The Padilla Beard House stands in a residential area one block west of Stoneham's Central Square, at the southwest corner of Maple and Wright Streets. It is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof and exterior finished in synthetic siding. At the time of its National Register listing in 1984, it exhibited modest Greek Revival features, including corner pilasters, which have been lost or obscured by the siding. The front facade is three bays wide, with the entrance in the rightmost bay under a simple porch with square posts. A secondary entrance is located in a two-story rear ell, facing Wright Street, which is sheltered by an Italianate hood.[2]
The house was built c. 1850 for Padilla Beard, the first coach driver on the stagecoach line connecting Boston and Reading. Beard stabled the horses in a separate building (now 26 Wright Street). The stagecoach began operations in 1833, and was replaced in 1859 by a horsecar line, and by a full railroad line in 1861. Beard became a conductor of the railroad when it began service. The house is not significant for its architecture, but its relationship to the town's transportation history.[2]
