Frost, Walter, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1807 for Walter Frost, this wood-frame house at 10 Frost Street in Cambridge is a tall, narrow example of Federal-style design. William Saunders is named as the builder. The house originally stood on Massachusetts Avenue at the corner of Roseland Street, where it was the first in a line of mansions along the avenue. In 1866 it was moved to its present site to make way for the North Avenue Congregational Church. The Frost family shaped the nineteenth-century development of the surrounding neighborhood, on land their ancestors had acquired in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Apart from a later Greek Revival porch, the house is described as unaltered. Its significance rests on its architecture and on the Frost family connection. It represents a house type that has not survived in large numbers in Cambridge, and it shows the kind of home occupied by people of modest means in the early nineteenth century. It remains in residential use.
Significance in brief: The house is a handsome example of a high, narrow Federal-style type that has not survived in large numbers in Cambridge. It also represents the homes of people of modest means in the early nineteenth century. The Frost family, whose ancestors acquired the surrounding land in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, drove the area's nineteenth-century development.
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 82001942, listed April 13, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 10 Frost St., Cambridge |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | April 13, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82001942 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | William Saunders, builder |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residential; unaltered except for a later Greek Revival porch. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 42.38616, -71.11735 (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 82001942.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7964895
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.