Massachusetts

Paul and Caroline Hunt House // 1905

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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. 

Harry W. Cotton House // 1905

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In 1905, George H. Cotton and his wife, Cora S. Cotton, purchased a house lot on Amory Street in Brookline and hired famed architect, William Gibbons Rantoul, to design this home for their son and daughter-in-law. George Cotton was a manufacturer of brass tubing and also the founder of the Belmont Springs Water Company and maintained homes in the Back Bay of Boston and in Belmont. His son, Harry W. Cotton, also worked for the American Tube Works and lived in this home with his family. The Cotton House is an architectural blending of Dutch Renaissance Revival and Arts & Crafts styles. The stucco siding and entry portico are in the Craftsman style, while the prominent Flemish gable on the central pavilion and round arched pediments for the dormers are in the Flemish mode.

Partridge House // c.1908

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Located on Amory Street in Brookline, this handsome Arts and Crafts style residence dates to about 1908 and while clearly Craftsman in style, does appear to follow the horizontality and form of the Prairie School of architecture, popularized by famed architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. While the architect of this house is unclear, we do know that the first owners were Mr. Frank T. Partridge and his wife, Edith Stevens Partridge. The stucco house features a horizontal belt course, shallow hip roof with broad eaves supported by brackets, and elaborate entry and porches. The colors enhance the architecture of the home perfectly. 

Moseley-Widger House // 1906

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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

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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

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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.

John R. Perry House // 1904

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This lovely Colonial Revival style house on Powell Street in Brookline was built in 1904 for Charles H. Owens, Jr., an interior designer who just two years later, built another home next door that he would reside in with his own family. This house was rented to John R. Perry, who was also listed as a “decorator” in city directories and president of Perry, Lewis & Whitney, a design firm. The house (like its neighbor built two years later), was designed by the architectural firm of Loring and Phipps and was oriented southward to face the side yard. The Perry House features small projecting oriel windows, a broad gambrel roof, and an entrance portico supported by Tuscan columns.

George and Annie Andrews House // 1899

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By the end of the 19th century, Brookline’s connection to Boston via the streetcars opened the town up to suburban development unlike anything seen before. From this, Boston businessmen could move to the suburbs for more land and live in larger single-family homes while commuting to the city for work. This large house in the Cottage Farm neighborhood was built in 1899 on speculation and purchased by George and Annie Andrews, who two years later, built a stable on the adjacent lot. Architect Robert Coit, specialized in large suburban houses, primarily in the Boston-area suburbs, and showcased his design talents for this Tudor Revival home. Tudor Revival style ornament include the second story over-hangs supported on brackets, the diamond pane sash and casement windows, vergeboard with finials, and portico with steep gable.

Hugh G. Brown House // 1905

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Eclectic houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries are my favorite as they showcase how architects of the time blend features and break the strict mold of academic styles. This example is found in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline and dates to 1905. Designed by relatively unknown architect, Alfred Lyman Darrow, who studied at MIT, before opening his own practice. The house was first owned by Hugh G. Brown, who founded the Brown’s News Company and the Hotel & Railroad News Company. The house exhibits half-timbering in the gable ends and decorative corbelled chimneys that derive from the Tudor Revival; the front porch parapet appears to derive from the Spanish Mission style; along with stucco siding and unique windows typical of the Arts and Crafts movement.

Kramer-Duane House // 1895

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One of five houses built by developer Albert Jewell along Powell Street in the Cottage Farm neighborhood of Brookline, this residence stands out for its materiality and stately design. The house was designed by J. Williams Beal, an architect who trained at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then worked for McKim, Mead & White before opening his own business. The house was first purchased from Mr. Jewell by Grace and Edwin Kramer, who worked as superintendent for R. H. White & Co., the large dry goods store in Boston. The next long-term owner was Harry B. Duane, a wealthy grocer. The Kramer-Duane House is unique for the stone veneer at its facade, gambrel roof covered in slate, and varied window styles including: bay windows, dormer windows, and an eyebrow dormer window at the roof.

Dana-Jewell House // 1872

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This house at the corner of Freeman and Powell streets in the Cottage Farm area of Brookline, Massachusetts, was one of the first to be built on Sears family land in the years following the death of the family patriarch, David Sears. In 1871, Dennison Dean Dana (1827-1899) purchased land here from the Sears heirs and constructed this Italianate house with three-story square tower. Dana owned the house through the 1880s, and by 1893 it had been acquired by Albert L. Jewell, a real estate developer who added the large veranda and a two-story addition to the house, and would subdivide the property, developing fashionable houses along Powell Street to the south. The house (while clad in asbestos shingles since the 1960s) is an important early residence in the neighborhood which is today, dominated by late 19th and 20th century architecture.

Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill //1864

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Despite its name, this handsome mill structure, known as the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Mill, is actually located in Central Falls, Rhode Island. The building, located on Roosevelt Avenue on the banks of the Blackstone River, is a great example of a Civil War-era mill, built for one of the many wool and cloth companies in New England. Begun in a small factory across the street in 1856, this business became successful after the acquisition of patents for weaving haircloth (most of the raw material for which originally came from Russian horse markets) for upholstery, crinolines, and inner linings. The company is said to have once been the largest producer of haircloth in the world. The Italianate style mill stands pretty much as built, besides the tower that has lost its low pyramidal cap. The building was one of the first commissions by great Rhode Island architect, William Walker, who was just 34 at the time of designing this large, and complicated structure.

Broad Street Fire Station // 1889

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Built in 1889 at the same time as the Central Falls City Hall across Broad Street, this former fire station in Central Falls, Rhode Island, is a great example of late 19th century architecture for a civic use. The fire station was built in the dense Central Falls village, before it separated from Lincoln, creating their own city. The brick, Queen Anne style structure features a unique mansard roof which is broken by a series of pedimented dormers. The original arched doors have since been infilled, but maintain the original openings, awaiting a thoughtful restoration. The fire station was designed by Pawtucket-based architect, Albert Humes. Due to ever-growing fire trucks, the historic station was eventually deemed obsolete, and a new station was built elsewhere. Today, the former Broad Street Fire Station is occupied as the Morabeza Health Center.

Essex County Jailkeeper’s Residence // 1813

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Built adjacent to and two years after the construction of the Essex County Jail in historic Salem, Massachusetts, this 1813 brick Federal style house was originally the jailkeeper’s residence. It has been speculated that the house was built by Samuel Field Mclntire (1780-1819), son of preeminent Salem carver and master carpenter, Samuel Mclntire, although there is no conclusive evidence. The house displays a 5 x 2-bay massing and is capped by a hip roof with three, large brick chimneys and a center entry with elliptical fan light transom, sidelights, and shallow portico. The jail was in operation until 1991, and at that time was considered the oldest active penitentiary in the United States. Years prior, in 1984, several detainees had successfully sued the county for inadequate living conditions, leading to the closure of the building. A preservation restriction was established for the building and in 2009, the property was conveyed to a developer who converted the complex into 23 apartments, with 19 in the old jail, three in the old jail keeper’s residence, and one in a converted carriage house. The great preservation/adaptive reuse firm of Finegold Alexander Architects furnished the plans for the successful renovation that provided a new life for a once crumbling eyesore.

Former Essex County Jail // 1811

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The former Essex County Jail is a large and significant building in Salem, Massachusetts, that has seen a recent rebirth thanks to the intersection of historic preservation and the demand for new housing in many New England communities. Constructed of large, Rockport granite blocks, the building was constructed in two phases—the section to the east was constructed in 1811-13 while the parallel west wing dates to 1884, with each of the construction dates inscribed at the top of the pediments on the south elevation. Completing the complex is the 1813 Jailer’s Residence which sits at the edge of the now enclosed courtyard. Those who were committed here were largely sentenced to short terms, many for the offense of drunkenness or petty theft. Inside, prisoners did all the labor, such as cooking, baking, firing the boilers, etc., with the female inmates making clothing for all inmates. The jail was in operation until 1991, and at that time was considered the oldest active penitentiary in the United States. Years prior, in 1984, several detainees had successfully sued the county for inadequate living conditions, leading to the closure of the building. A preservation restriction was established for the building and in 2009, the property was conveyed to a developer who converted the complex into 23 apartments, with 19 in the old jail, three in the old jail keeper’s residence, and one in a converted carriage house. The great preservation/adaptive reuse firm of Finegold Alexander Architects furnished the plans for the successful renovation that provided a new life for a once crumbling eyesore.