The Linden Apartments is an early multi-family apartment building in Brookline Village that shows how density can be done tastefully. The building is located at the center of Linden Place, Brookline’s first planned subdivision which was laid out in the 1840s. By the end of the 19th century, development pressure associated with the growth of Brookline Village lead to further subdivision of the original building lots and greater density of settlement in this neighborhood. The Lindens was constructed in 1885 by and for James W. Tobey (1830-1914), a local builder, as an income-generating property. Designed in the Queen Anne style, the Linden Apartments contained six suites, all with exceptional quality materials and finishes. The façade is embellished with two octagonal bays at the ends and two angled bay windows with gables which break up the otherwise rectangular form. The building has been lovingly maintained by residents and contributes to the rich history of Brookline Village from a sleepy village to a vibrant and dense “downtown”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
St. Mary of the Assumption church was the first Catholic Church established in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1852 when a congregation of Catholics began to congregate to worship together at the old Lyceum Hall. The congregation primarily consisted of Irish immigrants who settled in Brookline, where they often found work at the many large estates and building the new branch railroad in town, but desired a true house of worship close to their homes. By 1853, a modest wood-frame Gothic Revival style church was built in the Village, but was quickly outgrown. In 1873, the pastor of the congregation, Irish-born Rev. Lawrence Morris (1845-1900) began purchasing land at the corner of Harvard Street and Linden Place to establish a new church, large enough to comfortably fit the congregation and various church-related buildings. In 1880, the firm of Peabody & Stearns was hired to furnish plans for the Victorian Gothic edifice in brick and brownstone. Although the church was designed in 1880, it was not dedicated until 1886, and at this time, Pope Leo XIII sent a chalice to the Parish in honor of the completion of this church, the first in America to be named Saint Mary of the Assumption.
Buildings of New England 