11 Marlborough Street

11 Marlborough Street

11 Marlborough Street was designed by architect Charles Kirby and built ca. 1863, one of four contiguous houses (9-11-13-15 Marlborough).  The four houses form two pairs of mirror opposite buildings (9-11 Marlborough and 13-15 Marlborough); each pair with a single entrance porch creating a symmetrical entryway.

By 1865, 11 Marlborough was the home of George Washington Warren and his wife, Harriet Atwood (Willis) Washington.

George W. Warren had been a dry good merchant until 1857, when his business failed.  He subsequently became a banker and note broker, and then superintendent of agencies for the New York Life Insurance Company.

The Warrens had moved to the Hotel Pelham by 1870 and 11 Marlborough was the home of banker Charles Kane Cobb and his wife, Elizabeth (Codman) Cobb.  He is shown as the owner on the 1874 Bromley map.

Charles Cobb died in January of 1876.  His wife and children moved from 11 Marlborough (in 1880 they were living on Pinckney Street), but continued to own the house.

By 1877, 11 Marlborough was leased by attorney Edward A. Kelly and his wife, Mary Adams (Farley) Kelly.  In 1875, they had lived at 55 Chestnut Street.  George F. Farley, Mary Kelly's brother, lived with them. He was a tea importer and had lived with them at 55 Chestnut.

The Kellys continued to live at 11 Marlborough in 1879, but by 1880 had purchased and moved to 9 Marlborough next door.

By 1880, 11 Marlborough was leased from the Cobb family by Henry Penniman Bliss, a dealer in upholstery goods.  He was a widower.  The Heirs of Charles Cobb are shown as the owners of 11 Marlborough on the 1883 Bromley map, and the Cobb's sons, Charles Kane Cobb, Jr.,  and Frederic Codman Cobb, are shown as the owners on the 1888 map.

Henry Bliss continued to live at 11 Marlborough in 1894, but had moved to the Hotel Hamilton at 260 Clarendon by 1895.

By 1895, 11 Marlborough had once again become the home of Elizabeth (Codman) Cobb and her son, Dr. Frederic Codman Cobb, a physician and professor of Laryngology at Harvard.  By 1900, Elizabeth Cobb's grandchildren, Charles G. Bowen and Sybel Kent Bowen, lived with them (their mother, Elizabeth Codman (Cobb) Bowen, had died in December of 1893).

Frederic Cobb was married in May of 1913 to Evelyn Wyman Uadel, and by 1915 they were living at 520 Beacon Street.  He continued to maintain his medical office at 11 Marlborough, where his mother lived with Sybel Bowen.

Elizabeth Cobb died in January of 1917.

In February of 1917, Frederic Cobb remodeled the interior of the house, probably in anticipation of making it his residence as well as his office. By 1920, Frederic and Evelyn Cobb had moved to 11 Marlborough.  They continued to live there in 1923, but had moved by 1924.

By 1924, 11 Marlborough was owned by Mrs. Nellie H. Randall.  In October of 1924, she remodeled the interior, indicating that both the current and proposed occupancy would be a two-family dwelling and doctors' offices.  She is shown as the owner on the 1928 and 1938 Bromley maps.

Longer-term residents listed in the City Directories and Blue Books included Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin C. Woodbury (from 1925 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937), who had lived at 178 Commonwealth Avenue in 1924; Dr. and Mrs. John B. Hawes, II (from 1925 through 1928); Miss Mildred R. Howland (from 1934 through 1937, and possibly later), Miss Madeleine Sheridan (from 1935 through 1937, and possibly later), Miss Emma Wetherbee (from 1935 through 1937, and possibly later), and Mrs. Marcus Lincoln (from 1935 through 1937, and possibly later).

By 1939, 11 Marlborough was owned by Mrs. Mildred C. Thelan.  On December 14, 1939, the house was damaged by a fire on the first and second floors.  At the time of the fire repairs, in 1940, she indicated that the occupancy was doctors' offices on the first floor, and three dwelling units (one each on the second, third, and fourth-fifth floors).

By 1964, Charles Talanian of Talanian Realty had acquired both 9 Marlborough and 11 Marlborough.  In January of 1964, he converted each house into eleven apartments (at the time of the application, 11 Marlborough was still zoned for doctors' offices and three apartments).