Reed, Timothy, House
Why it's listed
Built in the late 1870s, this house at 284 Adams Street in Quincy appears to have been put up by Timothy Reed, a prosperous Boston leather merchant. Reed's family lived there until about 1915, when it passed to Boston broker Walter E. Burke and later to his son Royden. The clapboard house is considered the most elaborate Stick Style building in Quincy, where only a handful of such houses survive. Its features include a steep, complex roof, asymmetrical massing, projecting window hoods, clipped gables with bargeboards, bands of vertical boards set against horizontal clapboards, bracketed eaves, a large one-story bay window and a richly bracketed entrance porch. Behind it stands a carriage house, probably from the 1880s, one of few remaining on the large nineteenth-century estates along Adams Street. The property is listed for its architecture and for its link to the prominent families who made Adams Street a district of residential estates. It remains a single-family home in good condition with no major alterations.
Significance in brief: The house is described as the most elaborately articulated Stick Style house in Quincy, a style of which only a handful of examples survive in the city. It is also associated with the prominent families who developed Adams Street as an area of residential estates in the later nineteenth century. It retains integrity of design, location, materials, feeling and association.
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 89001311, listed September 20, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 284 Adams St., Quincy |
|---|---|
| County | Norfolk County |
| Listed | September 20, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001311 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect unknown; appears to have been built by Timothy Reed |
| Architectural style | Stick Style |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is single family dwelling; condition described as good, with no major alterations and not moved. |
| Acreage | 1.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.25361, -71.01642 (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 89001311.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7807481
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.