{"nrhp_refnum":"96000364","name":"Maynard, Charles, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"459 Crafts St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.35880935800003,"lon":-71.21114211099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-04-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story Queen Anne/Colonial Revival wood-frame house at 459 Crafts Street in Newton, Massachusetts, built in 1897 for naturalist Charles Maynard on a half-acre lot subdivided from his brother's farm.","why_significant":"It is tied to Charles Johnson Maynard (1845-1929), a well-known taxidermist and ornithologist who built the house and lived there until his death. It also shows a high-quality combination of Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles and reflects late nineteenth-century suburban development in Newton. It retains its 1897 plan, form and style.","narrative":"Built in 1897 at 459 Crafts Street in Newton, this two-and-one-half story house combines Queen Anne and Colonial Revival features. It has a high fieldstone foundation, clapboard siding, an octagonal corner tower with a turret, projecting bays, pedimented dormers and a porch with Tuscan-like columns. The lot was carved from a farm once held by the family of its builder, Charles Johnson Maynard (1845-1929). Maynard was a self-taught ornithologist and taxidermist who ran a naturalist supply business in Boston, lectured on birds, taught bird classes to Newton residents, and wrote at least eleven books, including Birds of North America. He lived in the house until his death. Family members stayed until 1953, and in 1956 the building became a two-family home with only minor changes to its plan. Original interior details survive, including a decorative fireplace wall, arched parlor openings and the main staircase. Its architecture and its link to Maynard support its local significance.","period_of_significance":"1897-1929","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Queen Anne; Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Converted to a two-family dwelling in 1956 and still has two dwelling units; recently preserved with a new paint scheme and a stencilled replacement for deteriorated plaster trim on the turret.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.329761-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7913/63791370/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/96000364.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000364/981dc13868-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000364/981dc13868-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_CharlesMaynardHouse.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:NewtonMA_CharlesMaynardHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791370","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Maynard_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5080754"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/maynard-charles-house-96000364/"}