61 Commonwealth Avenue

61 Commonwealth Avenue

61 Commonwealth Avenue was designed by architect Carl Fehmer and built in 1879 by H. & H. M. Harmon, builders, for Sarah Elizabeth (Appleton) Lawrence, wife of textile manufacturer and merchant Amos Adams Lawrence.  She is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated March 15, 1879, and on the 1883 and 1888 Bromley maps.

It appears that the Lawrences did not live at 61 Commonwealth (their son, Amory, however, owned and lived at 59 Commonwealth Avenue).

By 1882, 61 Commonwealth was the home of fertilizer manufacturer William Lambert Bradley and his wife, Frances Martina (Coe) Bradley.  They probably were living there while their home at 179 Commonwealth Avenue was being built, where they moved in about 1883.

By 1884, it was the Boston home of merchant John Malcolm Forbes and his wife Sarah Coffin (Jones) Forbes.  They also maintained a residence in Milton.  They continued to live at 61 Commonwealth in 1885.

By 1888, it was the home of wholesale dry goods merchant Joseph Stevens Kendall and his wife, Ellen (King) Kendall.  Living with them were their son-in-law and daughter, Richard and Mary (Kendall) Bolles.  Richard Bolles was a banker and stockbroker.

Both couples were still there in 1890, but no longer were listed there in the 1892 Blue Book.  Mr. and Mrs. Kendall had moved to 8 Gloucester Street and the Bolles probably were living with them (although they were not listed in the 1892 Boston Blue Book).

By 1892, 61 Commonwealth was the home of dry goods merchant Walter Cabot Baylies and his wife, Charlotte (Upham) Baylies.  They remained there until about 1903, when they purchased 5 Commonwealth Avenue from the Estate of Abbott Lawrence.  In 1903, 61 Commonwealth was owned by the Estate of George P. Upham, Charlotte Baylies father, which probably acquired it in 1892 after Sarah Elizabeth Lawrence's death.

In 1903, Amory Appleton Lawrence, son of Amos and Sarah Elizabeth Lawrence, purchased 61 Commonwealth from the Upham estate.  Amory Lawrence owned and lived at 59 Commonwealth Avenue.  After acquiring 61 Commonwealth, he and his wife, Gertrude (Rice) Lawrence, moved to it and rented 59 Commonwealth Avenue to Mrs. George Howe.
           
Amory Lawrence is shown as the owner of 61 Commonwealth on the 1908 Bromley map.

Gertrude Lawrence died in February of 1907, and Amory Lawrence remarried in 1910 or 1911 to Laura C. (Amory) Dugan, the former wife of Thomas Dugan.

Amory Lawrence died in July of 1912.  Laura Lawrence continued to live at 61 Commonwealth until about 1920.  In 1917, and possibly before and after, she was joined by her niece, Laura C. Amory.

Harold J. Coolidge (the Lawrences' son-in-law) et al, Trustees, are shown as the owners of 61 Commonwealth on the 1917 Bromley map.

By 1922, Laura Lawrence had purchased and moved to 207 Commonwealth Avenue.

By 1923, 61 Commonwealth was the home of Horace and Marie (Sorchan) Binney.  They previously had lived at 163 Commonwealth Avenue.  They also maintained a summer home in Newport, Rhode Island.  He is shown as the owner of 61 Commonwealth on the 1928 Bromley map.

The 1938 Bromley Atlas shows Mary Donnelly as the owner of this house.

By 1956, 61 Commonwealth was owned by John and Lucy D'Allesandro.  In September of 1956, they received permission to convert the house from a single-family dwelling into a two-family dwelling and doctors' offices.  They subsequently amended their plans in September of 1957 and converted the house into seven apartments.

Sometime between 1957 and 1972, one of the seven apartments was subdivided into an eighth apartment without a change in occupancy having been obtained.