Memorial Drive Apartments Historic District
Why it's listed
Four brick apartment buildings at 983-993 Memorial Drive in Cambridge form a riverside group of luxury housing built between 1914 and 1924. Strathcona-on-the-Charles (1914, W.L. Mowll) came first, with Elizabethan-style details and a plan that follows the curving site. Radnor Hall and Hampstead Hall (1916, Charles R. Greco) followed as Georgian Revival buildings with cast stone first stories and trim, and Barrington Court (1924, R.B. Whitten) completed the group with an unusually deep courtyard. Each is organized around a courtyard, a type introduced locally by Ralph Adams Cram in Brookline in 1898. The land had little development potential until Memorial Drive, designed by Charles Eliot, was completed in the late 1890s. The buildings face the Charles River and turn away from the working-class neighborhood to the northeast. Similar courtyards, brick, stone ornament and uniform height make them look like one complex, and together they were judged the most impressive concentration of apartment buildings in Cambridge, significant for architecture.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the four buildings form Cambridge's most distinguished grouping of early twentieth century luxury apartment houses and the most impressive concentration of apartment buildings in the city. Though designed by three architects over ten years, they read as a single complex. The district retains its integrity and meets Criterion C for architecture.
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 86001310, listed May 19, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 983--984, 985--986, 987--989, and 992--993 Memorial Dr., Cambridge |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | May 19, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001310 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | 1914-1924 |
| Architect / builder | W.L. Mowll (Strathcona-on-the-Charles); Charles R. Greco (Radnor Hall and Hampstead Hall); R.B. Whitten (Barrington Court) |
| Architectural style | Neo-Georgian and Neo-Tudor (courtyard-type apartment buildings) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | All four buildings are classed as contributing; Barrington Court is described as a condominium. |
| Acreage | 1.8 |
| Coordinates | 42.37311, -71.12584 (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 86001310.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q6815401
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.