House at 23 Lawrence Street
Why it's listed
Built between 1896 and 1899, this house at 23 Lawrence Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts, is a Colonial Revival dwelling on a corner lot in a suburban neighborhood. It has a 2½-story rectangular massing under a gable roof, relieved by a curved two-story round corner bay, a front porch with paired colonettes, and an exterior brick chimney. A Palladian window fills the gable field, and a carved swag decorates a window spandrel. The house appears to replace an earlier one on the lot, once linked to John Vinton. Lawrence Street was laid out by the Emerson family in the 1850s, a family prominent in local shoe manufacturing, and was developed further in the 1870s with S. O. Richardson. By the 1870s and 1880s it had become a fashionable middle-class neighborhood. The house was listed as a well-preserved, high-style local example of Colonial Revival domestic architecture, with a garage and barn also on the property.
Significance in brief: The house is presented as one of the best examples of relatively high-style Colonial Revival architecture in an upper-class neighborhood. It represents the fashionable middle-class character of Lawrence Street in the late 19th century. It retains integrity of location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.
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 89000681, listed July 6, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 23 Lawrence St., Wakefield |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | July 6, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89000681 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is a dwelling; condition is described as fair, with no major alterations. A garage and barn (c. 1899) are listed as contributing outbuildings. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.51114, -71.06899 (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 89000681.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14715576
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.