Benjamin Beard House

The Benjamin Beard House is a historic house in Reading, Massachusetts. Built in the early 1850s, it is a well-preserved example of a distinctive local variant of Greek Revival architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.[1]

Benjamin Beard House
Location251 Ash St.,
Reading, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°31′0.4″N 71°6′3.01″W
Built1854 (1854)
Architectural styleGreek Revival
MPSReading MRA
NRHP reference No.84002505[1]
Added to NRHPJuly 19, 1984

Description and history

The Benjamin Beard House stands south of downtown Reading, at the southwest corner of Ash Street and Avon Street. Ash Street is a feeder road providing access to southeastern Reading from the center, and Avon Street is a short connector between it and Main Street (Massachusetts Route 28). The house is a 1 12-story wood-frame structure, with a side-gable roof, single off-center interior chimney, and clapboarded exterior. It is laid out in what was a fairly common local variant, with the long spine of the house parallel to the street, and set on a slightly raised mound. There are pilasters on the corners, and the front entry has a somewhat tall Federal style high entablature, with sidelight windows and plain side molding supporting a corniced entablature. A single-story ell extends to the rear of the main block.[2]

The house was probably built in the early 1850s. Benjamin Beard, its first owner, was the town's first jeweler, opening a store in 1847 after having previously worked for a local clock- and watchmaker. Beard's son William also continued the profession.[2]

See also

References

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