Lasell Neighborhood Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Winslow--Haskell House
Why it's listed
Lasell Neighborhood Historic District covers about 50 acres in Auburndale, in western Newton, Massachusetts. It is made up mainly of houses built between the mid- and late 1800s, along with a few buildings of Lasell Junior College. The area grew after railroad service reached the village in the 1830s and 1850s, when land south of the tracks was developed by local investors. Some of those investors also backed the Auburndale Female Seminary, which opened in 1851 and later became the college. Over time the school bought nearby houses for dormitories and classrooms. The district shows many styles of the period, including Italianate, Mansard, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Shingle and Georgian Revival. Its best-known building is the Winslow-Haskell mansion, called The Castle, a Victorian Gothic residence built in 1870 and already listed separately. The district was listed because of the seminary's influence on the village and because the buildings form a cohesive group of the area's typical architecture.
Significance in brief: The district is significant under Criterion A for the major role the Auburndale Female Seminary (later Lasell) played in the village's development in the second half of the nineteenth century. Under Criterion C, it is a cohesive group of residential and institutional buildings showing the architectural styles most common in Auburndale at the time. It retains its character as a middle-class railroad suburb.
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 86001744, listed September 4, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Roughly bounded by Woodland and Studio Rds., Aspen and Seminary Aves., and Grove St., Newton |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 4, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001744 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Billings and Sleeper (Bragdon Hall, now demolished) |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Mansard, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Victorian Gothic, Shingle, Georgian Revival and Stick |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | General condition is very good. The district has a mix of institutional and private use, and Lasell Junior College owns thirty-five nineteenth-century residences in it. Bragdon Hall has been demolished. |
| Acreage | 50.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.34087, -71.24659 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
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 86001744.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6492935
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.