Massachusetts

Wellington-Sears House // c.1810

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One of the many Federal period houses in Ashby Center is this lovely c.1810 residence on Main Street. The house is known as the Wellington House, and was possibly built by Darius Wellington, a carpenter who assisted with building the town’s First Parish Church in 1809. The house exhibited a symmetrical facade with stunning fanlight transom over the main entrance and eight-over-twelve sash windows. In the latter half of the 19th century, the property was owned by Cyrus Sears, a prominent sea captain, who sought a life inland with his family. He would serve in the Civil War, but had the half-decade house “modernized” with new bay windows and an entry porch. He would later move to Baltimore and serve as a port captain and consul to Cuba. In the past few years, the owners have restored the home to its original Federal design, re-emphasizing the stunning fanlight transom and sidelight details.

Asa C. Everett House // c.1824

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The Asa C. Everett House on Allen Road in Ashby, Massachusetts, was built around the time of the wedding of Asa Cutter Everett, a saddle- and harness-maker, and Rowena Spaulding in 1824. The house was built of brick and in the Federal style with a shallow hipped roof and symmetrical facade, and was “modernized” in the late 19th century. Victorian-era alterations include the entrance porch with turned posts and spindle frieze and two-over-two sash windows. Blending of vastly different architectural styles can be tough to pull off, but this example really looks great! What do you think?

Ashby Congregational Church // 1835

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Combining Greek and Gothic revival styles, the 1835 Ashby Congregational Church in Ashby, Massachusetts, is a significant building showcasing the transitional tastes of ecclesiastical architecture in 1830s New England. The church had its beginnings in 1818, when a group of church members disillusioned to the current teachings separated from the town’s Unitarian roots and the accompanying meeting house, the First Parish Church. In 1820 a church for the Congregationalists was built on the opposite end of the town common. In 1835 it was sold and this, the current church building was constructed on a new site facing the Common. The original 1820 church building became the Ashby Academy and is now a Grange Hall. The design of the Ashby Congregational Church shows the leaning towards Gothic detailing wit its prominent pointed arch detailing, yet retains some traditional Greek Revival features like the two-story pediment and pilasters at the belfry.

Old Ashby Academy – Ashby Grange Hall // 1820

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In 1819, less than a decade after the First Parish Church in Ashby, Massachusetts was built, a group of parishioners split to form their own congregation, erecting this Federal style building as its new house of worship a year later. The congregation grew and eventually would build a new church, the Ashby Congregational Church, in 1835. The building was soon after, sold to a group of citizens interested in starting an academy. In 1836 they opened Ashby Academy, which offered education beyond the eighth grade for those who could afford it. Ashby Academy closed in 1860 and the Town of Ashby purchased the building in 1864 for a high school and town offices, a use that remained until a new school was built in 1902. Since the 1970s, the building has been occupied as a local grange hall, and maintained by a local group, the Friends of the Ashby Grange Hall. The building is a significant, transitional Federal/Greek Revival style building in town with its pediment and elliptical windows.

Wyman Tavern // c.1780

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This large Colonial house sits on the Ashby town common adjacent to the town’s meetinghouse. The structure was built by Abijah Wyman, a Captain in the American Revolution, in about 1780 as a family home. In 1803 a turnpike was established and was well travelled by heavy wagons and stagecoaches travelling between Boston, NH, and VT. Taking advantage of the location, Abijah’s son John expanded the building and began operating a tavern from the house. It would become a drinking establishment, post office, and inn during the 19th century. Later owners modified and expanded the building further, adding a porch and connecting the tavern to the barn. The building is now occupied by commercial uses including the local post office!

Asa Kendall House // c.1790

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The Asa Kendall House is a significant Federal period house from the late 18th century on Richardson Road in Ashby, Massachusetts. The house here is actually believed to be the second built on this location, the first being the John Fitch House and Garrison. John Fitch was one of the earliest settlers in present-day Ashby, which in the mid-1700s, was sparsely developed and threats of attack by Native peoples limited development for decades. Due to raising tensions in the years leading up to the French and Indian War, Fitch petitioned the government for a garrison manned by three soldiers, which was approved. In 1745, the garrison was attacked and Fitch with his family, were kidnapped by Native Americans, held hostage for six months and brought up to Canada. The homestead and garrison were burned. He and his family were ransomed and would later return settling elsewhere in town. The former location of the garrison was purchased by Asa Kendall and this house was built around 1790 for him. The brick house with sloping wings was extensively documented as part of the Historic American Building Survey in 1936 and has been preserved by later owners ever-since!

First Parish Church of Ashby // 1809

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Welcome to Ashby, Massachusetts; a rural and historic town that was first settled in 1676 but due to the continued threat of native hostilities, permanent European settlement in the town did not occur until about 1750. The town incorporated in 1767 and was reputedly named for the abundance and quality of white ash trees found in the area by early settlers. Today, the town has just over 3,000 residents. At the center of the town village, the First Parish Church of Ashby stands as a significant Federal-period meetinghouse, and an integral piece of the town’s history. The present building was constructed in 1809, replacing an earlier structure from 1771. Carpenters for the building were Joseph Kendall and Darius Wellington of Ashby, who utilized plans from Asher Benjamin’s American architectural pattern book of 1797. Facing the town common, the church is a two-story gable front building with a three-stage tower including an octagonal open belfry rising from the pedimented front pavilion.

Lovejoy Wharf // 2017

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Photo courtesy of RAMSA

New buildings in Boston rarely are contextual and so often take no cues from their surroundings, but Lovejoy Wharf, one of my favorite 21st century buildings in the city breaks that mold. Completed in 2017, the contemporary building is clearly modern, but takes important cues in the design and materials to relate it to the surrounding industrial context surrounding the site. The Lovejoy Wharf condominium building was designed by the great Robert A.M. Stern Architects and incorporates red brick facades, stacked bay windows, and a glass curtain wall, which effortlessly blend old with new. A glass tower breaks free from the masonry mass at its corner, which leads into the denser, more modern West End buildings while the eastern side closely follows the old Schraft’s Candy Factory (now Converse Headquarters building) brick industrial style. Additionally, the developer, Related Beal, took a gamble by not including parking in the facility, hoping the unit owners would instead use local public transportation (or walk), it seems to have been a success and promotes healthy urbanism. What do you all think of this contemporary building?

Former Schrafft’s Candy Factory – Converse HQ // 1907

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Possibly my favorite building in the Bulfinch Triangle/North Station area of Boston is this brick behemoth. Known as the Schrafft’s Candy Factory, Hoffman Building, Lovejoy Wharf, Submarine Signal Building, etc., the building was constructed in 1907 from plans by Codman & Despradelle and first-occupied by the Schrafft’s Candy Company. It held the candy makers until 1928, when Schrafft’s moved to Charlestown, building their massive factory in Sullivan Square. A landmark in the Panel Brick style of architecture, prevalent in industrial and multi-family structures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the old factory saw many later uses from cold storage, to a Submarine Signal Co. before it was largely vacant by the end of the 20th century. Through Preservation Tax Credits and grants, developer Related Beal was able to reimagine the building, restoring it to its former glory. The Architectural Team (TAT) oversaw the renovations and expansion of the building with a glass crown with the project accommodating the corporate headquarters for world-renowned sneaker manufacturer, Converse.

Austin Biscuit Company Building // 1906

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Originally constructed in 1906 for the Austin Biscuit Company, this building on Causeway Street serves as both a gateway into Boston from the north and as an excellent example of adaptive reuse with thoughtful additions. The massive structure, which was originally two separate but connected buildings are a significant example of the panel brick construction with Romanesque detailing. Part-owner of the site, Edmund Dwight Codman hired  his brother, architect Stephen Russell Hurd Codman (1867-1944) and business partner Constant-Desire Despradelle (1862-1912) to design the building which was immediately rented out to the Austin Biscuit Company and the American Glue Company. When opened, the Boston Daily Globe wrote that it was “…a large new building of a thousand windows, a building which on fine days is flooded with sunshine and good air”. By the late 1900s, the building was altered and suffering from deferred maintenance, with an unknown fate. Luckily by 2001, the local architectural firm of Finegold Alexander, was hired to re-envision the building. They converted the two connected buildings into a unified mixed-use residential condominium and retail/office complex. The adaptive reuse of this building provided for 108 dwelling units in the top six floors (in the addition), offices on floors two through six, retail space on the first floor and garage parking in the basement. This is one of my favorite success stories in Boston architecture and historic preservation!