Giddings, George, House and Barn
Why it's listed
Set back from Choate Street in Essex, Massachusetts, this farmstead combines a late seventeenth-century house with a First Period barn on about 1.69 acres, within roughly 350 acres of farmland. The house began in the 1690s as a two-story, single-cell dwelling and was later enlarged to a double cell with a central chimney. Its orientation was reversed in the early nineteenth century, and a modern rear leanto and gabled addition were added. Renovation exposed rare early features, including a plaster cove cornice, evidence of two-inch plank wall sheathing, and a seventeen-inch summer beam with lamb's tongue stops. The six-bay barn, dated to before 1718, has an original five-bay core with a central threshing floor. Its angled roof struts resemble those of the Stanley-Lake barn and may descend from East Anglian purlin-post traditions. Few First Period barns are known, which adds to the importance of the pair.
Significance in brief: The house and barn embody distinctive First Period building practices and are argued to be eligible under Criterion C. They have also yielded information on seventeenth-century vernacular architecture and rural agricultural life, which may support Criterion D. The barn is one of only a handful of identified First Period barns, with an angled-strut roof that may derive from East Anglian building traditions.
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 90000206, listed March 9, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 66 Choate St., Essex |
|---|---|
| County | Essex County |
| Listed | March 9, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000206 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | First Period / Second Period |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Historic - Non-Aboriginal, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition is described as good. The house is a present residence and was privately renovated over the past twenty years. |
| Acreage | 1.7 |
| Coordinates | 42.64652, -70.80621 (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 90000206.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5539695
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.