Beattie, W.C., House
Why it's listed
Built around 1882 at 289 West Brittania Street in Taunton, this Queen Anne house was constructed on land W.C. Beattie bought from George Warren in 1881. It has a basically rectangular plan with central and side bay projections under a hipped roof. Its most notable features are a central bay pavilion with a steeply pitched gable and vergeboard, and a front porch with a central pediment inset with a sunburst motif. Windows are two-over-two and one-over-one, set singly and in bays. The house is nearly identical in design to one at 32 Cedar Street. It is considered among the best remaining Taunton examples of a large, builder-produced Queen Anne residence, a type built across the city's residential neighborhoods between 1875 and 1900. It was listed for its excellent preservation and its link to the upper middle class population of late 19th-century Taunton, and it retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.
Significance in brief: The nomination calls it one of the best surviving examples in Taunton of a large-scale, builder-produced Queen Anne house, with most of its features intact. It is described as an excellently preserved example of the housing built for Taunton's upper middle class in fashionable late 19th-century neighborhoods. It is argued to meet criteria A and C.
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 84002092, listed July 5, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 289 W. Brittania St., Taunton |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | July 5, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84002092 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residence; the form says the house has not been altered or moved and that most features are intact. An early 20th-century garage is noted as non-contributing. |
| Acreage | 0.6 |
| Coordinates | 41.91887, -71.10628 (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.
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 84002092.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7945174
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.