BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 294 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108 Area Form no. 31- 17-9 PHOTO (3x3" or 3x5", black & white) Staple to left side of form Photo number Town Brookline MRA Address 29 Linden Place Historic Name Thomas Aspinwall Davis House Use: Original residential -single family Present residential - 2 family Ownership: [2 Private individual Private organization Public Original ownerThomas Aspinwall Davis SKETCH MAP Draw map showing property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and other buildings or geographical features. Indicate north. See attached Map.
Boston South Quadrangle UTM reference: 19/325550/4688610 Map #: 39 DESCRIPTION: Date 1844 Source Historical Sketches of Brook- By Harriet Woods Iine Style Italianate and Gothic Revival elements Architect Information not available Exterior wall fabric Clapboard Outbuildings none Major alterations (with dates) 1903 - new cellar, also altered to two-family Engrance portico added - date unknown From middle of present Moved house lets. for #s Date 1903 21 & 22 Linden P1.E St. Approx. acreage Under one acre Recorded by leslie Larkin Setting Formerly set in the large lot bounded by linden St. and Linden Place OrganizationBrookline Historical Commission this house was moved to make way for 12 other houses built Date Fall 1980 on that lot, and is now closely flanke: Orpinaldechldawssdevidedn9gger original lot 12 additional houses.
31-147-9 (Staple additional sheets here) 29 Linden Place meets NR criteria A,B, and C, being one of the earliest houses to be built in the 1843 Linden Place subdivision, a planned residential area created by Thomas Aspinwall Davis, once Mayor of Boston, and first owner of this house which is an unusual example of the Gothic Revival/Italianate style. Because of the presence of much later infill, this house and other surviving components of the Linden Place development are being nominated individually. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within community) Number 29 Linden Place is a rectangular, 2½ story house with 2 central chim- neys flanking an octagonal cupola, a long rear ell and a first floor bay win- dow in the rear.
It is now quite plain, although original elements of the Gothic Revival style remain in the decorative bargeboards and drip mouldings over the windows, and the design is articulated by the corner boards and match- ing string course. An old photograph (now missing) in the main library show- esecrbarg8söar de continued along under the cornices. ,betore it was moved, with a Gothic gallery across the front and The gallery was probably removed, and the small portico substituted, when the house was moved in 1903, as its placement at the sidewalk left no room for the porch.
A house (since (Continued) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community) Harriet Woods, in Historical Sketches of Brookline, 1874, states, "The site of Linden Place was formerly an extensive cherry and apple or- chard...This ground remained xxxxxx*xxxxxxx*x the property of the Davis family until 1843...It was then laid out in house lots and sold at pub- lic auction. Tt was the first land thus sold in Brookline, and the high- est price paid for any Dart of it was five and a half cents a foot...The central lot was taken by Mr. Thomas Aspinwall Davis, and for him was built the house now occupied by Mr. Goodnow. T. A.
Davis was the son of Ebenezer Davis 3d and a Miss Aspinwall his greatgrandfather had emigrated from Wales to Roxbury in the late 17th century - and was born in the old Davis house on Harrison Place (Kent St.) in 1798. At 14 he was placed in a jeweller's shop in Booton, and although he had no formal schooling, he read a great deal and later studied law on his own. He became a partner in the jewelry business with Julius Palmer, and built this house on the triansle of land formed by Linden Place and Linden Street, spending time ornamenting the grounds with trees and shrubs. Davis entered politics, and after two unsuccessful attempts as a candidate for mayor of Boston, he was elected by a bare majority as a candidate of a new political organization called the Native American Party. (See Koren, below, for more information). The Hon.
Thomas Mayor of Boston for less than a year; he sent in his resignation due to ill health, but it was not accepted, and he was still nominally mayor when he died in November of 1845. was soon sold, and Miss Woods states that it changed owners more frequently than any other in Linden Place. Captain Benjamin Bredley was the next owner of this house, a man of some notoriety in the town. (See Miss Woods, P. 195, and Curtis, pp. 213-14). BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ( Continued ) - Woods, Harriet, Historical Sketches of Brookline, PD.
63-65, 195 Koren, John, Boston, 1822-1922, 100 Years a City, City of Boston Printing Dept., 1923 Maps, 1844, 1855 Tax lists, 1861-69 Boston Directories, 1845, 1867, 1869, 1870 (Continued) 20M-2/80 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity: Brookline Form No: 31- 14--0 Property Name: Thomas Aspinwall Davis House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE demolished) was built in 1850 in Cambridge with many similar features, in- cluding the octa onal cupola, the two flanking chimneys, the center gable and the decorative bargeboards all along the roof edge. See Mid Cambridge, Cambridge Historical Commission, 1967, fig. 79).
Although there are two smaller Gothic "cottages" (both altered) nearby at #1 and #9 Toxteth St., this house, with its cupola and large ell, is the only one of its kind in Brookline. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE According to Woods, he owned considerable property in Brookline Village, and he also owned and built a number of houses elsewhere. (See form for 116 Warren Street). He was a Town Constable and a captain in the militia, but he was best known in the town for his efforts to annoy neighbors by building unsightly structures in full view of their houses, and for estab- lishing the settlements on Bradley's Hill (Philbrick Rd.) and near Jamai- ca Pond. After his death Albert M. Aldrich, a purveyor of butter and cheese at 4 Faneuil Hall Mkt., bought the property, and he soon sold it, with its stable and almost an acre of land to Seth K. Crowell in 1868. (See 44 Linden St.
for disposal of the rest of the original houselot). Crowell ran Crowell, Bro. & Co., paints and oils, at 92 Sudbury St., Bos- ton. The next year he had sold the property to Asa Goodnow, a tobacco merchant at 12 Central Wharf, who retained ownership for a number of years and was mentioned as the owner by Miss Wood in 1874. Es n isent Sate in o the ceneke fo on for new buildings, and where once it was the only house there, it now shares the lot with twelve other structures. Further research has uncovered more information about Thomas Aspin- wall Davis' role in the development known as Linden Place, which was the first such subdivision in the Village area. In 1834 and 1835 Davis acquired part of the land he deviloped by buying up the shares of his brothers Ebenezer Davis of Andover and Increase S." Davis of Wentworth, N. H. which would have come to them after their mother's death.
The mother of all three, Lucy Aspinwall Davis Holden, had, after the death of her husband Ebenezer Davis in 1807, married James Holden, and the land on which Linden Place was laid out became known as Holden's Farm. In November of 1842 T. A. Davis bought from his mother and James Holden their 3/4 share of the land, "... being and lying in the centre of said Brookline containing 31 acres k and 37 rods - the said land being divided in two parts by the county road lead- ing from Brookline to Cambridge and called Harvard Street and being the same land of the said Lucy held in virtue of her right of dower in the es- tate of her late husband Ebenezer Davis..." In 1843 Thomas Aspinwall Davis proceeded to have the land platted in- to lots, on a plan drawn by A. Wadsworth, and to sell off the lots. Al- though a number of the lots were on the west side of Harvard St., between the present Pierce St.
and School St., none of the houses built there re- Staple to Inventory form at bottom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : Brookline Form No: /14t4 Property Name: Thomas Aspinwall Davis House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE main today. Not all of the land was platted - E. F. Woodward's plan of 1841 shows that the land consisted of 18 acres and 3 rods of upland, and 8 acres and 1 rod of marsh. At least one parcel of land was sold with a house on it, but it is not clear whether Davis built the house or it had existed previous to the subdivision - in August of 1844 Davis sold to William I.
Bowditch (see 9 Toxteth Street and 261 Tappan St.) lot 15, most of lot 14 and part of 13 "...with the cottage and grove thereon standing..." Davis imposed a number of restrictions on what could be done with the lots and included amenities for all buyers - all proprietors of land held a right in common to Linden Park and the Court (present Pierce St.) and Avenue (Linden St.) were "to be forever kept open for the use and conven- ience of all the proprietors of Linden Place..." Furthermore, lots were sold " ...upon the condition that no building shall be erected upon said tracts within thirty feet of Harvard St.
or of the Court or Avenues laid down on said plan and upon the further condition that the only buildings to be erected upon said land or placed thereon, shall be dwelling houses and their appurtenances exclusive of all shopyards or other conveniences for manufacturing or mechanical purposes". (Lib. 141, f. 105, Deed) * By 1844 a number of substantial houses had been built in Linden Place (see 4 Perry St., and #s 12, 19 and 53 Linden St.). Charles H. Stearns remarked at the Brookline Historical Society's Annual Meeting in 1920 that "The houses built on this place were considered at the time of their erection, beautiful structures and the colony was rather aristocrat- ic. It was a beautiful section of town and the land to the north and west, now covered with houses, was then a beautiful woods, with a brook .running through it." * An addition to cited deed, dated Sept.
29, 1845, renders all conditions null and void after Jan. 1, 1850. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Stearns, Charles H., "President's Annual Address", Proceedings of the Brookline Historical Society, 1920, pp. 5 and 6. Deeds and Plans, Norfolk County Courthouse, Dedham - L. 105 f. 16, 1834, L. 109 f. 17, 1835, L. 139 f. 31, Nov. 24, 1842, includes plan by E. F. Woodward dated Nov.26, 1841, L. 141 f. 105, May 1843, includes Plan by A. Wadsworth, L. 149 f. 92, Aug. 24, 1844 Staple to Inventory form at bottom NPSForm 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Continuation sheet Item number VIW Expires *10-32-87 For HPS use only eceived 914/81 date entered Page Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name Brookline MRA State MASBACHUSETTS Nomination/Type of Review 11. Cabot, Lewis, Estate 12.
Candler Cottage 0 -13. Chestnut Hill Historic District 14. Child, Isaac, House 15. Corey, Timothy, House #1 16. Corey, Timothy, House #2 17. Cypress-Emerson Historic District 18. Davis, Robert S., House 19. Davis, Thomas Aspinwell, House 20. Douglass, Alfred, House Date/Signatúre Entorad in tre TReoper AuanaBun 10/7.
National Register Attest Enteredin the National Begiater fukeeper deloBa M210i Attest Entered in the Nattonel Jeginter fukteper AelonByan 4p2/s Attest Entered in the National Register fiKeeper AelmesByara/018 Attest Entered In the National Register freeper AemByur2181 Attest fateéper Extered Im Mfer 28208 348-0101 HelunByu d/2181 Attest Jekeeper Entered in the Netionel Begister AebuaByen1012/8i Attest Entered 1n tlie Mattenel Begister Lteeper Aelmußoyen210/7185 Attest Entered detéor duKeeper AhlaByen 10/7/85 122 tiae 2818L02 Attest fteeper AelmerBjer 10/7185 Entered in the Jeblonel Begister Attest WASO Form - 177 (''R" June 1984) 85003260 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Davis, Thomas Aspinwall, House (Brookline MRA) Norfolk County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: sample Reviewer's comments: Lrequest Working No._ Fed.
Reg. Date: 2/3/ Date Due:_ /3/85 Action: ACCEPT Entered in the -RETURN ational Begister REJECT- Federal Agency: - Lappeal NR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline Date _ see continuation sheet A 1985 10 10-1 Nomination returned for: _technical corrections cited below substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2 Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one -original site J moved date 8.
Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect summary paragraph completeness ciarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name_ UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13.
Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to - Signed - Date - - Phone: Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet NOV 1980 Prestige Prints by Berkey NOV 1980 Prestige Prints by Berkey Pavis, Thamas Aspinwall, Hese 29 Lindiu PI. Brookline (Ma) MeA Ypooy STREE A 29 unden Dlace 31 147-9) Thos. Aoinnaui Davis Houke seale "½"= 200tT. LITTELL P0090009M PIERCE LAYGROUND 350 000 MERSOM ST EMERSOM GARDEN 790001 00002 BOYLSTON PLAYGROUND BOYLSTON PROURT IE HOUS I 008 50D PIP PARSONS FIELD 0300 NE 0° ROAD GLEN 2a0p043a PLYGRD SHH KEN 43 g2 ALABE PEARL SQUARE NATER WORKS STREET Soago STREET BROOKLINE AVE. PLAYGROUND IAMES J LYNCH RECREATION CTR. BROOKLINE STR PIVER AVENUE RIVERWA PARWAY IGTON AV. HUNTINGTON AVE.