11 Gloucester Street

11 Gloucester Street

11 Gloucester Street was designed by architect Willard Thomas Sears (of the firm of Cummings and Sears) and built for him ca. 1872, one of five contiguous houses (9-11-13-15 Gloucester and 322 Marlborough Street).

Willard and Marianne (Mott) Sears made 15 Gloucester their home.  Willard Sears sold 322 Marlborough Street to his brother-in-law and sister, Charles and Elizabeth (Sears) Seabury, who lived there, and 9-11-13 Gloucester to his first cousin, Joshua Montgomery Sears, who owned them as rental property.  Joshua M. Sears is shown as the owner of all three houses on the 1883 and 1888 Bromley maps.

By 1877, 11 Gloucester was leased by dry goods merchant Francis Milton Sawyer and his wife, Etha (Smith) Sawyer.  They continued to live there in 1880.

By 1882, it was the home of William Gray Brooks, Jr., and his wife, Mary (Franks) Brooks.  They had lived at 52 West Cedar Street in 1880.  He was cashier of the National Eagle Bank; his brother was Phillips Brooks, Rector of Trinity Church and later Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts.

By 1884, they had purchased and moved to 336 Marlborough Street.

By 1885, it was the home of Dr. John Baker Swift, a physician, and his wife Hettie (Potter) Swift.  They continued to live there until about 1902, but by 1903 had purchased and moved to 465 Beacon Street.

By 1904, it was the home of  Dr. George Edward Richards, a physician, and his wife, Anna (Mitchell) Richards.  In 1903, they had lived at The Marlborough at 416 Marlborough Street.

Anna Richards is shown as the owner of 11 Gloucester on the 1908 Bromley map.

The Richards continued to live there in 1915, but had purchased and moved to 334 Marlborough Street by 1917.

H. A. Parker is shown as the owner of 11 Gloucester on the 1917 Bromley map

By 1920, it was the home of Joseph Parker and his wife, Violet.  He was a banker and probably was related to the H. A. Parker who owned the house in 1917.

By 1922, 11 Gloucester was the home of Col. and Mrs. Charles T. Tilford.

By 1923, it was the home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Potter.  They continued to live there in 1924.

By 1925, it was the home of Sybil (Gilman) Potter, the widow of canned food manufacturer Henry Staples Potter.  In 1922, she had lived at 82 Commonwealth Avenue.  She is shown as the owner of 11 Gloucester on the 1928 Bromley map.

She continued to live at 11 Gloucester in 1933.

The house was not listed in the 1934-1937 Blue Books.

R. C. Johnson is shown as the owner of 11 Gloucester on the 1938 Bromley map.

By November of 1938, it was owned  by the Suffolk Savings Bank, which converted it from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house.

11 Gloucester remained a lodging house until 1982, when the owners at that time, George Brown and Sharon Hornberger-Brown, remodeled it and converted it into four apartments.