Buildings of New England

Jamaica Plain in Boston during the 17th and 18th-century colonial period, was a predominantly rural agricultural part of Roxbury, a separate town, which provided much of the food for Boston. By the 18th century, some rural estate houses were built in the area for wealthy Bostonians, including Joshua Loring, who built the famous Loring Greenough House (featured previously). In the second half of the 19th century, the rail-based transportation into Boston led to the area’s development as a streetcar suburb, and many estates were subdivided for development. The Greenough Family, who owned the Loring-Greenough property, sold off large areas for residential and institutional development, with large houses on large suburban lots. One of such homes built in the new upper-class enclave was this home, built in the late 1880s for Christopher and Fanny Weld. Christopher was a Harvard-educated businessman, and more importantly, born into the Brahmin Weld Family. The home is an excellent example of late 19th century Victorian era architecture in Boston suburbs.