{"nrhp_refnum":"91000600","name":"Elm Hill Farm Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"E Main St. E of jct. with Brookfield Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brookfield","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.22390950000005,"lon":-72.08844419458327,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-05-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 27.6-acre rural historic district along East Main Street (the former Old Boston Post Road) about three-quarters of a mile east of the center of Brookfield, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It holds the historic core of the Blanchard family farm, with buildings dating from about 1770 to about 1900.","why_significant":"The district is a well-preserved group of residences and farm outbuildings tied to one family's agricultural activity over roughly a century and a half. The Blanchards ran Brookfield's largest and wealthiest farm and played an important role in the town's development. The buildings, many updated in the late 19th century with Italianate features, keep their historic appearance and setting.","narrative":"Along East Main Street, once the Old Boston Post Road, a cluster of houses, barns and stone walls makes up the historic core of the Blanchard family farm in Brookfield, Massachusetts. The 27.6-acre district includes eight residences and a range of outbuildings dating from about 1770 to about 1900. The Blanchards came to Brookfield around 1773, and by the 1870s their farm was the largest and wealthiest in town. Albert C. Blanchard, who made his fortune as a merchant and banker in Richmond, Indiana, returned and built the imposing 1870 Italianate house at the district's center. His son, the Reverend Charles P. Blanchard, added a small chapel and library. Earlier houses were updated in the mid-to-late 19th century, and modest tenant and farm manager houses sit alongside barns, a horse arena, a dowel fence and stone walls. The district was recognized for its architecture and its role in local agriculture, and it keeps much of its late 19th century appearance.","period_of_significance":"Ca. 1770-1940","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"No Style; Early Republic/Federal; Late Victorian/Italianate, Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most buildings are in use and in good repair. The tool shed and Blanchard Chapel stand vacant, the chapel in derelict condition. The Parley Blanchard House and Converse Homestead were damaged by fires and are being rehabilitated.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.43268-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/7971/63797190/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/91000600.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000600/2dea9ae81e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000600/2dea9ae81e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elm_Hill_Farm,_Brookfield_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elm_Hill_Farm,_Brookfield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797190","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Hill_Farm_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5366288"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/elm-hill-farm-historic-district-91000600/"}