Allen, William Russell, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1886 at 359 East Street in Pittsfield, this Queen Anne house was designed by architect H. Neill Wilson for William Russell Allen. It rises two and one-half stories under a complex pitched roof, with an asymmetrical plan and a mix of materials: granite at the basement, Great Barrington bluestone on the first floor, and wooden shingles and terra cotta tiles above. The porch includes East Longmeadow sandstone and marble, and the west side has a leaded-glass oriel. Allen was a grandson of Thomas Allen III, donor of the Berkshire Athenaeum, and he ran a 1,250-acre farm where he raised more than 1,000 blooded horses, including the stallion Kremlin. The house was Wilson's first local commission; he later designed Shadowbrook, the Wendell Hotel and the Dalton town hall and library complex. Once set on an acre in the city's finest residential neighborhood, it is now flanked by former hospital buildings and is one of few remaining reminders of that setting.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it the finest example of Queen Anne design in Pittsfield and one of the finest in Berkshire County. It was built for William Russell Allen, a member of a prominent local family who bred notable horses. It was also the first local work of H. Neill Wilson, who became a leading Berkshire County architect.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 80000427, listed May 7, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 359 East St., Pittsfield |
|---|---|
| County | Berkshire County |
| Listed | May 7, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80000427 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1886 |
| Architect / builder | H. Neil Wilson |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as unoccupied and vacant, owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; condition marked good and unaltered, on its original site. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.44796, -73.24658 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 80000427.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8017858
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.