The Warren Foundry and Manufacturing Company began manufacturing metal goods in the 1870s in Warren, Rhode Island. The company was started by Benjamin Miller Bosworth, and at first, the company only made wrought iron goods, but later expanded into producing iron and brass items. Its location next to the railroad tracks made the site perfect for importing raw material and shipping out finished products to markets all over New England. The original factory and smelting facility burned down in 1892, but Bosworth’s son, Walter, rebuilt the facility with this present building by 1895. The business closed by the 1920s and the unique wood-frame building with unique tower, has been adaptively reused as “The Mill at Warren Junction”, containing office and manufacturing space for small businesses.
Located behind the iconic former fire station on Mt. Vernon Street in Boston, this converted stable maintains the important nickname for the Beacon Hill Flat as the “horsey” part of the neighborhood, which developed on filled land and contained many stables for wealthy Beacon Hill residents. This two-story stable fronts River Street and dates to 1870 and was built along with the townhouses fronting the hidden Mount Vernon Square for Grenville Temple Winthrop Braman (1832-1902), who partnered with a builder, Daniel Davies, to develop the lots here. The stable, which originally had a flat roof, was occupied as private stables and later as storage for the townhouses for nearly 100 years until it was purchased in 1968 and converted into residences by architects and partners, Joan E. and Marvin Goody, who established Goody/Clancy, a Boston architectural and design firm. The interior was modernized and the addition of a contemporary metal “mansard” roof fits well within the context of the neighborhood and was an important early “remodel” in the Beacon Hill Historic District.
Built in 1802, this large residence at 14 Walnut Street is among the oldest extant mansions on the South Slope of Beacon Hill and includes a large hidden garden behind a granite block retaining wall. John Callender, Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court of the Commonwealth, purchased land at the corner of Mount Vemon and Walnut streets for $2,000 and immediately started construction on his requested “small house finished for little money $5,000-$7,000”, but this was anything but modest. The house originally had its primary facade facing Mount Vernon Street, but in 1821, Walnut Street was lowered by city officials, so Callender had the granite retaining wall built for the garden and new entry built on Walnut Street. Mr. Callender lived here until his death in 1833 and the property was purchased by members of the Lyman family and later by Harriot Curtis (1881-1974) an early amateur female skier and golfer who used her fortune as a philanthropist, funding medical facilities in Boston for impoverished immigrants and served as dean of women in Hampton Institute in Virginia, an HBCU from 1927-1931. The most significant owner, Ellery Sedgwick (1872-1960), lived here from 1908 until his death in 1960. Sedgwick worked as editor of the Atlantic Monthly (now known as The Atlantic), and under his ownership, the magazine became one of the most circulated magazines in the world. The Callender-Sedgwick House features unique flushboard siding, providing a seamless surface that resembles a masonry wall when painted earth tones and a 19th century oriel window. The brick end elevation is punctuated with bays of hung windows and the recessed entry with a long, granite garden wall which has been well-preserved by owners.
The handsome rubblestone commercial block at the corner of Main and Water streets in Chester, Connecticut, was built in 1909 by Italian stone masons for Joseph H. Leet and contained a grain and feed store, with other spaces in the building rented out. Decades later, the old Leet Store became a auto repair shop and the upstairs space was used as a meeting hall and theater for the community. The building was restored in 1979 and expanded at the rear with a two-story wood-frame addition for additional commercial space.
The Saybrook Colony was established in 1635 and covered a large geographic area near the mouth of the Connecticut River in Connecticut. This area was later subdivided into different towns after colonial era villages were established, each with their own church congregations. As was common in the colonial era, these divisions were centered on the establishment of separate church congregations. The Fourth Ecclesiastical Society of Saybrook in what is now the town of Chester, Connecticut, was established in 1742. As the town grew, this building was constructed in 1793 as Chester’s second meeting house and served as a church until 1846, when the third Meeting House was built. In 1847, the Town of Chester acquired this old meetinghouse and from that date until 1960, it was used as the Town Hall. In 1876, the old meetinghouse was renovated with a new, projecting main entrance added to the south side of the building when the Old Town Hall enjoyed its heyday as a theater and concert hall. The Old Town Hall witnessed many events under its roof, including hosting P.T. Barnum’s Tom Thumb, who performed here, as did musical events, high school proms, and school graduations. The building had become threatened following the construction of the new Chester Elementary School, which better-hosted events, in the 1960s. Luckily, in 1970, the newly formed Chester Historical Society acquired the building and restored it as a significant piece of the town’s rich history.
The Connecticut Valley Railroad opened for service in 1871, connecting towns along the Connecticut River between Hartford to Old Saybrook on the coast. This line carried passengers and freight between commercial and trade centers. The Deep River Station, which is sited along the banks of the Connecticut River, was built about 1915 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, who had acquired the Connecticut Valley Line, as part of a government-mandated program to update aging railroad infrastructure. This station was originally built to serve both passengers and freight and showcases the dwindling usage of train service with the more vernacular and less ornate architecture compared to 19th century stations. Passenger service on the line was soon decimated by competition from the automobile, and ended in 1933. Freight service continued until 1961, when the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad went bankrupt. A portion of the former Connecticut Valley Railroad track was revived as a heritage railroad in 1971, connecting this station to the 1892 Essex Station via steam train!
This vernacular, Federal period house on Union Street in Deep River, Connecticut, was built around 1825 for (and likely by) John Gladding. John worked in town as a joiner, a historic carpenter/woodworker, who either built houses or ships in the nearby Connecticut River. The Gladding House was likely originally built as a half cape, with a side hall entry and the two window bays to its left. As the family grew, the house was probably added onto to the right of the entry with the irregularly spaced bays. Houses like these that modestly grow and adapt to modernizations over time are what makes many New England villages great.
This somewhat unassuming brick building at 316-320 Washington Street in Brookline Village, which now houses offices and a Chinese barbecue restaurant, was for many years the home of a livery stable. Livery stables were facilities where horse owners would pay a weekly or monthly fee to keep their horses and sometimes carriages, with 24/7 staff who take care of and feed the horses. Liveries were essentially the 19th century equivalent of parking garages today, just with more hay and manure. This building was long-owned by Monroe Goodspeed (1842-1921) who originally found work with an express company, delivering packages by horse-drawn wagon. By 1874 Goodspeed was operating this stable, first in partnership with Grafton Stone, and later as sole proprietor. The building was originally a two-story wooden structure but was expanded by the 1880s and built of brick, to fireproof the building. Munroe Goodspeed was succeeded in the business by his son Carl, and remained in operation until the early 1930s. After this, the vehicular door was cut into the first floor for garage use and the upper floor was boxed off from the original gabled design. Two of the original wagon entrances remain on the facade and are now the entrances to the restaurant and to offices in the upper floors.
Samuel H. Mann (1801-1838), a lawyer, acquired the Dr. Ebenezer Ames House on Cochituate Road in 1829, only a month before his marriage to Isabella Ross. At about that time, Mann built this small law office across the road from his home, where he would practice law. It is not clear why, but within a year, Mann sold the house and this law office to Judge Edward Mellen (1802-1875), who was appointed Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas in 1855 and practiced law in Wayland until his death in 1875. After his death, the law office sat largely vacant until during World War II, when a newsletter to soldiers, The Village Bugle, was published here. After this, a couple of businesses used the former law office in the 1950s and 1960s until the owner donated the lot to the Town of Wayland in 1971. The diminutive building is a charming, and well-preserved example of a vernacular, Federal period professional office building that mimics the form and materials of the Ames House to which it was long affiliated with.
Buildings of New England 
