25-27 Commonwealth Avenue
25-27 Commonwealth Avenue 25 and 27 Commonwealth were built ca. 1861 for shipping merchant and Congressman Samuel Hooper and his wife Anne (Sturgis) Hooper on land he had purchased from the Commonwealth in May of 1860. Samuel and Anne Hooper lived at 27 Commonwealth. Their son, William Sturgis Hooper and his wife, Alice (Mason) Hooper, lived at 25 Commonwealth. 25 Commonwealth He died in September of 1863. Alice Hooper continued to live at 25 Commonwealth in 1865, and probably until she married again, in October of 1866, to U. S. Senator Charles Sumner. Soon thereafter, 25 Commonwealth became the home of Samuel and Anne Hooper’s son in-law and daughter, attorney Thornton Kirkland Lothrop and his wife, Anne Maria (Hooper) Lothrop. They had been married in April of 1866 and 25 Commonwealth probably was their first home together. Samuel Hooper is shown as the owner of both houses on the 1874 Hopkins map, on which they are drawn as a single residence with two addresses. Samuel Hooper died in February of 1875. After his death, his widow moved to 53 Beacon Street, and Thornton and Anne Lothrop moved to 27 Commonwealth. By 1877, 25 Commonwealth was the home of former China merchant James Murray Forbes and his wife, Alice (Bowditch) Forbes. The Forbes had moved to 249 Berkeley by 1878 By 1879, 25 Commonwealth was the home of Martha Mansfield (Shepard) Silsbee, the widow of Salem merchant John Boardman Silsbee. She had lived at 256 Beacon Street in 1876. She also maintained a summer home in Beverly. She continued to live at 25 Commonwealth in 1882. The house was not listed in the 1884 and 1885 Blue Books. By 1888, it was the home of investment banker Oliver White Peabody and his wife, Mary Ann (Lothrop) Peabody, Thornton Lothrop's sister. Oliver Peabody is shown as the owner of 25 Commonwealth on the 1888 Bromley map; 27 Commonwealth continued to be the home of Thornton and Annie Lothrop. Oliver Peabody died in October of 1896. Mary Ann Peabody continued to live at there until her death in January of 1911. In September of 1911, 25 Commonwealth was purchased from Mary Peabody's Estate by Alice Putnam (Bacon) Lothrop, the widow of William Sturgis Hooper Lothrop. Her deceased husband was Mrs. Peabody's nephew and the son of Thornton and Anne Lothrop. He had been a banker in Puerto Rico, where he died in April of 1905. By 1915, 25 Commonwealth was the home of Annie Lee (Allen) Chauvenet, the widow of St. Louis attorney Louis Chauvenet. In 1910, she had lived at 20 Westmoreland Place in St. Louis, which she had built after her husband's death in 1904. It appears likely that she moved to Boston when her son, Louis Chauvenet, Jr., reached college age. By 1916, she had purchased and moved to 180 Beacon Street, and 25 Commonwealth was the home of Miss Mary Ames, daughter of railroad investor Frederick Lothrop Ames. She is shown as the owner on the 1917 Bromley map. Mrs. Emma Isabelle (Jones) Sinclair, the widow of New Hampshire railroad investor Charles Arthur Sinclair, lived with her. Mary Ames married in May of 1916 to Louis Adams Frothingham, who had served as Speaker of the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1904-1905 and as Lt. Governor in 1909-1911 (in 1921, he was elected to Congress, where he served until his death in 1928). Mary (Ames) Frothingham served as president of the Massachusetts Anti-Suffrage Association. In June of 1918, Mary (Ames) Frothingham sold 25 Commonwealth to William Madison Wood, Jr., and his wife, Edith (Robinson) Wood. Before occupying the house, they undertook major remodeling, including adding a rear ell, adding an additional story at the rear of the house, and installing an elevator. They lived at 7 West Hill Place while the construction was being completed, and probably took occupancy of 25 Commonwealth sometime in 1920. William Wood, Jr., was a vice president of the American Woolen Company, founded by his father, until November of 1919, when he resigned to go into business for himself. He subsequently formed the firm of Edington & Co., wool merchants. He was killed in August of 1922 in an automobile accident. Edith Wood continued to live at 25 Commonwealth in 1925. By August of 1926, 25 Commonwealth was the home of attorney Robert Frederick Herrick and his wife Margaret Forbes (Perkins) Herrick. He is shown as the owner on the 1928 Bromley map. In 1929, he extended the rear ell across the yard to the party wall and carry up it up three floors. Ann Lothrop, the widow of Thornton Lothrop, had continued to live at 27 Commonwealth until her death in July of 1930. It appears that, after her death, the Herricks acquired 27 Commonwealth and occupied both 25 and 27 Commonwealth as their residence (27 Commonwealth no longer is listed in the Blue Books after 1931). Robert Herrick is shown as the owner of both 25 and 27 Commonwealth on the 1938 Bromley map. Robert Herrick died in October of 1942. 25 Commonwealth remained a single-family dwelling until the mid-1960s, when it was inherited by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The hospital had owned 27 Commonwealth since about 1943 (probably having been bequeathed it by Robert Herrick) and operated it as a dormitory for nurses. In October of 1968, MGH converted 25 Commonwealth to a dormitory. 27 Commonwealth By 1869, they had been joined at 27 Commonwealth by Samuel Hooper’s brother and sister-in-law, Nathaniel Hooper and Elizabeth (Bird) Lincoln. Nathaniel Hooper had been an East India merchant and later became a commission merchant in Boston. Elizabeth Bird was his second wife; they had been married in February of 1867 and then lived in France. Prior to their marriage, he and his first wife, Harriet Rose (Wilson) Hooper, had lived at 112 Beacon Street. Elizabeth Hooper died in December of 1869. Nathaniel Hooper continued to live at 27 Commonwealth with Samuel and Anne Hooper in 1872, but had moved to 264 Beacon Street by 1875. Samuel Hooper died in February of 1875. After his death, Anne Hooper moved to 53 Beacon Street and their son-and-law and daughter, Thornton and Anne Lothrop, moved from 25 Commonwealth to 27 Commonwealth. By 1888, the houses had been divided into separate ownership. Thornton and Anne Lothrop continued to live at 27 Commonwealth, and 25 Commonwealth was the home of investment banker Oliver Peabody and his wife, Mary Ann (Lothrop) Peabody (Thornton Lothrop's sister). On the 1888 Bromley map, Annie M. Lothrop is shown as the owner of 27 Commonwealth and Mary Ann Peabody is shown as the owner of 25 Commonwealth. Thornton Lothrop died in November of 1913. Anne Lothrop continued to live at 27 Commonwealth and also maintained a summer home in Manchester. Anne Lothrop died in July of 1930 and the house was sold soon thereafter to attorney Robert Frederick Herrick and his wife, Margaret (Perkins) Herrick, who already owned and lived at 25 Commonwealth. It appears that they occupied both 25 and 27 Commonwealth as their residence (27 Commonwealth no longer is listed in the Blue Books after 1931). Robert Herrick is shown as the owner of both 25 and 27 Commonwealth on the 1938 Bromley map. In the early 1940s, and possibly before, 27 Commonwealth became the headquarters of the British War Relief Committee. It appears likely that the house was still owned by Robert Herrick and contributed to the Committee as a part of the war effort. Robert Herrick died in October of 1942. By 1943, 27 Commonwealth was owned by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), probably having been bequeathed the house by Robert Herrick. In December of 1943, MGH converted the house into a dormitory for nurses. 25-27 Commonwealth On February 29, 1996, MGH sold 25 and 27 Commonwealth to the 25-27 Commonwealth LLC. 25-27 Commonwealth LLC significantly remodeled the houses, including installing a nine-vehicle subsurface garage and, in March of 1997, converted them into four condominiums. As part of the conversion, 25-27 Commonwealth LLC entered into a Conservation Restriction agreement with the Friends of the Public Garden to ensure that the garden in front of 27 Commonwealth, at the corner of Commonwealth and Berkeley, would remain open space in perpetuity. |
||
|
