{"nrhp_refnum":"98001382","name":"Avant House","other_names":["Wanpanoag Indian Museum","Timothy Pocknett Homestead"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"MA 130 at Mill Pond","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mashpee","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.64928162500007,"lon":-70.48612413199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-12-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Native American"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c. 1830 Half Cape dwelling with a side ell and two small outbuildings on about half an acre beside Mill Pond and the Mashpee River on State Route 130 in Mashpee, Massachusetts. It is now a museum of Mashpee Wampanoag culture.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the earliest surviving residences in Mashpee and one of the few early Half Cape houses in the town. Its succession of owners reflects the ethnic groups and trades of the community as it moved from plantation to district to town. It is also tied to Timothy Pocknet, a locally prominent Wampanoag who lived there from 1863 until 1888.","narrative":"Built around 1830 beside Mill Pond and the Mashpee River, this Half Cape house is a 1 1/2-story, cedar-shingled building measuring 22 by 28 feet, with a one-story side ell. Its detailing is plain, with simple window surrounds, corner boards and 12/12 windows. It is one of the earliest surviving homes in Mashpee, a town where few buildings predate it. Early owners included Captain John Phinney and later Lysander Godfrey, a mariner and cranberry grower. From 1863 to 1888 it was the home of Timothy Pocknet, a Wampanoag who took part in the 1833 call for self-government. George and Mabel Avant later lived here, and Mabel served as Town Clerk and tribal historian. Concern over the loss of Wampanoag history in the 1960s led the town to buy the house in 1970. The Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Museum opened there in 1973, and the building passed to the Tribal Council in 1998. The setting also suggests potential for archaeological remains.","period_of_significance":"c. 1830-1973","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid 19th Century; Other: Cape Cod (Half Cape)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a museum of Mashpee Wampanoag culture; renovated in the early 1970s and transferred from the Town of Mashpee to the Wampanoag Tribal Council in early 1998.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.654667-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/7940/63794009/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/98001382.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001382/d5f5b53089-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001382/d5f5b53089-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Thomas Kelly","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Avant_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas Kelly</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:Avant_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794009","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant_House_(Mashpee,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4827677"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/avant-house-98001382/"}