Giddings-Burnham House
Why it's listed
Built about 1680-1690 at 37 Argilla Road in Ipswich, this clapboarded house has five bays, one room depth and two and a half stories around a central chimney. Its frame is typical of late 17th-century New England carpentry, with chamfered summer beams, regularly spaced joists and a mortised attic frame. It also contains older practices. Wall openings in 1977 revealed wattle and daub fill, a method that had largely faded by the 1680s. The cellar has joists laid flat and joined with tusk tenons, and the north wall has two-story lapped studs. A. L. Cummings suggested that material came from an earlier house on the site, granted to George Giddings in 1635, and that the presumed builder, carpenter Thomas Burnham, who bought the property in 1667, was elderly and kept to traditional methods. The house was restored in 1935 and gained a gambrel-roofed addition in 1977. It retains integrity of location, design, workmanship, materials and setting, and qualifies for its distinctive construction.
Significance in brief: The house keeps its First Period structure and has framing typical of the late 17th century. It also has unusually conservative features, including wattle and daub wall fill, flatwise joists in the cellar and two-story lapped studs. Few other surviving houses in Massachusetts have these features.
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 90000233, listed March 9, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 37 Argilla Rd., Ipswich |
|---|---|
| County | Essex County |
| Listed | March 9, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000233 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect unknown; presumed builder Carpenter Thomas Burnham |
| Architectural style | First Period core, Second Period exterior |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residence; condition is good. |
| Acreage | 8.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.67359, -70.83128 (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 90000233.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5559501
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.