Gardner, Patience and Sarah, House
Why it's listed
This two-and-one-half story house at 103-105 Cambridge Street in Winchester, Massachusetts, dates to about 1825 and is a vernacular example of the Late Federal style. It has a rectangular plan, a low-pitched gable roof, a five-bay facade with paired outer windows, and a rear wall chimney offset to the right. The entrance door has Georgian-style proportions beneath a Greek Revival lintel, and a two-story ell extends from the north side. The house is thought to stand on the foundation of an earlier dwelling built by Richard Gardner, who bought 300 acres from Increase Nowell in 1659. Sisters Patience and Sarah Gardner acquired the property in 1825 and lived there until their deaths. Their family included a minister, a Treasurer of the Commonwealth during the Revolution, and Governor Henry J. Gardner. The house is significant for its architecture and its link to one of Winchester's earliest settler families. It has sometimes been wrongly called the 1776 House.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is an important local example of the Late Federal style, a vernacular type tied to Winchester's rural economy in the early nineteenth century. It is also associated with the Gardner family, among the town's earliest settlers, whose descendants included a Massachusetts governor.
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 89000608, listed July 5, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 103--105 Cambridge St., Winchester |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | July 5, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89000608 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect anonymous |
| Architectural style | Late Federal |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition described as good; present use is a dwelling, with a barn or carriage outbuilding. |
| Acreage | 0.7 |
| Coordinates | 42.44459, -71.15178 (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 89000608.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7144947
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.