20 Commonwealth Avenue

20-36 Commonwealth Avenue

20 Commonwealth Avenue was designed by Gridley Bryant and Arthur Gilman, architects, and built ca. 1861, one of nine contiguous houses (20-22-24-26-28-30-32-34-36 Commonwealth).  In his Houses of Boston’s Back Bay, Bainbridge Bunting calls the group “one of the most imposing compositions in the whole district.”

20 Commonwealth was built for merchant and banker Samuel Gray Ward.  Three years later, he had 18 Commonwealth built next door.  He is shown as the owner of both 18 and 20 Commonwealth on the 1874 Hopkins map.

By 1862, 20 Commonwealth was the home of Samuel Ward's mother, Mrs. Lydia (Gray) Ward, the widow of merchant and banker Thomas Wren Ward.  After 18 Commonwealth was built next door, it became the home of her son-in-law and daughter, merchant Charles Hazen Dorr and Mary Gray (Ward) Dorr.

Lydia Ward continued to live at 20 Commonwealth in 1872, and probably until her death in October of 1874.

20 Commonwealth was not listed in the 1876 and 1877 Blue Books.

By 1879, it was the home of Charles Pelham Curtis, Jr., and his wife, Caroline Gardiner (Cary) Curtis.  They also maintained a summer residence at 145 Orient Street in Swampscott.

Charles Curtis was an attorney and president of the Lowell Bleachery and Dye Works.  He is shown as the owner of 20 Commonwealth on the 1883, 1888, and 1908 Bromley maps.

By 1889, Charles and Caroline Curtis had been joined at 20 Commonwealth by their widowed daughter, Mrs. Margaret Pelham (Curtis) Russell, the widow of Robert Shaw Russell, who had died in September of 1887.  He had been treasurer of the Dexter Woollen Mills.

Charles Curtis died in September of 1906.

Caroline Curtis and Margaret Russell continued to live at 20 Commonwealth in 1917.

In June of 1919, Margaret Russell applied for (and subsequently received) permission to build a bay window at the second floor in the rear.

By 1920, Caroline Curtis no longer was enumerated at 20 Commonwealth in the US Census, and probably had died.  Margaret Russell continued to live there until her death in January of 1924.

By July of 1924, 20 Commonwealth was owned by Dr. Frederick Leo Good and his wife, Helena M. (Daly) Good.  Helen M. Good is shown as the owner on the 1928 and 1938 Bromley maps.

Frederick Good was an obstetric surgeon.  In 1951, he joined with another Catholic doctor, Rev. Otis F. Kelly, to write Marriage, Morals, and Medical Ethics, described as "a discussion of medico-moral problems in matrimony confronting priests, physicians, nurses, social workers, hospital administrators, and all those who need responsible information."

The Goods lived in Brookline.  He maintained his office at 20 Commonwealth and also rented rooms to lodgers (even though the house continued to be zoned as a single family dwelling).

In 1945, the Goods remodeled the house into a two-family residence with doctor's office "so that the Doctor's son and wife can occupy present rear room."

The house subsequently changed hands and, in 1979, was converted into six apartments.