brookline ma homes

Frederick P. Fish Mansion – New England Hebrew Academy // 1902

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One of the finest estates in Brookline can be found here in the Cottage Farm neighborhood, just steps from Boston and the Charles River. This brick mansion was built in 1902 for Frederick Perry Fish (1855-1930), a prominent lawyer who also served as president of American Telephone & Telegraph Corporation from 1901 to 1907. One of the leading patent attorneys of his age, representing such clients as Alexander Graham Bell, Thomas Edison, and The Wright Brothers, by the time of his death he was believed to have appeared in more patent cases at the Supreme Court than any other lawyer. For his Brookline residence, Fish purchased an 1867 brick mansard-roofed home on the lot and hired the architectural firm of Winslow & Bigelow to ether modify the earlier home or demolish it and build entirely new. The result is this stately, three-story Neo-Classical mansion. Fish would die at his home in 1930, and the property would eventually be owned by the New England Hebrew Academy as a Jewish day school. While it is an institutional use, the facade is covered with climbing vines that are bad for the masonry and an asphalt paved front yard which detracts from the beauty of this estate. It appears to be near-original though, which is great to see!

Francis B. Dana House // 1902

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In 1902, Francis Bryden Dana (1865-1917) began construction on his home here in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts. Francis was a member of the wealthy Dana Family and as a young man, attended the Boston Latin School and Harvard College. He became the president of the Dana Hardware Company of Boston. For his Brookline residence, Dana hired the exclusive architect, William Gibbons Rantoul to design the house which blends Arts and Crafts and Colonial Revival styles. The use of stucco siding, shed dormers, and portico with low sloped roof revealing exposed rafters falls squarely within the Arts and Crafts style; while the symmetrical facade, gambrel roof, and projecting octagonal bays are reminiscent of the more traditional New England Colonial Revival style.

Benjamin and Almira Pitman House // 1900

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Benjamin Franklin Keolaokalani Pitman (1852-1918) was born in Hilo, Hawaii, to parents Benjamin Pitman, a Salem businessman, and Kinoʻoleoliliha, high chiefess in the Kingdom of Hawaii. After the sudden death of Kinoʻoleoliliha, Benjamin Pitman Sr. remarried and sent his children to attend schools in Boston. Benjamin F. K. Pitman would meet and marry Almira Hollander Pitman (1854-1939), a suffragist who was instrumental in working for women’s suffrage in Hawaii. The couple purchased a house lot in the exclusive Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, and hired architect Edwin J. Lewis, to design a home for their family. Early atlas maps and photos show that the house was originally clapboarded on the front and rear elevations with large brick end walls containing the chimneys. The facade was given a brick veneer sometime in the 20th century. After Benjamin died in 1918, Almira had a small gambrel-roofed cottage built in the rear yard for her son to live in. The residence is one of the finest Colonial Revival style homes in the area.

Frederick Sears Cottage // 1851

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The Frederick Sears Cottage in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts, is significant as one of the major surviving examples of Gothic Revival domestic architecture in the Boston area. In 1849, wealthy Bostonian, David Sears (1787-1871) laid out parks and squares in the Cottage Farm neighborhood, and built houses for himself and his children. His own house, erected in 1843, was the oldest, soon followed by houses for his four daughters, Ellen d’Hautville, Harriet Crowninshield, Anna Amory, Grace Rives, and son, Frederick. The Frederick Sears Cottage is the only surviving Sears residence in the Cottage Farm neighborhood. Frederick Sears‘ cottage was built in 1851, though he did not occupy the house long, as just three years after he and his wife married in 1852 to move into this home, Marian died. The house was inherited by Frederick Sears Jr. , and was acquired by Boston University in 1960, who began to expand into this neighborhood. They maintain the significant property very well. The Sears Cottage is an excellent example of the Gothic Revival style in stone with scalloped vergeboards, quatrefoil motifs, corner quoins, and projecting entry. The house is constructed of Roxbury Puddingstone and is said to have been designed by George Minot Dexter.

Joseph and Jane Cotton House // c.1905

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As the heirs of Amos A. Lawrence began subdividing and selling off desirable house lots in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline in the 20th century, we can see a visual representation as to the ever-changing architectural tastes of wealthy residents, from Colonial Revival to Tudor Revival. This residence, the Joseph and Jane Cotton House, was built adjacent to the Amos A. Lawrence Cottage, and is an excellent example of a Colonial Revival style brick home. The property was built for Joseph Hall Cotton (1869-1919), treasurer of the American Tube Works, and his wife, Jane Eaton Cotton. The couple remained in the home for about a decade until they relocated to the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. The architectural firm of Chapman & Frazer, esteemed suburban architects, designed the house as an elongated rectangle with projecting columned porches on the first floor, pilastered entrance and window above, and hipped roof with overhanging eaves and shed dormers, a nod to the Arts and Crafts style.

John Wales House // c.1885

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In the mid-1880s, John Wales, a wealthy hardware dealer with offices in Downtown Boston, purchased house lots in the Cottage Farm area of Brookline from Amos A. Lawrence, and set out develop the site with two stately Victorian homes. This lovely home was first occupied by John’s son, George Wales and his wife, Mabel, the year of their marriage in 1885. While the architect is unclear, it is probable that the design can be attributed to architect William Whitney Lewis, who was hired by John Wales the year prior to design a stable near his home in an adjacent neighborhood. The house was rented by Wales and subsequent owners for years. The elaborate Queen Anne style house exhibits an asymmetrical plan with recessed entrance set within an arched opening, shinged and brick walls with a prominent chimney at the facade containing a decorative terra cotta panel, and the most unique stucco gables containing what appear to be terracotta balls in geometric forms. This house is a perfect example of what is so special about the Queen Anne style!

Frederick and Erna Gibbs House // 1936

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Built at a time when Colonial Revival and Tudor Revival styles dominated the suburban landscape of the Boston area and elsewhere, the Frederick and Erna Gibbs House on Chilton Street in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, Massachusetts stands out. Built in 1936 for Frederic and Erna Gibbs, the house is said to be the first International style single-family home built in the Boston area, predating the famous Gropius House in Lincoln by a couple years. Erna Leonhardt-Gibbs (1904–1987), a German-born pioneer in the development of electroencephalography (EEG) technology, in 1930, married Frederic A. Gibbs, a neurologist, and would soon-after vacation in Germany, seeing the Modern revolution of architecture there in the interwar period. Upon returning the States, the couple hired architect Samuel Glaser, to design their dream home in the Bauhaus style. Set amongst a street of 1930s Tudor houses, the Gibbs residence stands out for its stark white stucco walls, boxy form, with elongated and block windows. While set behind a tall fence and hedge, the house is a landmark example of the style and appears much as it did when built 90 years ago.

Edmund and Eliza Leland House // 1905

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One of the few truly eclectic houses in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline can be found here at the corner of Prescott and Euston streets. Built in 1905 for Edmund Francis Leland Jr. (1868-1963), a wool merchant, and wife, Eliza Smith Leland (1872-1949), the house exhibits elements of Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, and Arts & Crafts styles under one roof. The house was designed by the firm of Kilham & Hopkins who incorporated many design features found in early 20th century architecture. The steep gable roof, diamond pane door and half timbering is typical of the Tudor Revival style; the columned entry and large Palladian window on the side elevation are evidence of the Colonial Revival style; and the use of stucco and shingle siding, and the overhanging eaves with brackets and exposed rafters at the roof and second floor, are typical in the Arts & Crafts mode.

Rowe House // 1911

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The Rowe House at 11 Mason Street is an over-the-top, and high-style example of the Colonial Revival style, showcasing the oversized proportions and scale that architects in the early 20th century followed when referencing Colonial American architecture. The house here was built in 1911 for Edward Prescott Rowe (1879-1936) and his wife, Eleanor Livingstone. Designed by the firm of Rowe & Keyes of Boston and New York, the commission was likely a relative of Mr. and Mrs. Rowe. The symmetrical house features a broad gambrel roof with Palladian windows in the side gable and central dormer at the facade, large pilasters breaking up the bays on the facade, a projecting Colonial Revival entry, and squat windows at the second floor terminating at the entablature above. The property even retains its Colonial Revival gateway.

John Endicott Peabody House – Ivy Street School // 1910

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This stately mansion is located at 200 Ivy Street in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline and was built in 1910 for Martha and John Endicott Peabody. Designed in a Renaissance/Colonial Revival style by architect John Worthington Ames, the house has since been converted to institutional use, but retains much of its original character. John Endicott Peabody (1853-1921) was a businessman and later got involved with the arts in Boston. The building was acquired for institutional use beginning in the 1950’s and was occupied as the St. Dominic’s Institute and has been owned by the Massachusetts Association for the Blind since 1976, and today is occupied by the organization’s Ivy Street School, a special education residential and day high school for neurodivergent youth to help prepare pupils for adulthood with the tools they need to achieve their greatest independence. The brick house is covered in stucco and features an elaborate stone door surround, symmetrical facade, and massive chimneys.