Murray, Robert, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1859, 85 Crescent Street is an Italianate house overlooking the Charles River in Waltham. It has a three-bay by one-bay main block with clapboards, corner-boards, fascia boards, a gable roof and paired brackets at the cornices. A center pavilion projects from the front, topped by a gable with a lunette window. Its entrance uses an 18th-century door and enframement, with fluted Doric pilasters and a dentillated pediment, installed in the 1920s. The lot was bought from the American Waltham Watch Company in 1859 by Robert Murray, a landscape gardener, whose family held the house for decades. The house is among the earliest of the large Victorian homes along this side of Crescent Street, which was nearly built up by 1890 with Italianate, Mansard and Queen Anne houses. It is valued as a well-preserved example of the center-pavilion Italianate type and as an early product of the Watch Company's South Side development.
Significance in brief: The house is one of the earliest substantial Victorian houses on the Charles River side of Crescent Street and a well-preserved center-pavilion Italianate example. It also represents early development of Waltham's South Side by the Waltham Watch Company. It is listed 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 89001580, listed September 28, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 85 Crescent St., Waltham |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 28, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001580 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Described as in excellent condition and still used as a private residence. |
| Acreage | 0.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.37049, -71.24033 (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 89001580.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7347899
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.