Stephen Hall House, Gothic Revival residence in Reading, United States
Stephen Hall House is a one-and-a-half-story wooden home at 64 Minot Street with narrow windows and gothic arched details. The exterior features board-and-batten siding and a central gabled overhang topped by gothic arched windows that define its architectural character.
Construction took place in the 1850s under the design of architect John Stevens, who drew inspiration from a property in Wakefield. The house entered the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The house shows how suburban residents in the mid-1800s wanted to build and what regional materials and building techniques were available to them. Its Gothic Revival style was popular in this part of Massachusetts and shaped how many neighborhoods looked.
The house sits in Reading, roughly north of Boston, surrounded by other historic homes in a residential area. The best way to view it is by walking through the neighborhood from Minot Street.
Rather than following Andrew Jackson Downing's published architectural plans, the house was designed by copying a nearby property in Wakefield. This approach shows how builders sometimes adapted designs from existing homes instead of relying on pattern books.
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