Newton MA Real Estate

Kennard Estate // 1907

Buildings of New England2 Comments

A significant house and grounds are tucked away, hidden off Dudley Road in Newton, Massachusetts. This is the Kennard Estate. Frederic Hedge Kennard (1865-1937) was born in Brookline and attended Harvard College. He did graduate work for a time at the Bussey Institution and the Lawrence Scientific School, and entered the employ of Frederick Law Olmsted, the noted landscape architect, with his office in Brookline. By 1906, he decided to open his own landscape architecture office, opening locations in Boston and Philadelphia. He would purchase this expansive wooded property, and had this house built by 1907. He laid out the grounds, creating paths and gardens on the property and planted native trees. It is unclear who designed the house, sadly. Mr. Kennard was also a noted ornithologist (an expert on birds) and would host visiting scholars at his home, walking the grounds and studying birds there. After his death in 1937, the property was inherited by his son, Harrison Eisenbrey Kennard, and ultimately willed to the City of Newton upon his death in 1982. Since then, Newton Parks and Recreation have maintained the house (though they could be doing more to preserve it), and opened the grounds as Kennard Park, a free public park comprised of wooded trails and streams.

George Cobb House // c.1865

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

While most of the early homes in Newton Centre were built by a few landowners and rented to tenants, this charming Mansard cottage was owner-occupied from the start. Tucked away on the quiet (and appropriately named) Pleasant Street, the George Cobb House is one of the most beautiful old Victorians in the neighborhood. An early resident was George Washington Cobb (1840-1925) was a druggist who ran an apothecary in East Boston, and he made the long commute there every day from this house. The property has a mansard roof with pedimented dormer and three-story tower capped by a bell-cast mansard roof. Paneled pilasters and brackets add a lot of detail to the primary facade.

Charles H. Bennett Cottage // c.1868

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

Another of the charming gingerbread cottages in Newton Centre built on Charles Davis’ “Mount Pleasant” estate is this charmer. Like the Charles Davis rental cottage on Pleasant Street nearby, this home was rented by Mr. Davis to tenants briefly before it was purchased by George A. Rollins who later sold the property to its longest owner, Charles H. Bennett, a Boston stockbroker. The house is one of four near-identical gingerbread cottages developed by Davis, all retain their decorative bargeboard trim and porch detailing. This one may be my favorite!

Charles S. Davis Cottage // c.1868

Buildings of New England2 Comments

When wealthy Boston manufacturer Charles S. Davis began subdividing his suburban Newton Centre estate, “Mount Pleasant”(last post) in the 1860s he was extremely particular on the dwellings and residents that would be his new neighbors. He sold off some parcels to friends and affluent members of the community and he also built some small gingerbread cottages – like the house seen here – for rent. This Victorian Gothic gingerbread house was rented to provide Mr. Davis with some additional income. It was eventually sold off to a private owner and has been meticulously preserved ever since.

Mount Pleasant Estate // c.1856

Buildings of New England3 Comments

One of the surviving old estates in Newton is Mount Pleasant, one of the oldest in Newton Centre. The home was originally built in the 1850s by Roswell Willard Turner, who acquired large land holdings in Newton Centre. The large property was eventually purchased by Charles S. Davis, an associate of the Boston piano manufacturing firm of Hallett & Davis. As Newton Centre developed, he enlarged his own home in the 1860s, and sold off his holdings, developing the surrounding area with charming Gothic Revival cottages on Mount Pleasant, the hill upon which his property gained its name. His own home was enlarged and includes elongated additions, a tower with hipped roof, and arched windows.

Newton Working Boys Home // c.1895

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

At the edge of the Charles River at the far edge of Newton, Massachusetts, homeless working boys of the Boston area had a place to rest their head. The Working Boys Home was established in 1883, as a new Catholic charity in Boston. Its mission was to provide a home for working adolescent boys (messenger boys, newsboys, boot blacks, etc.) who had no place to call home and often slept in abandoned buildings, alleys, stables, and other such places. The Working Boys Home was open to homeless boys between 12 and 17 years of age, and all were expected to work and contribute a part of their wages to the support of the home. The original space in Jamaica Plain and subsequent Bennett Street (North End) locations were deemed too inadequate. In 1890, the 48-acre estate in the Oak Hill section of Newton was purchased and this four-story brick building built from plans by William H. McGinty. After WWII, city prosperity other services reduced childhood homelessness, and the last group of boys moved out of the Working Boys Home in 1961. The property was sold in 1979 to the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston to be used as a center for activities meeting cross-generational needs, now known as JCC Greater Boston.

Hyde-Richardson House // c.1728

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

The Hyde-Richardson House is one of roughly twenty remaining pre-Revolutionary War homes in Newton. The home was built for Timothy Hyde (1689-1756) after he inherited the property including 36 acres and a house from his father John Hyde. Timothy had two wives: Rebecca Davis who he married in 1718 and died in 1724 (seemingly in childbirth); and his second wife Sarah Whitmore, whom he married in 1727. The home was likely built soon after his second marriage. It is possible that parts of the original home on the site were reused for this structure. He served as Surveyor of Highways and Constable and in 1710 was drafted to serve with the militia in the successful siege of Port Royal in Canada. In 1761, Jeremiah Richardson bought the property and married his wife Dorcas Hall that same year. Richardson was a deacon and like Timothy, served as Surveyor of Highways. The property remained a farm until the 1930s when the automobile and suburban expansion reached the Oak Hill section of Newton. The farmland was ultimately was subdivided to create the surrounding neighborhood in the mid 20th century.

Ellen Banning Ayer Country Estate – “Ledgebrook” // c.1905

Buildings of New England2 Comments

Ellen Banning Ayer (1853-1918) of Minnesota married Frederick Ayer in 1884 and her life completely changed. Frederick Ayer was one of the richest men in New England and he was involved in the patent medicine business, but is better known for his work in the textile industry. After buying the Tremont and Suffolk mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, he bought up many textile operations in nearby Lawrence, combining them in 1899 into the American Woolen Company, of which he was the first president. The couple had at least three houses in Lowell, Boston, Pride’s Crossing and had three children (one of whom Beatrice, later married the famed general George Patton). As the Ayer Mansion on Commonwealth Avenue was being built, the family was looking for a country house near the city. One year, Frederick asked Ellen what she wanted for a gift and she said “roses”. Frederick purchased an old farmhouse on Nahanton Street in Newton and had greenhouses and a stable built immediately, followed by a Colonial Revival country house for his wife Ellen. The mansion held lavish parties for the Ayers, who loved to entertain and it was passed down to their eldest daughter Katharine Ayer Merrill. The property was purchased in the 1920s by Clive and Mona Lacy for decades until it sold in the 1980s. The large site was eyed for redevelopment. The architectural firm of Dimella Shaffer was hired, and they restored the Ayer House, and designed forty residential units on the site, all tucked into the woods gently peering out here and there. The old Ayer House remains as the clubhouse of the Ledgebrook Condominiums Association.

Kistler House // 1893

Buildings of New EnglandLeave a comment

In 1852, Beacon Street in Newton was extended westward from Chestnut Hill through Newton Centre. The village’s suburban development accelerated through the activities of real estate developers as the city became connected to Downtown Boston by roadways and rail. This home was built in 1893 for Andrew and Ann Kistler. Andrew Kistler worked as a leather dealer in Boston, and commuted into the city daily. The Kistler House is an excellent example of Colonial Revival with some added oomph.

Ms. Grace Weston House // c.1898

Buildings of New England4 Comments

At the end of the 19th century, much of Boston’s suburban communities saw rapid development where country estates and farmhouses were razed and their properties laid out for residential development. This house in Newton was built around 1898 as a late Queen Anne and it has so many details and intricacies. The earliest known owner was Grace M. Weston who was mentioned often in local newspapers as an expert on antiques.