16 Commonwealth Avenue

16 Commonwealth Avenue

16 Commonwealth Avenue was built ca. 1864 as the home of Charles Woodbury and his wife, Relief (Ball) Woodbury.  In 1862, they had lived on Pinckney Street on Beacon Hill.

Charles Woodbury was a partner in Standish & Woodbury, masons and builders, who built a number of houses in the Back Bay and may have built 16 Commonwealth (his partner, Lemuel Miles Standish, lived at 32 Commonwealth).  Charles Woodbury's nephew, Isaac Franklin Woodbury, was a partner in another contracting firm, Woodbury & Leighton, which also built numerous houses in the Back Bay.

Relief Woodbury died in October of 1879.  Charles Woodbury continued to live at 16 Commonwealth until his death in June of 1891.

After Charles Woodbury's death, 16 Commonwealth became the home of his son-in-law and daughter, Albert Rufus Whittier and Caroline Amelia (Woodbury) Whittier. They previously had lived in Hyde Park.

Albert Whittier was a real estate broker and dealer in mortgages.  He is shown as the owner of 16 Commonwealth on the 1908, 1917, and 1928 Bromley maps.

Carrie Whittier died in January of 1895.  Albert Whittier remarried in 1900 to Louise B. Thompson, and they continued to live at 16 Commonwealth.

Albert Whittier died in August of 1922.

Louise Whittier continued to live at 16 Commonwealth and, in about 1926, she married again, the William Jaffrey de Hauteville Bell.  He was English and 45 years her junior; it appears likely that they married in England, inasmuch as the 1930 US Census shows that they had been married for four years but that he immigrated to the United States in 1927.

William and Louise de Hauteville Bell continued to live at 16 Commonwealth in 1929.  By 1930, they had moved to 27 Prospect Street in Boston.

16 Commonwealth was not listed in the 1930-1937 Blue Books.  However, it remained the property of Louise de Hauteville Bell, who is listed as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1941, 16 Commonwealth was owned by Mabel C. Adams.

In August of 1943, she filed to convert the house into a lodging house.  Her application was denied because of inadequate means of egress and insufficient light and ventilation in the bathrooms.

She filed again in October of 1944, and her application was again denied.  She then petitioned the Board of Appeal.  She asked that the permit be granted "because of my financial inability at the present time to fix up this home; also materials are so short that I cannot buy them to make the staircases fireproof.  I am the widow of the late Dr. Adams and I have begged and borrowed to keep this roof over my head and it is very hard for me to run it with four roomers.  If the City will give me an opportunity, I may be able to raise some money on this house by keeping seven roomers.  Then, at a later date, I will be able to make the repairs.  If not, I shall have to give up this beautiful home and go on the welfare rolls or to the poorhouse."

Notwithstanding her plea, the petition was denied.

In February of 1947, she filed for (and received) permission to make a number of internal renovations to improve fire safety and egress issues.  In the permit, she indicated that the building was being used as a lodging house.

By 1951, 16 Commonwealth was owned by Annie Simmons.  She continued to own it and to operate it as a lodging house in August of 1964.

By 1965, 16 Commonwealth had been acquired by Chamberlayne School and Chamberlayne Junior College, which used the building as a dormitory.

By 1974, 16 Commonwealth was owned by Thomas J. Dokton.  Chamberlayne College had gone bankrupt in the mid-1970s, and it appears likely that he acquired the house as a part of the bankruptcy proceedings.