The house at 270 Maple Street in Springfield reached its current form in 1905, although parts of it may date back to 1879. It was the home of Springfield banker Frederick Harris (1852-1926), who succeeded his father, Frederick H. Harris, as president of the Third National Bank of Springfield in 1911. He married Emily Osborne, sister of Helen Osborne Storrow, the philanthropist who founded Storrowton Village at the Big E. A school in Springfield is named for Frederick Harris.

One of the houses that later became part of the MacDuffie School campus in Springfield was a Tudor Revival home built in 1929 for George W. Kyburg, a wealthy businessman. Located at 6 Ames Hill Drive, the house was designed by Max Westhof, who had moved his practice from New York to Springfield in 1917 and became one of the city’s premiere architects. The Kyburg House, along with the other MacDuffie School buildings, was sold in 2011 when the school relocated to a campus in Granby. While the sale of the old campus, including the Kyburg House, was underway, its buildings were severely damaged by the Springfield Tornado of June 1, 2011. The David Ames, Jr. House, also part of the campus and previously featured on this site, lost its roof and attic story and its front portico was damaged. The sale of the campus proceeded, despite the damage, to a new owner who will continue to use the property as a school, called Commonwealth Academy, a new urban-based private school. Tornado recovery was recently delayed due to an insurance dispute.