14 Marlborough Street

14 Marlborough Street

14 Marlborough Street was built ca. 1863, designed in the Ruskin Gothic style.  The central plane of the wooden oriel originally was composed of decorative wood panels on both floors.  They were replaced in the mid-1880s or later by windows, matching those on the two angles of the bay.

By 1865, it was the home of Francis Henry Jackson and his wife, Sarah A. (Boott) Jackson.  He was the son of Dr. James Jackson, for whom the house was built according to Bainbridge Bunting’s Houses of Boston’s Back Bay.

Francis Jackson was a real estate and mortgage broker.  At the time of the 1860 US Census, he indicated his profession as "architect," and it is possible that he designed 14 Marlborough.  By 1870, the Jacksons had moved to 302 Berkeley Street.

By 1870, 14 Marlborough was the home of Josiah and Alice (Crowninshield) Bradlee.  Josiah Bradlee’s father, Frederick H. Bradlee, is shown as the owner on the 1874 Hopkins map and on the 1883 Bromley map.  They continued to live there in 1882, but moved soon thereafter to a new home they had built at 247 Marlborough.

By 1884, 14 Marlborough was the home of Henshaw Bates Walley and his brother, Isaac C. Bates Walley.  In 1880, they had lived at 38 Chestnut Street on Beacon Hill.

Henshaw Walley was a retired banker and broker; Isaac Walley was a stockbroker.  They continued to live there in 1888.

By 1890, 14 Marlborough was the home of Dr. John Templeman Bowen, a dermatologist and professor of dermatology at Harvard.  He is shown as the owner of both 14 and 16 Marlborough on the 1908 Bromley map.

Living with him were his brother, James Williams Bowen, a stockbroker, and their mother, Mrs. Eliza Matilda (Alline) Bowen.  Mrs. Bowen continued to live there in 1898, but no longer was listed there in the 1899 Blue Book.

John Bowen continued to be shown as the owner of both 14 and 16 Marlborough on the 1917 Bromley map.  He subsequently sold 16 Marlborough, probably by 1923.

John and James Bowen continued to live at 14 Marlborough in 1937, and probably later; John Bowen continued to be shown as the owner on the 1928 and 1938 Bromley maps.

By 1941, 14 Marlborough was owned by S. Clifford Speed, who converted it from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house in September of that year.