Staples-Crafts-Wiswall Farm

Newton, United States

Not open to the public

On private land.

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The Deacon John Staples House, located at 1615 Beacon Street in Waban, Newton, Massachusetts, is a historic farmhouse whose origins trace to 1688, when Deacon John Staples, a weaver and the town's first schoolmaster, built the original dwelling. The present structure was rebuilt around 1750 by Moses Craft, who inherited the property, as a two-and-a-half-story colonial farmhouse with five windows, two front rooms, a single rear depth, and two chimneys; Craft added a kitchen wing in 1768. The house underwent successive transformations reflecting changing architectural tastes: around 1824, owner William Wiswall remodeled it with Federal ornamentation, and in 1858, Boston merchant David Kinmonth added Victorian details while preserving its Georgian foundation. Despite numerous modifications over subsequent centuries, the house stands on the original 1688 stone foundation, still up to a meter thick in places. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and designated a Newton Local Landmark in 2015, it now serves as home to the Suzuki School of Newton.