Benjamin Beard House
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	251 Ash St., Reading, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°31′0.4″N 71°6′3.01″W / 42.516778°N 71.1008361°W / 42.516778; -71.1008361
Built	1854 (1854)
Architectural style	Greek Revival
MPS	Reading MRA
NRHP reference  No.	84002505 [1]
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. ^[1]

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. ^[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

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

References