Wood, Charles, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1875 at 30 Chestnut Street in Stoneham, this clapboard house is the town's most elaborate example of the High Victorian Italianate style. It rises 2½ stories from a granite foundation to a slate-clad pitched roof and has an L-shaped plan with a fully developed rear ell. A three-story flat-roofed entrance tower projects from the angle of the ell, with triple arched windows on the third story and an entry under a heavy bracketed hood. An open porch runs along the facade. Windows mostly hold one-over-one sash, and the gables have round-headed windows and decorative matchboarding. Original granite curbing and posts remain in front. The house is one of a few fashionable survivors in the Chestnut-Maple Street area, which was developed after the Civil War. Charles Wood owned it from the 1880s to at least 1906. His house, land and barn were valued at $9,000 in 1889, when the average working man held about $3,000.
Significance in brief: It is presented as Stoneham's most elaborately detailed High Victorian Italianate residence, meeting criterion C. It is also one of a few surviving fashionable houses in the Chestnut-Maple Street area, which was developed after the Civil War. The form says the house retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.
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 84002860, listed April 13, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 34 Chestnut St., Stoneham |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | April 13, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84002860 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | High Victorian Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residential; the form reports no major alterations and says the house has not been moved. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Within district | Nobility Hill Historic District |
| Coordinates | 42.47935, -71.10334 (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 84002860.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5083688
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.