- Built
- c. 1870
- Style
- Italianate Italianate
- Neighborhood
- High Street District
- MACRIS
- NWB.52 ↗
- Formerly
- 254 High Street
History
This house is a vernacular interpretation of the Victorian Italianate style. The elements inspired by the style are simple, and they include the bracketed cornice, the window lintels, and the simple entrance portico.
The Rev. Daniel P. Pike built this house for his son Benjamin. Benjamin was the master of the grammar school on Forrester Street. In 1871, Pike moved, and the house was sold to James Parton.
Parton spent the last decades of his life in Newburyport after living in New York. He published several books, including biographies of Horace Greeley, Aaron Burr, and Thomas Jefferson. Parton also contributed to several periodicals, including the Home Journal and the New York Journal. Parton lived in this house until 1886, when he moved to the house at the opposite corner of Oakland and High Streets, a three-story Federal-period home.
Planning work on this building?
Reviews that may apply
Newburyport Historic District (National Register, listed 1984) · Demolition Control Overlay District (DCOD) · Parcel 56-33-A/B · Zone R2
Zoning Board of Appeals may decide
In the DCOD. Whether removing more than 25% of the exterior walls needs a DCOD special permit depends on the building’s status in the 1984 National Register nomination, which this site has not matched for this lot yet; the Office of Planning and Development keeps the list.
Newburyport Historical Commission decides whether to impose a delay
Built c. 1870, so 75 or more years old: removing more than 25% of its exterior walls, changing the roofline (pitch, towers, cupolas, anything projecting above the roof), moving it, or adding a dormer that misses the setback and pitch rules is "demolition" under the demolition delay ordinance. The Commission holds a hearing within 30 days and may impose a delay of up to 18 months. Parts of the building documented as younger than 75 years are excluded on a written determination by the Zoning Administrator.
Code of Ordinances ch. 5 art. X, §§5-307–5-308 (June 2026) ↗
Zoning Administrator first stop
Every project starts with a zoning determination from the Zoning Administrator, which says which of these reviews apply and whether the work also needs zoning relief (a special permit for a non-conformity, or a variance). Fees, forms and filing deadlines are on the City’s site.
Not legal advice, not an official City publication, and not the position of the Historical Commission or any board. Says what the ordinances say as of September 30, 2026; the Zoning Administrator decides what applies. Boundaries: Merrimack Valley Planning Commission / City of Newburyport GIS (MIMAP); 1984 status from the National Register nomination's district data sheets. City's quick guide to the DCOD and demolition delay ↗ · Do I need approval? Project by project →
More photos
1 view · Biff Bouse
From the archive
2 items · maps, papers, old photographs
More built 1860–1900
Sources
- Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System, NWB.52
- 1914 Sanborn map, sheet 4 (Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection)