Dwight, Edmund, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1858 as the centerpiece of a twelve-acre estate on the western shore of Upper Mystic Lake, this Winchester house was home to Edmund Dwight, a wealthy Boston businessman, and his wife Ellen, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. The two-and-one-half story house has a rectangular plan with a central elliptical bay, and a three-sided verandah with segmental openings and chamfered posts encircles it. Its design is thought to have been loosely based on Monticello, and a first-floor octagonal room has a parquet floor said to match one there. In 1896 architect Robert Coit remodelled it in the Victorian manner, adding the stucco cladding over the original clapboard. Later owners included Stephen Swan Langley, a Boston notions merchant. About 1940 the estate was subdivided. The house is valued as a fine example of the country estates Boston businessmen built outside the city in the mid-nineteenth century.
Significance in brief: The house is described as one of Winchester's finest mid-nineteenth century estate houses, built for Ellen Dwight, a great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson. It exemplifies the large houses on expansive grounds that Boston businessmen built for a country setting outside the city. Its design is thought to be loosely based on Monticello.
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 89000633, listed July 5, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 5 Cambridge St., Winchester |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | July 5, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89000633 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Original architect unknown; 1896 renovations by Robert Coit |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is as a dwelling; condition is listed as excellent. The property straddles the Winchester/Arlington town line. |
| Acreage | 0.6 |
| Coordinates | 42.43609, -71.15356 (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 89000633.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5339432
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.