Hooper House
Why it's listed
Located at 306 Hortonville Road in Swansea, this 1½-story gambrel cape was built around 1790 as a farmhouse. It has a symmetrical five-bay facade with a recessed center entry, sidelights, and a pilaster surround carrying a plain entablature. The original center chimney was replaced at an unknown date, and the 6/6 window sash is later. A garage and well structure from about 1920, a late 19th-century barn, and a stone well structure stand near the road on about two acres. The house sits on the main north-south road linking Gardner's Neck on Mt. Hope Bay with Hortonville and Rehoboth. It was one of many dispersed farmsteads in the late 18th century. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Swansea farms became "gentleman's farms" and weekend residences. After World War I, the owner lived in Providence and visited on weekends. The property was listed as a locally significant example of this reuse and of intact Federal-style farmhouse construction.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues local significance under Criterion A as an example of early 20th-century adaptive reuse of a farmstead into a "gentleman's farm," and under Criterion C as an intact gambrel cape in the Federal style. It reflects the shift from working farms to weekend and summer residences that shaped Swansea's residential character.
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 90000074, listed August 8, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 306 Hortonville Rd., Swansea |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | August 8, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000074 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Federal (gambrel cape) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residential; condition is listed as excellent. |
| Acreage | 2 |
| Coordinates | 41.75857, -71.19653 (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 90000074.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5898376
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.