23 Commonwealth Avenue

21-23 Commonwealth Avenue

23 Commonwealth Avenue was built ca. 1868, designed to form a symmetrical composition with 21 Commonwealth, built at the same time.

23 Commonwealth was built as the home of Daniel Nicolson Spooner and his wife, Elizabeth (Torrey) Spooner.  In 1865, they had lived at 90 Boylston Street.

Daniel Spooner had been a partner in the China shipping firm of Russell & Co.  He and Elizabeth had resided in Canton from about 1852 until about 1857, when he returned to Boston and became a merchant. By 1865, he was treasurer of the Great Falls Manufacturing Company, a textile mill in Somersworth, New Hampshire.

He died in August of 1869, and Elizabeth Spooner continued to live at 23 Commonwealth.  She  is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map.

By the mid-1870s, Elizabeth Spooner's unmarried sister, Mary E. Torrey, lived with her, and by the time of the 1880 US Census, their niece, Fanny Sturgis (daughter of William Sturgis and Katherine Gore Torrey), also lived with them.

During the 1877-1878 winter season, Elizabeth Spooner and Mary Torrey were living elsewhere, and 23 Commonwealth was the home of  East India merchant John Charles Phillips, Jr., and his wife Anna (Tucker) Phillips.  In 1876, they had lived at 179 Beacon Street with his brother-in-law and sister, Alfred Belcher Hall and his wife, Margaret Welch (Phillips). 

By 1879, the Phillipses had moved to 299 Berkeley Street and Mrs. Spooner and Miss Torrey were once again living at 23 Commonwealth.  By the time of the 1880 US Census, their niece, Fanny Sturgis (daughter of William Sturgis and Katherine Gore Torrey), also lived with them.

Elizabeth Spooner continued to live at 23 Commonwealth until about 1880.  In 1881 or 1882, she moved to 196 Commonwealth, which she had built as her home.

By 1882, 23 Commonwealth was the home of banker Eugene Van Rensselaer Thayer and his wife Susan (Spring) Thayer.  They had been married in December of 1880 and 23 Commonwealth probably was their first home together.  Prior to their marriage, he had lived with his parents at 70 Mount Vernon Street on Beacon Hill.  He is shown as the owner of 23 Commonwealth on the 1883 Bromley map.

By 1888, it was the home of dry goods merchant Ezra Farnsworth and his wife, Mary Kunze (Oakley) Farnsworth .  He is shown as the owner on the 1888 Bromley map.

Mary Farnsworth died in March of 1889, and Ezra Farnsworth died in July of 1890.

The house was not listed in the 1892 Blue Book.

By 1894, 23 Commonwealth was the home of Mrs. Cora (Lyman) Shaw, the widow of Gardiner Howland Shaw.  She is shown as the owner on the 1908 and 1917 Bromley maps.

She continued to live there until her death in December of 1922.

The house was not listed in the 1924 Blue Book.

By 1924, 23 Commonwealth was owned by Mary (Pratt) Brandegee, wife of real estate investor Edward Deshon Brandegee.

The Brandegees did not live at 23 Commonwealth and, in 1925, their home was listed in the City Directory as Faulkner Farm at 280 Newton Street in Brookline.  Mary (Pratt) Brandegee was the grand-daughter of shipping and railroad magnate William Fletcher Weld.  She had been married previously to Charles Franklin Sprague, and she and her first husband had established Faulkner Farm, probably on land that originally was part of the Weld Estate.

By 1927, the Brandegees had leased 23 Commonwealth to Dr. Elisha Flagg, a physician, and his wife, Eleanor (Shattuck) Flagg.  Hugh Whitney, Mrs. Flagg's son by her previous marriage, lived with them.  They had lived at 96 Beacon Street in 1925.

Dr. and Mrs. Flagg and Hugh Whitney continued to live there until about 1934.

Edward Deshon Brandegee died in September of 1933, and Mary Brandegee and her son, stockbroker John Langdon Brandegee, moved to 23 Commonwealth following his death.  She also continued to maintain her home at Faulkner Farm.

John Brandegee no longer was listed at 23 Commonwealth in the 1936 Blue Book.

Mary Brandegee continued to live there in 1947, and probably later.  She continued to be shown as the owner on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1957, 23 Commonwealth was owned by Charles Merrill.  The house remained a single family dwelling.