{"nrhp_refnum":"98000542","name":"Townsend House","other_names":["Bittersweet"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"290 Paine Hollow Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wellfleet","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.911871923000035,"lon":-70.00989901699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A full Cape Cod house at 290 Paine Hollow Road in Wellfleet, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, built about 1804 by Dr. James Townsend, with an outhouse and a former summer kitchen/woodshed on the lot.","why_significant":"The house is significant locally under Criterion C as an excellent example of the Cape Cod house form with a high level of integrity. It is among the best-preserved of about twenty similar five-bay Cape houses in Wellfleet and stands out for the quality of its interior finishes and details. The property also has high potential for prehistoric and historic archaeological resources.","narrative":"Set on a low knoll above a tidal cove of Blackfish Creek in Wellfleet, this 1 1/2-story post-and-beam Cape Cod house was built about 1804 by Dr. James Townsend, a physician, and his wife Hannah. It has a five-bay facade, a central brick chimney, a brick foundation and a center entrance with a six-panel door. Inside, the original floor plan is arranged around the central chimney, with hand-planed woodwork, original plaster containing clam shell and horse hair, a beehive oven, a dry sink and a brick food cellar. Of roughly twenty similar five-bay Cape houses in Wellfleet, it is among the best preserved and stands out for its interior finishes. A 1988 side addition, a relocated summer kitchen and a returned outhouse share the lot. The property is also considered likely to hold prehistoric and historic archaeological remains, including evidence of early medical practice and salt production.","period_of_significance":"c. 1804","architect_builder":"Dr. James Townsend (builder, according to family tradition)","architectural_style":"Early 19th Century; Other: Cape Cod","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as a single dwelling with secondary structures; a 1988 side addition was built, and the outhouse is non-functional.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.999563-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7939/63793944/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/98000542.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000542/c32b48e9e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000542/c32b48e9e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Townsend_House,_Wellfleet_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Townsend_House,_Wellfleet_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793944","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsend_House_(Wellfleet,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7830186"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/townsend-house-98000542/"}