Newton Mass

Leventhal House // 1949

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An early and distinctive example of an architect-designed Modern/International style residence, the Leventhal House in Newton has been lovingly updated and restored by owners since it was built in 1949. Boston-based Modernist architect, Samuel Glaser, designed the jewel-box Leventhal House for Muriel and Norman B. Leventhal, founder and chairman of The Beacon Companies, a developer and manager of office buildings, housing, and hotels in the Boston area. The Leventhal’s were also collectors of historic maps and in 2004, partnered with the Boston Public Library creating the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at the Boston Public Library which make many historic maps available for research. The Leventhal House stands on a steep rise at the base of Oak Hill and was built soon after the adjacent 1946 Kaplan House designed by Walter Gropius and the Architects Collaborative. The property has been recently restored by Flavin Architects, who did an exceptional job to modernize this early Modern home for 21st century living, while staying true to the significance and architectural qualities of the 1949 design.

Stone Farmhouse // c.1724

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One of the oldest extant homes in Newton, Massachusetts, can be found in the Oak Hill section of town on Dedham Street as a 18th century farmhouse with central chimney. This area was settled by members of the Stone Family as far back as the 1600s. The house is said to date to at least 1788 when it was owned by Ebenezer Stone (1757-1800), but given its form and historic map documentation, it is likely that the home dates to 1724 when the property was owned by Jonathan Stone. The farmhouse remained in the family for generations until it was sold out of Stone family in the 1880s. By 1919, the property was owned by Pietro Volante (1881-1953) a gardener and produce dealer, who built several outbuildings on the property and added porches to the old home. The property was formerly set back farther off the street, but was moved to its current siting and restored in 2017, to allow for a separate dwelling to be built behind. The old Stone Farmhouse was landmarked by the Town of Newton to preserve this important property.

Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company Factory // 1889

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The Gamewell Fire Alarm and Telegraph Company traces its roots to the pioneering work of William Francis Channing and Moses Farmer of Boston, whose 1850s telegraph-based fire alarm system was the first practical fire alarm box system that consisted of telegraph-based boxes placed on street corners, which, when activated, sent a coded signal to a central fire station notifying them of a fire or emergency. The duo applied for a patent for their “Electromagnetic Fire Alarm Telegraph for Cities” which was later acquired by John Gamewell of South Carolina. Following the Civil War, Gamewell partnered with Kennard and Company and built a factory in Newton Highlands in 1873. The company would adopt the trademark of a fist gripping lightningbolts, and by 1886, the Gamewell system was operating in over 250 cities in the United States and Canada. As the company grew operations, the business moved to this site in the Upper Falls village in 1889, which was desirable for its close proximity to the railroad and markets all over the region. The first factory was the two-story wooden factory building completed in 1889, with later wings to its east (1904) and west (1912) as the company continued to expand into the 20th century. The Gamewell company remained here until the 1970’s when Gamewell became a division of Gulf and Western. Luckily, the former factory was restored by owners Alexandria Properties and architects, Kraus Associates, as Telegraph, which now offer retail and office space for small local businesses

Whitney-Dearborn House – St. Elizabeth’s Center // 1838

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Located adjacent to the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church and Rectory in Newton Upper Falls village, this stately Greek Revival style residence has sat in a state of intentional deterioration for over a decade by its owners. The handsome and high-quality structure was built in 1838 for Dr. Samuel S. Whitney, who lived in his new home for six years before moving to Dedham in 1844. Dr. Abraham D. Dearborn bought his practice and home and remained here for ten years, until 1854, when Fred Barden, proprietor of a rolling mill and paper mill in the village, purchased the home in 1855 and lived here until his death 1877. The large property, with fine gardens, a fish pond, and stable, were eventually purchased by the Mary Immaculate of Lourdes parish in 1900 and the house moved to its present location to facilitate the construction of the new church in 1909. For nearly a century, the former Whitney-Dearborn House operated as the St. Elizabeth’s Center until it closed and the property was sold to an LLC in 2016, who sadly, appear to be pushing for a demolition by neglect as the building is located within the local Upper Falls Historic District. If anyone knows more, please share.

Mary Immaculate of Lourdes Catholic Church and Rectory // 1909 & 1938

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At the turn of the 20th century, Newton’s Upper Falls village was an industrial center in the region, with factories employing hundreds of workers, primarily recent immigrants from Ireland and Italy. A Catholic parish in Newton was originally established in the 1840s and within decades, the Roman Catholic church here included between 1,000-1,200 Catholics as far as Needham and Newton Centre. Originally known as St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the former structure was located on Chestnut Street in the village, but was eventually outgrown by the congregation. Ecclesiastical architect from Boston, Edward T. P. Graham, drew plans for the new church, which is unlike the typical Neo-Gothic edifices built in the early 20th century around Boston. The blending of Classical and Renaissance Revival styles works well with the design of Mary Immaculate of Lourdes in Newton, with its monumental classical portico and tympanum with figures in a bas-relief in the Classical style and the Italian Renaissance campanile with balconies and hipped roof towering over the structure. Inside, the sanctuary is illuminated by stained glass windows by Franz Xaver Zettler of Munich, Germany, which were custom-made for the church. On an adjoining lot, Timorthy G. O’Connell, a prominent Boston-area ecclesiastical architect, designed the parish rectory in 1938 in the Colonial Revival style.

Echo Bridge // 1876

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Rapid population growth in the Boston area strained the already overburdened water supply capacity in the second half of the nineteenth century, and engineers and city officials struggled to find solutions. In 1872, the Boston City Engineer proposed a plan to draw water from the Sudbury River in Framingham nearly 19 miles to the Chestnut Hill reservoir to be distributed to homes and businesses all over Boston. The aqueduct was initially designed to carry 80 million gallons of water per day but the route faced one big issue, how to allow the water to travel over the Charles River. The solution was what became Echo Bridge, a 475-foot-long bridge that carries the brick-lined aqueduct over seven powerful granite arches, which is the longest crossing of the Charles River. When completed in 1877, the seventh and largest arch, which spans the Charles River, is said to be the second longest span in the United States when completed. Originally named the Charles River Bridge, the structure was later known as Echo Bridge because of its unusual acoustical properties when standing underneath the largest arch. Today the Sudbury aqueduct system is not in full use and serves only as a standby, in case of a breakdown in the water supply presently being received from the Quabbin Reservoir located in the center of the state. In 1895, the Echo Bridge became the centerpiece of Hemlock Gorge, one of the first reservations in the newly created Boston Metropolitan Park System for its scenery and sheer beauty. Echo Bridge remains one of the most unique places to visit in the Boston area, and retains much of its original details, down to the BWW (Boston Water Works) insignia on the rails.

Ralph Waldo Emerson School // 1904

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The Ralph Waldo Emerson School in Newton’s Upper Falls village was built in 1904 and dedicated a year later serving as the main school building in the industrial village. The brick school building was constructed adjacent to the Levi C. Wade School, a large Second Empire style wood-frame school constructed in 1869. The Wade School was razed for a 1950s addition to the Ralph Waldo Emerson School. The substantial school building was designed by the prominent architectural firm of Hartwell Richardson & Driver, at a time when the Upper Falls Village continued to expand due to the well-established cotton manufacturing mills and the Gamewell Fire Alarm Company. The large structure is hard to classify architecturally, as it blends elements of the Renaissance Revival, Arts & Crafts and Classical Revival styles, but with its massive chimneys, hipped roof with projecting eaves, and large arched windows, the building is an architectural statement for the relatively vernacular industrial village it is located in. By the end of the 20th century, school enrollments and consolidation of village schools saw the closing of the Emerson School, but luckily, the building lives on after it was converted to condominiums, with the 1955 addition now serving as a day care center, a senior citizen room and gymnasium-hall for the community. 

Pettee Stone Cottage // c.1839

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Located next to the Pettee Stone Barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village, this equally charming stone cottage was built around the same time by Otis Pettee, a wealthy industrialist and founder of the Pettee Machine Works, which manufactured cotton and silk machinery. This cottage served as a shop and later as the residence of the caretaker of the silk mill which also had space and equipment to raise the silk worms in the adjacent barn. Later in the nineteenth century, the cottage was owned by George Pettee (1827-1896), son of Otis Pettee. In the 20th century, the structures were operated by the New England Spun Silk Corporation and it now is a single-family residence. The facade of the Pettee Cottage is three bays wide with twelve-over-twelve windows with wood shutters.

Pettee Stone Barn // 1839

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This historic stone barn in Newton’s Upper Falls village is representative of the ingenuity and resourcefulness of this once thriving nineteenth century mill village. Known as the Pettee Stone Barn, the structure dates to 1839 when Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who managed an iron foundry and machine-works for cotton machinery, built this structure as a warehouse. The barn was said to have been used additionally as a location for raising silkworms by Pettee’s company. After the business closed, the handsome barn was used later in the 19th and early 20th century as a carriage and horse barn for a shipping company and today, is rented to local businesses. Architecturally, the barn is significant for its use of fieldstone walls with door and window surrounds of cut stone and brick. A monitor roof runs the length of the gable ridge and illuminates the interior spaces. The Stone Barn remains remarkably preserved today and is a landmark in the community. 

Newton Upper Falls Railroad Depot // 1852

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When the short-lived Charles River Railroad opened in 1852, first connecting the Boston and Worcester Railroad in Brookline to Newton’s Upper Falls village, the small community here saw immediate prosperity and turned into a thriving industrial village. In 1847, a petition was filed with the Legislature of Massachusetts to build a rail line linking greater Boston to the Rhode Island border. While a more direct route was easier, Otis Pettee (1795-1853), who owned an iron foundry called Pettee Works where he manufactured cotton machinery, seems to have been the principal promoter for the line to pass through the village of his factory. Pettee died soon-after the line was finished, but his persistence for this track served two additional benefits. Firstly, it opened up development into other Newton villages for early suburban development, and secondly, it served as a major line to bring gravel from Needham to fill the Back Bay, opening that iconic Boston neighborhood to development. The Upper Falls Depot dates to about the time that the initial line opened in 1852 and is a typical, vernacular train depot in New England from this period. The Charles River Railroad merged with the New York and Boston Railroad in 1855 and was later sold to the Boston and Albany Railroad. Following the near death of the railroad system in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, much of the former Charles River Railroad today has survived despite the abandonment of much of the rest of the former New York and New England Railroad lines. This section is currently a part of the D-Branch of the MBTA’s Green Line. 

Hills Library – Andover Newton Theological School // 1895

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The Hills Library is a formal building standing at the summit of Institution Hill, so-named as the home of the Newton Theological Institution (and most recently as the Andover Newton Theological School). The library was constructed in 1895 from plans by architects Henry H. Kendall and Edward F. Stevens of the firm, Kendall & Stevens. Designed in 1894 in the Neo-Classical style, the library has a stately portico in the Ionic order with a pediment above. The building is constructed of yellow brick with stone and terracotta trimmings with banks of vertical windows. The library would be added onto at the rear, with the main entrance later closed for an accessible entrance in a rear addition. The building is now known as the Hanns Sachs Memorial Library for the current owners and stewards, the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute (BPSI).

Colby Hall – Andover Newton Theological School // 1866

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Colby Hall sits perched atop a hill overlooking Newton Centre, Newton, and is located in the Andover Newton Theological School campus. The building was constructed in 1886 for the Newton Theological Institution, which was founded on this site in 1825, and used for the a Baptist seminary, educating young students in theology. By the 1860s, the school had outgrown its space and following a donation from benefactor,  Gardner Colby (1810–1879), who was treasurer of the school (and was also the benefactor and namesake of Colby College in Maine) plans were drawn up for the new lecture spaces and chapel building. The unique building was designed by Alexander Rice Esty, a prominent architect at the time, and it blends Second Empire and Romanesque Revival styles under one roof. The three-story structure is of a light buff, rough cut stone with sandstone trim and features an imposing four-story tower at the eastern end. In November 2015, the school announced that it would sell its campus and become part of Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut. The Newton campus was purchased by the Windsor Park School with Colby Hall now occupied by the Boston Psychoanalytic Society & Institute.

Farwell Hall – Andover Newton Theological School // 1829

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The Newton Theological Institution, a school originally founded for the Baptist ministry, opened on Institution Hill in Newton Center in 1825. The 40-acre campus started with six buildings, including this one, Farwell Hall, built in 1829. Farwell Hall is the oldest extant building on the campus today and is named after benefactor and early founder of the school, Levi Farwell. The brick building began as a late-Federal-designed building with a classic Federal Style window fenestration and Adamesque brick arches on the first story side elevations, but the formerly Federal style building was modernized in 1871 with the addition of a fourth floor via a mansard roof, and a more recent, unfortunate altered entry with projecting roof. After the Andover Newton Theological School sold their campus, the building has since been home to an assisted care facility.

Jackson-Richards Farmhouse // c.1768

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This historic home at the edge of Newton Centre is believed to have been built by 1768 by Abraham Jackson, a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in what would become Newton. Abraham took out a mortgage on three acres of land and woodlands, a dwelling house and barn. In 1782, the property was acquired by Aaron Richards (1750-1823), a Revolutionary War veteran and carpenter, who likely modified the residence into the Federal style form and design we see today. Aaron Richards would farm the land here until his death. The farmhouse would be bought and sold and the property subdivided in the 19th and 20th centuries, diminishing the farm and woodland which once surrounded the residence. For a period after the Civil War, the property was owned by the Boston Children’s Aid Society as a Girl’s Home, used as a boarding house to raise orphaned girls from the Boston area, teaching them skills to increase their hopes of adoption or moving out on their own. The property was reverted to a residence by the 20th century and is significant as one of Newton’s few extant 18th-century farmhouses.

Former Newton Centre Women’s Clubhouse // 1922

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The Newton Centre Women’s Club began in 1887 when a group of women in the village came together to work for the relief of disabled veterans from the Civil War. Their objectives included giving aid to charitable causes, mutual improvement through literary, along with artistic and educational pursuits. Expanding membership over the next two decades strengthened the club, enabling them to build their clubhouse in 1922 on land given to them. The Georgian Revival style clubhouse was designed by architect Oscar A. Thayer and the building featured a large art gallery for artists to showcase their work as well as members to bring in art of their own collections to study and discuss. Due to shifting social structures and an aging population of members, the clubhouse was sold in 1973 and converted to commercial use. The building was renovated with more modern windows and other features and was renamed Picadilly II. In the spirit of the club and its push for community, the building houses many local companies frequented by residents today.