House at 12-16 Corey Road
Why it's listed
Three attached townhouses at 12-16 Corey Road in Brookline were built in 1896 from designs by architect Arthur H. Bowditch, who worked widely in the town between 1894 and 1925. The three-story row has wooden shingle walls, steeply pitched gables, gabled dormers with trefoil designs, banded bay windows, leaded and diamond-pane glass, and large paneled brick chimneys. These features give the row a Medieval Revival look combined with Shingle style detail, and several echo other Bowditch houses in Brookline. Real estate agents Alan Arthur and Gardiner Shaw built the houses and soon sold them. The buyer of number 12 occupied it, while numbers 14 and 16 were rented to a lumber merchant and a drug distributor. The row is recognized as a suburban take on the urban townhouse and as a response to the demand for housing on small lots after streetcar service reached Brookline. It remains in residential use.
Significance in brief: The form argues the row is a fine example of attached townhouses in the Medieval Revival/Shingle style, designed by Arthur Bowditch, who produced many apartment houses and dwellings in Brookline. It also represents a suburban version of urban townhouses and a response to the need for housing on limited land after the streetcar arrived in Brookline.
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 85003281, listed October 17, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 12--16 Corey Rd., Brookline |
|---|---|
| County | Norfolk County |
| Listed | October 17, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85003281 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect Arthur H. Bowditch; built by Alan Arthur and Gardiner Shaw (Arthur & Shaw) |
| Architectural style | Medieval Revival and Shingle styles |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | National, State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is residential; the form lists a garage built in 1928 and a rear window altered in 1924. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.33823, -71.14245 (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 85003281.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5913907
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.