Benjamin Beard House

Benjamin Beard House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	251 Ash St., Reading, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°31′0.4″N 71°6′3.01″W
Built	1854 (1854)
Architectural style	Greek Revival
MPS	Reading MRA
NRHP reference No.	84002505
Added to NRHP	July 19, 1984

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.

Description and history

The Benjamin Beard House stands south of downtown Reading, at the southwest corner of Ash Street and Avon Street. 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.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Reading, Massachusetts
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Middlesex County, Massachusetts