28 Commonwealth Avenue

20-36 Commonwealth Avenue

28 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.”

28 Commonwealth was built as the home of George Tyler Bigelow and his wife Anna Smith (Miller) Bigelow.  He is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map.

George Bigelow served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1840-1846) and State Senate (1847-1848).  In 1848, he was appointed associate Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, in 1850 a full Justice, and in 1860 Chief Justice.  In 1868, he retired from the bench and became an actuary for the Massachusetts Hospital Life Insurance Company.

George and Anna Bigelow lived at 28 Commonwealth until his death in April of 1878.

The house was not listed in the 1879 Blue Book.

By 1880, it was the home of Dr. Henry Harris Beach and his wife, Alice (Mandell) Beach. He was a surgeon and also maintained his medical offices there.  He is shown as the owner on the 1883, 1888, and 1908 Bromley maps.

Alice Beach died in 1880.  Henry Beach continued to live at 28 Commonwealth and, in December of 1885, he married again, to Amy Marcy Cheney.

Amy Cheney was a pianist and composer.  A child prodigy, she began composing music at age four and performing publicly at age seven.  She studied in Boston and made her professional debut in 1883, at age sixteen.  After her marriage to Henry Beach, she focused on composition.

Henry and Amy Beach continued to live at 28 Commonwealth until his death in June of 1910.

After his death in 1910, Amy Beach embarked on a three year tour of Europe and then resumed her career as a performer.  Between tours, she lived in New York City and in Centerville on Cape Cod.  She is credited with composing more than 150 works ranging from chamber and orchestral works to church music and songs.

She continued to own 28 Commonwealth, renting it out as both a residence and for medical offices.  She is shown as the owner on the 1917 Bromley map.

By 1911, it was the medical office of Dr. Farrar Crane Cobb, a physician and Superintendent of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.  He had maintained his offices at 317 Marlborough Street in 1910.  He and his wife, Frances W. (McMurray) Cobb, lived at 5 Brimmer Street.

Dr. Cobb continued to maintain his offices at 28 Commonwealth in 1917, and possibly somewhat later, but no longer was listed there in the 1922 Blue Book.

Longer-term residents listed in the Blue Books at 28 Commonwealth during this same period included Henry C. Tuttle (from about 1913 through about 1915); Charles C. Newcomb, a produce merchant, and his brother, George D. Newcomb, treasurer of an iron foundry (from about 1914 through about 1915; they previously had lived at 118 Commonwealth); and Dr. Henry C. Marble (from about 1915 through about 1917).

By 1920, 28 Commonwealth was the home of Arthur and Mina Gilpatrick.  At the time of the 1920 US Census, he was the manager of a restaurant, and he and his wife maintained a boarding and lodging house at 28 Commonwealth.

They continued to live there in 1925, but had moved to 4 Commonwealth (demolished) by 1927.

By mid-1925, 28 Commonwealth was the home of Mrs. Pauline (Root) Otis Danielson, the widow of William Sigourney Otis and of John DeForest Danielson.  Earlier that year, she had lived at 4 Commonwealth, where the Gilpatricks had moved.

Philip Dexter et al, Trustees, are shown as the owners of 28 Commonwealth on the 1928 Bromley map.

Pauline Danielson also maintained a summer home, Pound Farm, in Medford.

She continued to live at 28 Commonwealth in 1937, and possibly later.

C. F. Adams is shown as the owner of 28 Commonwealth on the 1938 Bromley map.

By 1947, 28 Commonwealth was owned by Lenore Y. Veo.  In October of 1947, she converted the house from a single-family dwelling into a single-family dwelling and dentist's office.

By November of 1975, the house was owned by Commonwealth Limited, which converted it into five apartments.