior","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as good, and the building is a residence, its original use as well.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.783708-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7900/63790052/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000259.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000259/2c305a0c8e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000259/2c305a0c8e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TopsfieldMA_CaptJosephGouldHouse.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:TopsfieldMA_CaptJosephGouldHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790052","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capt._Joseph_Gould_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5036448"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/gould-capt-joseph-house-90000259/"}