Lovering, Joseph, House
Why it's listed
Built in 1839 at 38 Kirkland Street in Cambridge, this clapboard house rises two and a half stories behind a two-story Ionic portico that carries a gabled pediment, with a delicate iron balcony railing on the facade. Oliver Hastings, a Cambridge lumber dealer and builder, designed it in collaboration with Luther Brooks, owner of the neighboring house at 34 Kirkland Street. Of the surviving Greek Revival mansions in Mid-Cambridge, only two have a full temple front, and this is one of them. Hastings kept the house until 1843, when Professor Joseph Lovering bought it and it became part of Professors' Row. Lovering held the Hollis chair of mathematics and natural philosophy for fifty years and served as Harvard Regent, Director of the U.S. Coast Survey, and president of two major scholarly societies. His family kept the house until 1941. It later served as a nursing home before Harvard bought it in 1961 for office use.
Significance in brief: The house is described as the most important surviving high-style "Grecian temple" house in Cambridge, one of only two remaining with a full-porticoed temple front. It is also tied to Joseph Lovering, a long-serving Harvard professor and leading scientific figure who bought it in 1843. It meets Criteria B and 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 86002076, listed September 12, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 38 Kirkland St., Cambridge |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 12, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86002076 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Oliver Hastings & Luther Brooks |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Science, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Presently used as offices (English Department) by Harvard University; no major alterations, though two front gable windows were added in the late 1960s. |
| Acreage | 0.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.37688, -71.11279 (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 86002076.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6285037
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.