Old House Blog

John D. Sturtevant Double-House // 1892

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John Dean Sturtevant (1816-1889) was born in New Hampshire and became engaged there in local woolen mills, quickly growing into advanced management positions. He operated woolen mills in New Hampshire, Maine, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, and settled in Brookline where he had access to other states via excellent rail service. When he died in 1889, John’s heirs inherited their late-father’s properties, and began to develop them as Brookline filled out in the last decades of the 19th century. This handsome double-house at the corner of Cypress and Waverly streets was built in 1892 by the Sturtevant Estate, who rented the property to two families of wealthy residents. The Sturtevant Double-House is a landmark and exceptionally preserved example of the Queen Anne style, with varied siding, asymmetrical forms, complex roofline with dormers, and applied ornament in the form of carved panels.

Faxon-Howe House // 1844

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The Lindens neighborhood, located just east of the civic and commercial core of Brookline Village, was long an apple and cherry orchard known as Holden Farm. Beginning in 1843, the area became the earliest planned development in the town and was laid out as a “garden suburb” for those wishing to escape the growing congestion of Boston. As originally conceived in 1843, it reflected the latest ideals of planned residential development for a semi-rural setting on land owned by Thomas Aspinwall Davis. The streets, parks, and house lots here were laid out by civil engineer, Alexander Wadsworth, who two years earlier, laid out plans for Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, the first “Rural Cemetery” in America. Early homes were built on speculation by John F. Edwards, an architect-builder, for Davis, who was strict about high-quality designs in the Greek and Gothic revival styles in his newly laid out neighborhood. This house, at 53 Linden Street, was built in 1844 by Edwards, and sold soon-after to John G. Faxon (1793-1861), a lumber merchant who made his fortune in Lubec, Maine until he moved to Brookline. Faxon sold the house in 1851 to Thomas Howe, who likely added the Italianate style tripartite windows with the lower having scroll brackets.

Gleason-Patterson House // 1803

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Another stately old home on Glezen Lane in Wayland is this brick, Federal style country mansion located across from the town Training Field. This residence is said to have been built by a Nathaniel Gleason (Glezen) and later inherited by a family member, Abel Glezen (1803-1890) who farmed the 55 acres of land and was a local politician. In 1900, as Wayland shifted from rural community to a desirable Boston suburb for summer residences, the Gleason House was purchased by Henry W. Patterson, who was in his late 20s when he bought this country house. Henry inherited his father’s estate and married Jane Harrington Adams from Massachusetts. The couple spent only a couple years here until Henry died in 1907 at just 35 years old. Jane, his widow, remained here until her death in 1950. The estate was subsequently subdivided and remains one of the finest homes in the community.

Griffin-Malloy House // 1720

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This First Period Home on in Wayland, Massachusetts, can be found at 184 Glezen Lane and is one of the community’s oldest residences. The Griffin-Malloy Homestead dates to about 1720 and is a large, single-family farmhouse that is just over 300 years old! Records state that the house was built by early settler, Samuel Griffin and possibly expanded later by his son, Deacon Jonathan Griffin. After generations of Griffin Family ownership, the old farmhouse was purchased in 1877 by Timothy Malloy (1839-1909) an Irish immigrant who settled in Wayland and operated a farm here. The house as of the 20th century, retained much of its original wood paneled walls and fireplaces, and has been lovingly preserved by generations of great stewards. 

Bryant-Finlay House // c.1713

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This large First Period house in Wayland dates to the early 18th century and was originally located in Kingston, Massachusetts, and moved to its present location in the 40s. The historic home was built by 1713 for Jonathan Bryant (1677-1731). After 250 years in Kingston, the house was threatened with demolition, and was ultimately saved by Wayland resident, Allan Finlay. Allan was a member of the town’s Planning and School boards, and was active in overseeing the Modern expansion of Wayland’s schools in the 1950s and 60s. In 1941, Finlay had this house disassembled and rebuilt on land on Old Sudbury Road for his family. The house, with its expansive setback, overlooks preserved wetlands.

Benjamin Adams Farmhouse // 1775

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Benjamin Adams (1750-1843) was born in Milton, but relocated to East Sudbury (later renamed Wayland) and purchased property here from a Bezaleel Moore, a tanner and farmer. Soon after moving to town, in 1775, he mustered with the minutemen under the command of Capt. Nathaniel Cudworth. After the conclusion of the war, Benjamin married Elizabeth “Betsy” Adams and they expanded the old farmhouse (today at 34 Lincoln Road) and raised their children here. The property remained in the family until 1873 when it was purchased and operated as a dairy farm. In the 1920s, the farmhouse was expanded with Colonial Revival additions and a renovation for use as a summer residence and gentleman’s farm. It is believed that some of the interior wood paneling inside the house was added at this time and was salvaged from the Pequod Inn, which was razed around that time.

Ames-Mellen House // c.1823

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This house in Wayland Center was built for Dr. Ebenezer Ames (1788-1861) who had a medical practice treating patients in East Sudbury (later named Wayland) and other surrounding communities. Dr. Ames is believed to have built this house in about 1823, which is a five-bay, two-story Federal style house under a hipped roof. Dr. Ames moved to another home in the village by 1830 and this old residence was purchased by Judge Edward Mellen (1802-1875) who lived in the house from 1831 until his death in 1875. Judge Mellen was appointed Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Court of Common Pleas in 1855, and practiced law in Wayland from a small office that still stands in the center of the village. Mellen’s widow Sophia Mellen remained here after her husband’s death in 1875 until her death in 1893. The front porch was likely added in the early 20th century, but does not at all detract from the architectural significance of the 200 year old residence.

Pousland House // c.1865

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Built around 1865, this stately residence in Wayland, Massachusetts, was originally owned by sea captain, Edward Pousland who came to Wayland with his family around 1859. Interestingly, Mr. Pousland continued working as a sea captain, travelling to Salem and Beverly, where he would be at sea for months at a time. Likely due to his profession, the house features a ‘widow’s walk’, a common feature of houses by the sea where folklore holds that the wives of ships’ captains looked out for the return of their husbands. Edward, his wife Hannah W. (Langmaid) Pousland lived in this house at least until Edward’s death. After successive ownership, the property was purchased by Jonathan Maynard Parmenter (1831-1921), who gifted the house to the First Parish Church across the street, for use as a parsonage a use that continued until 1984 when the church sold the house back into private ownership. The house, designed in the Italianate style, was “modernized” in the early 20th century with Colonial Revival alterations, which added the portico and likely removed the brackets at the eaves.

Coolidge-Burnham House // 1822

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This charming old home on Burnham Road in Bolton, Massachusetts, was built in 1822, but as a one-story three-quarter cape house with the additional story added later in the 19th century. The residence was built for William Coolidge, a Revolutionary War veteran. After successive ownership, the property was sold in 1855 to Reuben Burnham, a carpenter, who soon after added the second floor onto his new home, keeping the original cornice which now serves as a visual reminder of the home’s changes. Sadly, around 100 years later, the highway cut through the town, bisecting this property, which now abuts the busy road, but owners have maintained and preserved this stunning property which is evocative of the early days of Bolton.

Wilder Mansion // c.1738

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The Wilder Mansion at 101 Wilder Road in Bolton, Massachusetts, was built in about 1738 as an early Georgian farmhouse by Josiah Richardson, a Revolutionary War veteran who died in the home in 1799. By 1814, Sampson Vryling Stoddard Wilder purchased the property and “modernized” the old farmhouse which due to its location along the Bay Path, a major east-west route from Lancaster to Boston, operated it as an inn and tavern. Mr. Wilder expanded the property, purchasing additional nearby farmland to create a country seat worthy of a wealthy agent for some of the most influential merchants in the shipping trade in Boston. During his tour of the United States in 1824, Marquis de Lafayette spent the night here on September 2nd between visits to Boston and Lancaster. Sampson V. S. Wilder lost the property following economic crises, and the property changed hands many times until the early 20th century. Stockbroker John L . Saltonstall (1878-1929), first cousin to Massachusetts Governor Leverett Saltonstall, hired Boston architects Bigelow & Wadsworth in 1910, to return the house to a more Colonial appearance. He and his family were apparently only summer residents here, and he was probably absent for a long period during the First World War, when he worked with the Navy and the War Trade Board in Washington, D.C. In about 1915, he sold the property, and in the early 1920’s he relocated to Topsfield, Mass. After WWI, the house had a series of short-term owners, one of which was Henry Forbes Bigelow, who designed the renovation of the house just years prior. Bigelow would later relocate to a new summer house nearby in Lancaster.