Month: July 2009

Lyman Estate (1793)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Waltham

Lyman Estate

The Lyman Estate, formerly known as “The Vale,” is a country estate in Waltham, originally established in 1793 by Boston merchant Theodore Lyman. The Estate’s grand Federal-style mansion was completed in 1798 and was designed by the Salem architect, Samuel McIntire. The mansion remained in the Lyman family as a summer home for the next century-and-a-half. Lydia Lyman Paine, daughter of nineteenth century owner George Lyman, married Robert Treat Paine, who built Stonehurst on a neighboring estate. The Lyman family added an upper story to their house in 1882. The estate, now owned by Historic New England, is known for its greenhouses (the earliest of which dates to 1800), which are open to the public.

Stonehurst, the Robert Treat Paine Estate (1886)

by Dan//Houses, Romanesque Revival, Second Empire, Shingle Style, Victorian Eclectic, Waltham

Stonehurst

Stonehurst was the country house of Robert Treat Paine, Jr., a lawyer, housing reformer and great grandson of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Located in Waltham, the earliest part of the house was a Second Empire building, designed by Gridley James Fox Bryant and constructed in 1866 for Paine and his wife, Lydia Lyman Paine. This house was moved to a new site atop a ridge and a large addition in the Shingle style was designed by the architect H.H. Richardson. Begun in 1884, the project was almost complete when Richardson died in 1886. In collaboration with Richardson was the great landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. The organic relationship of the completed house and the landscape is a notable feature of what is considered to be an architectural masterpiece. The estate was given to the City of Waltham and is open to the public.

Samuel Colton Booth House (1821)

by Dan//Federal, Houses, Longmeadow

Samuel Colton Booth

The 1821 brick Federal style home of Samuel Colton Booth is at 577 Longmeadow Street in Longmeadow. Booth was married twice, first to Mary Ann Alvord and then to Rhoda Colton. He was a farmer who had a strong interest in mineralogy and archeology, collecting many specimens, which were later donated to the Springfield Science Museum. His daughter, Mary Ann Booth, also pursued an interest in natural science. Samuel Colton Booth was also a member of the Massachusetts Militia in the early nineteenth century.

Peter Rice Homestead (1688)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Marlborough

Peter Rice Homestead

The home of the Marlborough Historical Society is the Peter Rice Homestead at 337 Elm Street. The Homestead was built in 1688, on the half of his father’s original house lot which Peter Rice inherited. That year, he had married Rebecca Howe and their descendants would occupy the house into the mid-nineteenth century. The house was added to over the years and subdivided in the 1940s. It was donated to the Historical Society in 1967 and is now a museum.

Golden Ball Tavern (1768)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Taverns, Weston

Golden Ball Tavern

The Golden Ball Tavern was constructed by Captain Isaac Jones in 1768 on the Boston Post Road in Weston. Jones was a Tory and, during the agitation leading up to the Revolution, he continued to serve Dutch tea, in spite of local protest. In March 1774, Patriots raided the Tavern in what is known as the “Weston Tea Party.” Jones was prominent in the community, so the Tavern remained open, but in 1775, he is known to have entertained two British spies! Later becoming a supporter of the Revolutionary army, Jones continued as a prosperous citizen after the war and his descendants continued to live in his house until 1963. The following year, the house was established as a Trust and opened as the Golden Ball Tavern Museum.

First Parish Church in Sudbury (1797)

by Dan//Churches, Federal, Sudbury

First Parish Church in Sudbury

The first religious services in the Parish of Sudbury took place in 1640, east of the Sudbury River in what is now Wayland. The congregation west of the river completed their own meeting house in 1722 and Rev. Israel Loring became their first minister. The current First Parish Church in Sudbury replaced the original structure on the same location in 1797. In 1837, the rise of the Unitarian movement split the congregation and the First Parish became a Unitarian church. According to the History of Sudbury (1889), by Alfred Sereno Hudson,

For a time the old society had different preachers to supply the pulpit. From March 30 to September 22, according to a record book of Capt. Israel Haynes, no less than twelve different ministers preached there. In the summer of 1841, Rev. Linus Shaw was invited to preach, which he did till fall. Soon after, the meeting-house was remodelled, and in 1844, he was invited to preach there again ; he did so, and the result was his settlement as pastor. He was installed June 5, 1845, and continued in the pastorate till his death.