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38-40 Commonwealth Avenue

38-40 Commonwealth Avenue were built ca. 1862, designed as a single symmetrical composition composed of two houses of different widths (38 Commonwealth is 40 feet wide and includes the eastern octagonal bay and flat middle section; 40 Commonwealth is 20 feet and includes the western octagonal bay).

38 Commonwealth
38 Commonwealth was built as the home of Nathan Bourne Gibbs, Jr., and his wife, Elizabeth Swift (Burgess) Gibbs. In 1862, they are shown in the City Directory as living at an unidentified address on the Mill Dam (Beacon Street), and in 1860 at 40 Hancock Street on Beacon Hill.

Nathan Gibbs was a partner in his father-in-law's firm, Benjamin Burgess & Sons, commission merchants in the West India trade.

The Gibbs continued to live there until his death in December of 1880.

By 1882, it was the home of Thomas J. Montgomery. He is shown as the owner on the 1883 Bromley map and continued to live there in 1885.

By 1887, 38 Commonwealth was the home of dry goods merchant William B. Wood and his wife, Ellen M. (Nichols) Wood. They also maintained a home in Brookline and a summer home in Lexington. Ellen M. Wood is shown as the owner of 38 Commonwealth on the 1888 Bromley map.

Ellen Wood died in April of 1887, and William Wood died in September of 1888. Their daughters, "the Misses Wood," continued to live at 38 Commonwealth in 1889.

By 1890, 38 Commonwealth was the home of Stillman Boyd Allen and his wife, Harriet (Seaward) Allen. Their adult son, Willis Boyd Allen, lived with them.

Stillman Allen was an attorney and also a tea and coffee merchant in the firm of Allen, Shapleigh & Co. Willis Allen also was an attorney, but had given up active practice in about 1888 to become an author and magazine editor.

Stillman Allen died in June of 1891. After his death, Harriet and Willis Allen moved to the Hotel Vendome.

38 Commonwealth remained the property of the Allen family, and Willis B. Allen, et al, are shown as the owners on the 1908 Bromley map.

By 1892, it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. P. W. Clement.

By 1894, 38 Commonwealth had become the site of The Eliot Hospital, which remained there until 1910.

In October of 1910, 38 Commonwealth was acquired from Willis Allen by the College Club. The Club combined it with 40 Commonwealth, which it had owned since 1905.

40 Commonwealth
40 Commonwealth was built as the home of Dr. John Cauldwell Sharp, a physician, and his wife, Helen (Sayles) Sharp. They continued to live there in 1865, but moved soon thereafter to a new home they had built ca. 1866 at 54 Commonwealth Avenue.

By 1870, it was the home of John Revere and his wife, Susan Tilden (Torrey) Revere. She is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map and the 1883 and 1888 Bromley maps.

John Revere was treasurer and later president of his family’s firm, the Revere Copper Company.

The Reveres continued to live at 40 Commonwealth until his death in July of 1886.

By 1888, it had become the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frederic Warren. He was a shipping merchant in the firm of Warren & Co. By 1889, they had moved to 294 Beacon Street.

By 1889, it was the home of Frederic Jesup Stimson and his wife, Elizabeth Bradlee (Abbot) Stimson. In 1888, they had lived in Dedham (and probably continued to maintain a home there).

Frederic Stimson was an attorney. He served as Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts in 1884-1885 and was active in Boston politics. He served as Ambassador to Argentina during the Wilson Administration. An author of several books on the law, he also wrote novels under the pen-name of "J. S. of Dale."

By 1890, 40 Commonwealth was the home of attorney and historian Edward Jackson Lowell and his wife Elizabeth Gilbert (Jones) Lowell. They had lived at 80 Marlborough Street in 1889.

He died in May of 1894. Elizabeth Lowell continued to live at 40 Commonwealth until her death in 1904.

In June of 1905, 40 Commonwealth was acquired from Edward Jackson Lowell's estate by the College Club.

38-40 Commonwealth
After acquiring 38 Commonwealth in 1910, the College Club combined 38 and 40 Commonwealth as their clubrooms. In 1919, the Club acquired 42 Commonwealth, cut through openings in the party walls between 40 and 42 Commonwealth, and lowered the front entrance of 42 Commonwealth to sidewalk level. In about 1927, the Club acquired 44 Commonwealth and subsequently cut through openings in the party wall with 42 Commonwealth.

The Club is shown as the owner of 38-40 Commonwealth on the 1917 Bromley map, and of 38-40-42-44 Commonwealth on the 1928 and 1938 maps.

In July of 1974, 38-40 Commonwealth and 42 Commonwealth were acquired from the College Club by Thomas J. and Monique L. Dokton. The Club retained 44 Commonwealth.

In September of 1974, the Doktons converted 38-40 Commonwealth into sixteen apartments, and in July of 1977, they converted the apartments into twelve condominium units.