Brookline

Goodspeed Livery Stable // c.1870

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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. 

Seamans Block // 1888

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One of the more impressive commercial blocks in Brookline is located at the corner of Washington Street and Davis Avenue in Brookline Village. The Seamans Block was developed by its namesake, James Manning Seamans (1834-1908), a wealthy grocer who operated a store from the building. The handsome masonry block was built from designs by the firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge, a successor firm to H.H. Richardson. As partner of the firm, Charles H. Rutan lived just down Davis Avenue, it is likely that he was in charge of this design. The structure follows the Richardsonian Romanesque style, popularized by Richardson through the rounded corner and heavy arches, but is done entirely in brick rather than adding brownstone or terracotta detailing. The building has long been an excellent example of a historic “mixed-use” block with ground floor retain and apartments above, something that many new developments try and emulate today. 

Isaac Rich House // 1846

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This house on Linden Street was built in 1846 in the Greek Revival style and was purchased upon completion by Isaac Rich. Isaac Rich (1801-1872) was a prominent merchant and philanthropist and founder of Boston University. The house was modernized in the 1860s with the addition of a mansard roof and paired windows.

William A. Wellman House // 1844

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This Greek Revival style house was built in 1844 and sold in 1849 to William A. Wellman (1805-1878), the assistant collector at the United States Custom House in Boston. Wellman’s family held this property through the end of the 19th century. In 1903, as the neighborhood developed further, the property was purchased and re-oriented to face Linden Square, making room for a brick apartment building. Architecturally, the Wellman House stands out for its flushboard facade with bays divided by pilasters with elaborate capitals, and an L-shaped porch with columns capped by acanthus capitals.

Faxon-Howe House // 1844

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This house, at 53 Linden Street, was built in 1844 by Edwards, and sold soon-after to John G. Faxon (1793-1861), a lumber merchant who made his fortune in Lubec, Maine until he moved to Brookline. Faxon sold the house in 1851 to Thomas Howe, who likely added the Italianate style tripartite windows with the lower having scroll brackets.

Thomas Aspinwall Davis House // 1844

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This stately house was built as Thomas Aspinwall Davis’ own residence in the Gothic Revival style. The house originally had a Gothic style full-length porch, but when the house was relocated in 1903 to the present site, to make room for new houses as the neighborhood grew denser. During the move, the porch was removed, but the Davis House still maintains the belvedere at the roof, historic window trim, and decorative bargeboards at the eaves.

Charles Scudder House // 1844

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This house, at 12 Linden Street, was built in 1844 by Edwards, and sold soon-after to a Charles W. Scudder, a Boston hardware merchant. The Scudder House is an excellent example of the Greek Revival style in which the front facade of the house suggests a classical temple with flush-board siding resembling the smooth surface of stone. The wrap-around columned porch would have provided great views of the surrounding orchards and gardens until the neighborhood filled in later in the 19th century.

Toussaint House // 1879

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In 1879, furniture-maker and amateur architect, Winand Toussaint (1826-1904), built this unique mansard roofed house at 203 Aspinwall Avenue in Brookline Village. Toussaint was born in Belgium, and immigrated to the United States about 1841, where he originally settled in Roxbury and operated a cabinetmaking business. Toussaint moved from Roxbury to Brookline about 1873, but lost his fortune in the Panic of 1874. After a few years, he found work and eventually purchased a house lot here, and designed and built this home in 1879. Winand was born into a family of architects and engineers in Europe with his grandfather being Jean Lambert Toussaint of Liege, an architect who reportedly built the first railway introduced in Belgium. He is said to have studied in France and Italy before working in furniture-making in the United States. He maintained a professional office from his Brookline house until his death in 1904. After his death, the family home was inherited by daughter, Emma Toussaint, who was unmarried and worked as a linguist and writer under the name “Portia”. The charming Toussaint House blends Second Empire and Stick styles with unique beveled corners, one of which contains the main entrance, and a belvedere at the crest of the mansard roof. Due to its unique architecture, the Toussaint House was individually listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

Dr. Tappan Eustis Francis House // 1879

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Located on Davis Avenue, a narrow residential street in Brookline Village, the Dr. Tappan Eustis Francis House is an unusual work by an architect that differs from the style they became best-known and sought after. Dr. Tappan Eustis Francis (1823-1909) graduated from Harvard College in 1844 and Harvard Medical School in 1847 and moved to Brookline where he practiced medicine for over 50 years. For his Brookline residence, Dr. Francis hired William Ralph Emerson, who has become best-known for his Shingle style designs and summer cottages that lined the New England coastline and in Boston suburbs, to furnish plans for his suburban residence. For Dr. Francis’ home, Emerson envisioned a brick house in the English Queen Anne style. The tall chimneys with panel brick designs, corbeled brick brackets and terra-cotta decorations in the gable peaks, and the massive slate-roofed entry porch are all stunning features on the house; but the most intriguing has to be the bracketed hood on the corner of the house which originally sheltered a wooden bench, as depicted in an 1879 drawing.

Saint Mary of the Assumption Rectory // 1882

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Located adjacent to the St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Brookline Village, this handsome three-and-a-half-story brick structure has served as the Rectory of the congregation since it was built in 1882. Complimenting the Victorian Gothic style of the church next door, the Rectory was also designed by the firm of Peabody and Stearns, and was the home of the priest and other high-ranking clergy men. The rectory stands out architecturally for its panel brick corbelling at the eaves, steeply pitched slate roof and copper-coated gables.