House at 230 Winchester Street
Why it's listed
Built in 1873 on a hillside in Newton Highlands, this clapboard house at 230 Winchester Street is an Italian villa with the informal massing and irregular outline of a country residence. A 2-1/2-story corner tower with a decorative slate mansard roof contrasts with the hipped main block and a hipped gable front. Roman-arched tower windows, a shallow triple oriel with a peaked entablature, and scroll-sawn brackets add detail. Its first occupant was Jesse P. Newcomb, who worked in the boot business in Boston. The lot was part of a roughly 24-acre tract held by the Highland Land Associates, and a June 1873 newspaper item likely refers to this house among two mansard-roofed houses then being finished on Winchester Street. Little other building followed, as the area lacked convenient public transportation. Today the house survives as a solitary Victorian-era dwelling among 20th-century housing, and it is valued as a rare, well-preserved local example of the villa style.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues it is an elaborate, well-preserved example of the Italian villa style in Newton Highlands, where the style is rare. Its informal massing, corner tower and mansard roof are unusual in the Highlands and the city. It is also the lone surviving Victorian-era house amid later 20th-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 86001825, listed September 4, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 230 Winchester St., Newton |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 4, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001825 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Italian Villa |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residence; condition is good, with no major alterations and the house has not been moved. |
| Acreage | 0.7 |
| Coordinates | 42.31220, -71.20890 (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 86001825.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5914138
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.