5 Commonwealth Avenue
5 Commonwealth Avenue 5 Commonwealth Avenue was built ca. 1861 as the home of cotton manufacturer and merchant Abbott Lawrence and his wife Harriette (Paige) Lawrence, one of two houses (3 Commonwealth Avenue and 5 Commonwealth) designed in the French academic brick style and built at the same time. 3 Commonwealth Avenue was built for Abbott Lawrence’s brother-in-law and sister, Benjamin Smith Rotch and Annie (Lawrence) Rotch. The Lawrences also maintained a summer home in Nahant, where Abbot Lawrence died in July of 1893. Harriett Lawrence continued to live at 5 Commonwealth until her death in February of 1903. In 1903, dry goods (textile) merchant Walter C. Baylies and his wife, Charlotte (Upham) Baylies, purchased 5 Commonwealth from the Abbott Lawrence Estate. They previously had lived at 61 Commonwealth, which was purchased by Amory Appleton Lawrence (who also owned 59 Commonwealth), the son of Abbott Lawrence's first cousin, Amos Adams Lawrence. They also maintained a summer home in Nahant and a country home, Kippanwoods, in Taunton. After buying 5 Commonwealth, Walter and Charlotte Baylies had it completely rebuilt by architects Parker, Thomas, and Rice, including adding a ballroom on an open plot to the west of the house. The new house was completed in 1906. Bainbridge Bunting’s Houses of Boston’s Back Bay indicates that the Baylies home was built in 1912, but this is not correct. The December 2, 1906, “Table Gossip” column in the Boston Globe, includes the following description: “This house of white stone is built upon the site of the late Mrs. Abbott Lawrence’s, and is one of the finest on the avenue. A specially interesting feature of the new residence is the music room, which can also be used for dancing. It is built over a part of the land which adjoined the house as a lawn. The room was not quite ready for use last year, and some concerts were given in the spacious hall from which open out the drawing rooms and library. The room is now completed.” According to an interview with the Baylies’ grandson, Richard Schulze, quoted in the Boston Courant on December 1, 2007 (and again on March 6, 2009), the “grand ballroom was completed in 1912 for the debutante ball” of the Baylies eldest daughter, Charlotte. Inasmuch as the annex was completed in 1906 and appears on the 1908 Bromley map, the 1912 work was probably a major remodeling, perhaps converting the music room into a more formal ballroom. Walter Baylies died in May of 1936. After his death, 5 Commonwealth was closed and Charlotte Baylies lived at the Ritz-Carlton during the winter and at their Taunton estate in the summer. She died in April of 1939.The 1938 Bromley Atlas shows Walter Baylies, et al, trustees, as the owners of this house. In about 1941, 5 Commonwealth was purchased from the estate of Charlotte Baylies by the Boston Center for Adult Education. The BCAE continued to own and operate the building – renamed the Gamble Mansion in honor of Clarence and Sarah (Bradley) Gamble – into the 21st century. In 2007, the BCAE sold 5 Commonwealth and the new owner indicated that it would be restored back to a single family dwelling. | ||
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