Baker, Charles, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1880 at 107 Adams Street in Waltham, this clapboard lodging house was constructed for workers of the American Waltham Watch Company. It is regarded as the city's best example of the Stick Style, with an irregular plan, a broad end-wall gable, a side-entrance porch with chamfered posts and spool-work transom, an octagonal bay, and decorative barge boards on a steeply pitched roof. The watch company sold the lot to Charles Baker in 1868 with strict deed conditions. These barred many trades and noxious uses, limited the building setback, and required that the owner be a native-born United States citizen for twenty years. Baker worked at the watch company and lived in the house until at least 1912. The present configuration appears on an 1886 map. It is one of very few surviving watch-factory boarding houses and the only one with its form and materials intact. It remains a lodging house today.
Significance in brief: The house is described as Waltham's best example of the Stick Style and a very rare surviving boarding house built for Waltham Watch Company employees. It is the only watch-factory boarding house to retain its integrity of form and materials. The deed restrictions the company placed on the lot show how it sought to control land use near its factory.
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 89001484, listed September 28, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 107 Adams St., Waltham |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 28, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001484 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect unknown |
| Architectural style | Stick Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in good condition with no major alterations and still operated as a lodging house. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.36742, -71.24059 (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 89001484.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5075384
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.