Hardy, Joseph, House
Why it's listed
This house at 93 King Street in Groveland is a central-chimney, plank-framed dwelling of two and a half stories, with an asymmetrical five-bay facade. A local history says Joseph Hardy built it around 1720, though a late 1720s date is suggested because Hardy did not marry until 1729. Its walls are framed with vertical oak planks showing sawmill marks, and the interior has exposed summer beams with bevel chamfers and lamb's tongue or taper stops, along with exposed braces in the second-floor chambers. A bladed scarf joint in the front plate shows it began with a two-cell plan. A lean-to was added in the later eighteenth century and enlarged to full size in the early twentieth. The house was recognized because mill-sawn plank framing was uncommon in First-Period construction in Massachusetts, and because its mix of chamfered and unchamfered members is an unusual transitional feature. Hardy's descendants lived there until the mid-nineteenth century.
Significance in brief: The house retains integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship in a late First-Period decorated plank frame, listed under criterion C. Plank framing was an infrequently used construction option in Massachusetts Bay. A mill-sawn frame is unusual in a First-Period building, and the mix of chamfered and unchamfered exposed framing is an unusual transitional feature.
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 90000219, listed March 9, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 93 King St., Groveland |
|---|---|
| County | Essex County |
| Listed | March 9, 1990 |
| Reference number | 90000219 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Joseph Hardy (builder per local history); architect unknown |
| Architectural style | First Period |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residence; condition described as good. |
| Acreage | 8.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.74351, -71.01098 (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 90000219.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6283795
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.