brookline house

Lawrence-Parker House // 1864

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Built in 1864 as one of the rental properties owned by Amos A. Lawrence as part of his exclusive Cottage Farm neighborhood in Brookline, this house has been extensively altered and even moved but retains significance as a surviving mid-19th century “cottage” in the neighborhood. The house was likely constructed as a one-story, stone cottage with a second floor contained within a mansard roof. In 1903, Mrs. Francis W. Lawrence hired the well-known architect and Brookline resident, Julius A. Schweinfurth, to make extensive alterations to the cottage, replacing the mansard roof with a new second floor with gable roof, along with a new porch. Schweinfurth’s design included wood shingle siding for the upper floors, which were replaced with stucco in 1970. The house was moved to its current site at the corner of Carlton and Mountfort streets in 1929 when the street was re-oriented to follow the old Boston & Albany Railroad tracks. When moved, the cottage was occupied by Philip Stanley Parker, a judge, and his wife, Eleanor. Today, the cottage is owned by Boston University and known as the Core House.

Renton Whidden House // 1912

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

One of the finest Arts and Crafts style “cottages” in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, can be found on Ivy Street as the Whidden House. The property here was developed by Renton Whidden (1859-1942), a real estate developer and politician elected into the Massachusetts House of Representatives, who purchased a house lot from Thomas B. Hall, who owned a house next door. Renton Whidden hired architect, Arthur Hunnewell Bowditch, to furnish plans for the large home, which was completed in 1912. The stucco house features a brick entrance with projecting roof off the front, a unique twin gabled facade, segmental arched dormers, and a Palladianesque window and balconette above the front door.

Dexter-Hall Cottage // 1851

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Built across the street from the Amos A. Lawrence House in the Cottage Farm neighborhood in Brookline, the Dexter-Hall Cottage is an early Gothic Revival style residence built in the first period of the district’s history. Architect, George Minot Dexter was gifted a desirable house lot in the neighborhood from Amos Lawrence as a reward for his designing his own property, and in turn, designed this cottage in 1851 in the the same mode as the Lawrence House. The stone cottage has a three bay façade with enclosed center entry. On the second floor are wall dormers as well as a central jerkinhead dormer with a gambrel slate roof. The property was later owned by George M. Dexter’s daughter, Emily, and her husband, Thomas Bartlett Hall. The house remained in the Hall family through at least the 1920s.

Amos A. Lawrence House // 1851

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Cottage Farm area of Brookline is one of the finest neighborhoods in all of New England. The area was developed thanks to Amos A. Lawrence (1814-1886), a wealthy second-generation Bostonian, who provided much of the capital and enthusiasm for the growth of the cotton industry in New England prior to the Civil War. Lawrence’s involvement in the industry aided the development of the Massachusetts mill towns of Lowell and Lawrence, whom the city was named after. In 1851, Amos Lawrence purchased 200 acres of land from David Sears, who himself developed the equally beautiful Longwood neighborhood of Brookline on the other side of Beacon Street. Amos began to subdivide the land, working with the architect George Minot Dexter and landscape architect and surveyor, Alexander Wadsworth, who designed Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, to create an early picturesque residential suburb. With houses designed in the newly popular Gothic Revival and Mansard styles and several small parks, the area became known as Cottage Farm. This stone house was designed by George M. Dexter and was the country residence of Amos Lawrence, who had other homes built nearby and rented out to wealthy friends and family. By 1888, the property was owned by Amos’ daughter, Hettie S. Cunningham, who later, subdivided the estate into five house lots, and moved this stone house to the corner of Ivy and Carleton streets. Expressive of English architectural traditions over the more ornate Gothic Revival popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing, the Lawrence House is one of the finest residences in the Boston area. Built of granite with limestone trim and set behind landscaping and a perimeter fence, the mansion is surprisingly hard to get decent photos of, but it is a stunner. Today, the house is owned by Boston University and is known as Sloane House.

New England Fireproof Construction Co. Apartments // 1917

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

One of the most unique and architecturally pleasing buildings in Brookline has to be these apartments on Egmont and St. Paul streets that break the mold of traditional brick or wood-frame apartment houses. Built in 1917 by the New England Fireproof Construction Company as an example of how cheaper cement material can be used effectively and beautifully to design and construct high-quality housing. The company hired architect G. Bertram Washburn to design the buildings which utilize concrete block and cast concrete details with the facades embellished with pilasters capped with Corinthian capitals, engaged balusters, and modillioned and corniced entrances decorated with a lion’s head over each doorway. Additionally, a special touch is the recessed wells in the facade which not only break up the massing of the building, but provide additional light and air into the apartments inside. 

Louis C. Page House // 1906

Buildings of New England3 Comments

As Paul Hunt, the son of famous painter, William Morris Hunt, and the nephew of famed architect Richard Morris Hunt, built his house in Brookline, Massachusetts, he also began constructing this neighboring property which was to be sold upon completion (that is one good way to pick your neighbors!) On an oversized lot on Powell Street, Paul Hunt worked with his architect, Milton W. Stratton of Bar Harbor, to furnish plans for a similar style home to his own next door. The Mission Revival style mansion is set behind a tall, stucco and metal fence, and is constructed of wood and covered with stucco siding and capped by a lovely green tile roof. Main architectural details include the Mission-style dormer and the chimneys with round arched tops that are capped with small hipped roofs, creating a whimsical addition to the house. When finished, the property was sold to Louis Coues Page (1869-1956), a wealthy publisher with offices in Boston. Louis C. Page would hire local architect Edward B. Stratton, in 1916, to design a detached automobile garage in a style mimicking the main house. What an incredible property. 

Paul and Caroline Hunt House // 1905

Buildings of New England1 Comment

Paul Hunt, the son of famous painter, William Morris Hunt, and the nephew of famed architect Richard Morris Hunt, built this house in Brookline, Massachusetts for $15,000 for him and his wife, Caroline. Paul had been involved in real estate development in Bar Harbor, Maine, where his mother had a summer cottage, and while not an architect himself, he was very interested in design and took a keen interest in developing estates with the family funds. While developing property in the summer enclave of Bar Harbor, Maine, Paul met the Bar Harbor architect, Milton W. Stratton, and the two collaborated in the construction of houses there and two adjacent homes in Brookline. The two-story house is wood frame construction with a stucco finish on the exterior. Spanish Colonial Revival in style, the roof is hipped with terra cotta tile, as is the roof of the verandah which extends across the facade. In 1911, Paul Hunt worked with architect William Ewing Harding to add the two-story wing on the side of the house, which is built over the driveway, creating a really unique (though not as functional) design element. 

Moseley-Widger House // 1906

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

One of the many houses in the Cottage Farm-adjacent neighborhoods of Brookline, Massachusetts, is this great blending of the Tudor Revival and Arts and Crafts styles of architecture, which dominated residential architecture in the Boston suburbs in the early 20th century. This residence was built in 1906 for Mr. Frank Moseley and his wife, Martha Hawes Moseley from plans by architect Robert C. Coit. Covered in stucco siding and half timbering, the charming house evokes the countryside of England, right here in Brookline. After WWI, the house was owned by Ms. Lizzie Widger, a water color artist and member of Copley Society of Boston, and her husband, Samuel Widger, a cotton broker. The Moseley-Widger House looks as it did 120 years ago and is in a great state of preservation, thanks to generations of loving stewards.

Edward and Lillian Norton House // 1905

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Edward Russell Norton (1871-1960) and his wife, Lillian (1870-1968) got married in 1904 and immediately began planning their dream home. They purchased a building lot on Powell Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, and hired architect, Robert Coit, to furnish plans for the new home which was completed by the next year. The house blends Arts and Crafts and Tudor Revival styles with a pleasing design and architecturally appropriate paint scheme.

Charles H. Owens House // 1906

Buildings of New England1 Comment

This stately house on Powell Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, was built in 1906 for Charles H. Owens, Jr., and his wife, Nellie. Charles was a “house decorator”, who built the house next door just two years earlier before moving into this larger home in 1906. Both houses were designed by the architectural firm of Loring & Phipps, who Owens likely collaborated on commissions with in his career. The house is 2 1/2-stories with a shallow hip roof and is an excellent example of an academic interpretation of the Colonial Revival style. The principal facade has flush board siding with round-arched windows on the first floor along with a squat fanlight transom over the center entrance.