The house at 159 Chestnut Street in Holyoke was built around 1870 for James Hale Newton (1832-1921), president of the Chemical Paper Company and the Home National Bank. In 1879 he established the Wauregan Mill, one of six he organized in Holyoke. In 1907, Newton moved to a larger house on the outskirts of the city. His old house house later briefly served (1911-1918) as the Holyoke Club. It was acquired in 1919 for the Holyoke Day Nursery, founded in 1916 and run by the Sisters of Providence. The building was enlarged in 1947 and attached to the neighboring carriage house.