Built 1854 (1854) NRHP Reference # 84002505 Area 809.4 m² | MPS Reading MRA Opened 1854 Added to NRHP 19 July 1984 | |
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The Benjamin Beard House is a historic house at 251 Ash Street 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.
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 1-1/2 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.
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.