Littlefield-Roberts House
Why it's listed
Built in 1873 at 16 Prescott Street in Cambridge, this two-story wood frame house rises from a brick foundation to a low slate mansard roof. Joseph Littlefield designed and built it, then kept ownership until 1875, when he sold it to Orrin Roberts, a mason from Chelsea. The facade carries bold ornament, including a side entry porch with paired rusticated columns and a bracketed roof, a pedimented window above, and a two-story bay topped by a chateau-style roof with iron cresting. The first-story walls and columns are scored to imitate masonry, a technique also used on earlier Cambridge houses. The nomination presents the house as one of the finest examples of the late Mansard style in the city, showing the 1870s shift toward a more vertical, sharply outlined form. It was listed as a locally significant example of that style under Criterion C.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the house is one of the finest and most representative examples of the late Mansard style in Cambridge. Its chateau-roofed corner tower, iron cresting, bracketed cornice and masonry-imitating scoring show the taller, more aggressive outline typical of the 1870s. It was judged locally significant under Criterion C.
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 86002070, listed September 12, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 16 Prescott St., Cambridge |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 12, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86002070 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Joseph Littlefield, architect/builder |
| Architectural style | Mansard |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Recorded in the 1960s as offices and in 1985 as residential; the 1985 form notes no major alterations apart from removed roof brackets. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 42.37308, -71.11351 (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 86002070.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6652938
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.