About Capt. Nathaniel Parker Red House
Historic Architecture, Architecture, Interesting Places, Other Buildings And Structures
The Capt. Nathaniel Parker Red House is a historic house at 77-83 Ash Street in Reading, Massachusetts. It is a 2 1⁄2-story vernacular Georgian house, five bays wide, with entrances on its north and south facades. The southern entry is slightly more elegant, with flanking pilasters and a transom window. The house was built sometime before 1765, and was already a well-known landmark because it was (unusually for the time) painted, and served as a tavern on the coach road. The house remained in the hands of militia captain Nathaniel Parker and his descendants into the late 19th century. The construction of the Andover Turnpike (now Main Street) in 1806-07, bypassing its location, prompted a decline in the tavern's business.
