Kistler House
Why it's listed
Built in 1893 at 945 Beacon Street in Newton Centre, this Colonial Revival house was erected for Andrew and Anne Kistler. Andrew Kistler was a leather dealer with a Boston business address. The two-and-a-half-story rectangular house has a truncated hip roof and a two-sided verandah with slender turned balusters. Its five-bay facade has a center entrance with leaded glass sidelights beneath a flat-roofed porch on clustered Doric columns, and a Palladian window aligned above. The wide cornice carries egg-and-dart moulding, dentils and a frieze with swags. A carriage house on the property shares the same Colonial Revival detail. The land was once part of a large tract owned by developer Charles Davis, in a village that grew after Beacon Street was extended westward in 1852. The house was listed for its architecture, as an especially developed local example of the style and a surviving example of the upper-middle-class houses that once lined Beacon Street. It remains a dwelling in good condition.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the area's most highly developed examples of the Colonial Revival style, with both the main house and carriage house showing a textbook vocabulary of Colonial Revival ornament. It also represents the upper-middle class, architect-designed houses that once lined Beacon Street west from Newton Centre.
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 86001849, listed September 4, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 945 Beacon St., Newton |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 4, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001849 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in good condition and exceptionally well preserved; in present use as a dwelling. The carriage house was remodelled in 1986. |
| Acreage | 0.7 |
| Within district | Crystal Lake and Pleasant Street Historic District |
| Coordinates | 42.33055, -71.20081 (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 86001849.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6417324
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.