McIntire, Herman, House
Why it's listed
Built around 1900 at 55 Dixwell Avenue in Quincy, this single-family house is a late example of the Shingle Style. Two-story gambreled gables dominate the form, and a tall chimney rises above the gambrel roofs. Other features include Palladian windows, an oriel window with keystones, a picturesque ridge-roof dormer, an overhanging second floor, and a balustraded wrap-around porch carried on Ionic columns, which reflect the emerging Colonial Revival. Herman McIntire, a Quincy realtor, built the house and lived there before moving to a neighboring house at 21 Dixwell Avenue by 1909. His family kept the property until the early 1920s. The house sits in the President's Hill area, developed in the 1890s from the Charles Francis Adams estate as an elite neighborhood for businessmen, civic leaders and Boston commuters, close to Quincy Center and the rail depot. It remains well preserved and was listed for its architecture and its link to that development.
Significance in brief: The house is presented as a well-preserved example of the Shingle Style that keeps its integrity of design, location, materials, feeling and association. It is characteristic of the homes built on President's Hill by local businessmen, civic leaders and affluent Boston commuters. It is argued to meet Criteria A and C at the local level.
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 89001326, listed September 20, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 55 Dixwell Ave., Quincy |
|---|---|
| County | Norfolk County |
| Listed | September 20, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001326 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect unknown; built by Herman McIntire, a Quincy realtor |
| Architectural style | Shingle Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is a single-family dwelling, in good condition, with no major alterations and not moved. A 1950s two-car garage at the rear is noncontributing. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.25051, -71.00856 (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 89001326.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5740042
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.