{"nrhp_refnum":"90000271","name":"Morse, Timothy, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"628 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Newbury","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.807027739000034,"lon":-70.96778414999994,"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 2 1/2 story, five-bay, central-chimney clapboarded house at 628 Main Street in West Newbury, Massachusetts, dating from the late First Period (about 1730) in colonial vernacular style, with later additions and a small non-contributing barn.","why_significant":"The house keeps its location, materials and workmanship in a late First Period frame (Criterion C). A single-cell First Period house survives inside a larger structure, showing how small early houses grew. Its exposed chamfered summer beams combined with boxed framing may be typical of late transitional First Period houses, and hidden framing in the east rooms could yield further information (Criterion D).","narrative":"Located at 628 Main Street in West Newbury, this clapboarded house stands two and a half stories tall with five bays and a central chimney. It began around 1730 as a one-cell, late First Period structure to the right of the chimney. Sometime in the Second Period, an addition on the left turned it into a two-cell central-chimney house. Later changes include rear extensions, a modern sun porch, and a Federal-period remodeling of the chimney and west room fireplace surround. Inside, the east rooms show exposed, chamfered summer beams with lamb's tongue stops, while other framing members are boxed. This pairing appears characteristic of late transitional First Period houses. The way a small early dwelling was absorbed into a larger house illustrates how homes grew as needs changed. The house was listed for its surviving early frame and for the potential of concealed framing in the east rooms to add to knowledge of First Period construction.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial vernacular","criteria":["C","D"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; present use is residential.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.930997-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7898/63789813/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000271.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000271/0b6dbd91d9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000271/0b6dbd91d9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestNewburyMA_TimothyMorseHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestNewburyMA_TimothyMorseHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789813","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Morse_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7807406"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/morse-timothy-house-90000271/"}