34 Commonwealth Avenue

20-36 Commonwealth Avenue

34 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.”

34 Commonwealth was built as the home of dry goods importer and merchant Henry Edwards and his wife, Martha Ann (Dorr) Edwards.  Martha Ann Edwards's brothers, Francis Fiske Dorr and Charles Hazen Dorr, trustees, are shown as the owners on the 1874 Hopkins map (Charles Hazen Dorr lived at 18 Commonwealth).

Martha Edwards died in May of 1882, and her estate is shown as the owner on the 1883 Bromley map.

Henry Edwards continued to live at 34 Commonwealth, joined by his sister-in-law, Susan Elizabeth Dorr.

He died in September of 1885.  E. F. Slafter, Trustee, is shown as the owner of 34 Commonwealth on the 1888 map.

Susan Dorr continued to live there until her death in December of 1889.

By 1892, 34 Commonwealth was the home of Miss Anne Perkins Cary and her sister, Miss Ellen Cary.  At about the same time, their widowed sister, Grace Morris (Cary) Kuhn, moved to 36 Commonwealth.  In 1890, they had all lived at 64 Beacon Street (which had been the home of their parents, who had died in the 1880s) with their sister-in-law, Lena (Laight) Cary, the widow of William F. Cary, Jr. (who had died in 1880).

Anne Cary died in January of 1898.  Ellen Cary continued to live at 34 Commonwealth in 1899.

The house was not listed in the 1900 Blue Book.

By 1901, it was the medical office of Dr. Henry Hill Haskell, an ophthalmologist.  In 1900, he had maintained his offices at 126 Commonwealth.

By 1902, he and his wife, Marian (Munger) Haskell, had made 34 Commonwealth their home as well (they previously lived in Auburndale and may have retained that residence as well after they moved to 34 Commonwealth).  Marian L. Haskell is shown as the owner of 34 Commonwealth on the 1908 Bromley map.

Dr. and Mrs. Haskell continued to live at 34 Commonwealth in 1911.

By 1913, it was the home of real estate investor and broker Mark Temple Dowling.  In 1910, he and his wife, Isabelle May (Donaldson) Dowling, had lived at 126 Saint Mary's Street.  They had divorced in October of 1911 and he probably moved to 34 Commonwealth thereafter.  By 1915, he had remarried and moved to 2 Raleigh Street.

By 1915, it was the home of William Bartlett Tyler and his wife, Carrie A. (Bates) Tyler.  He was a musician and faculty member of the New England Conservatory of Music.  They previously had lived in Berlin, where he had been an instructor at the Stern Conservatory.

The house was owned by Carrie Tyler's parents, wholesale grocer William Pratt Bates and Helen (Reed) Bates, who lived with them.  He died in April of that year.  Helen Bates continued to live with the Tylers in 1917, and is shown as the owner of 34 Commonwealth on the 1917 Bromley map, but was no longer listed there by the time of the 1920 US Census.

William Tyler probably died in 1928 or 1929.  Carrie Tyler continued to live at 34 Commonwealth in 1937, and probably later.  She is shown as the owner on the 1928 and 1938 Bromley maps.

By 1966, 34 Commonwealth was owned by Rocco E. Paoletta.  In May of that year, he converted the house from single-family dwelling into ten apartments.

The house subsequently changed hands several times, and in December of 1979 it was purchased by Pamela Larsen and Edward W. Sexton, Jr., trustees of the Larsen-Sexton Trust.