Built 1767 NRHP Reference # 85003270 Architectural style Georgian architecture | MPS Brookline MRA Opened 1767 Added to NRHP 17 October 1985 | |
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Location 235 Goddard Ave., Brookline, Massachusetts Similar Larz Anderson Park, Larz Anderson Auto Mus, Temple Ohabei Shalom, Coolidge Corner Theatre, Church of Our Saviour | ||
The John Goddard House is a historic house at 235 Goddard Avenue in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. The two story wood frame house was built in 1767 by John Goddard, a farmer. It is one of the few 18th-century houses in Brookline, important for the role it and its owner played in the American Revolutionary War during the Siege of Boston in 1776. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.
Description and history
The Goddard House is set on the north side of Goddard Avenue, opposite the northern border of Larz Anderson Park in southeastern Brookline. It is a roughly square wood frame house, with a hip roof, central chimney, and a three-bay facade with a projecting gabled vestibule. The interior retains period fixtures, including wall paneling, doors, and hardware.
The house was built in 1767 by John Goddard on land originally purchased by his grandfather Joseph. Goddard, a teamster, was active in local civic affairs, notably serving in the Massachusetts Provincial Congress prior to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. Goddard's property was one of several places in Massachusetts used by rebellious colonists for the storage of munitions (probably in the barn, since demolished). During the Siege of Boston, Goddard acted as wagon-master to the Continental Army during the Fortification of Dorchester Heights, a nighttime act that required the wagons to be rendered as quiet as possible to avoid notice. Goddard refused George Washington's offer of continued service in the military effort.