In 1868, James Wilkinson Clapp (1847-1931) married Eliza Tuckerman and they soon after moved into this large Victorian-era house on St. Paul Street in Brookline. James was the second son of Otis Clapp, a politician, publisher, and promoter of homeopathy. Otis Clapp operated a large homeopathic pharmacy, Otis Clapp & Son, which continued as a business after his death, evolving to encompass different areas of medical technology. It was one of the oldest-operating pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States by the time it was acquired by Medique in 2008. The business allowed James, at about 22 years old, to build this stately home for him and his new wife to move into. The residence is Second Empire in style with Stick style ornamentation, and while mostly obscured by vegetation all year, it commands the heavily trafficked corner of Brookline.