Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District, Summaries of Construction

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Aberdeen Architectural

Conservation District

Boston Landmarks Commission Study Report

Petitions #192, Brighton, Boston

Aberdeen Architectural

Conservation District

Study Report

Revised 1/

Boston Landmarks Commission Environment Department City of Boston

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Location of Proposed District...... ........ ................ ... Page 4

2. Description ........................................................ Page 7

3. History ............................................................. Page 20 :~~'--··

4. Significance ....................................................... Page 30

5. Economic Status ................................................. Page 45

6. Planning Context ................................................ Page 46

7. Alternative Designation Approaches ......................... Page 48

8. Recommendations ............................................... Page 49

9. General Standards and Criteria .............................. Page 50

10. Landscapes -Specific Standards and Criteria ............ Page 54

11. Building Exteriors -Specific Standards and Criteria ... Page 60

12. Bibliography ...................................................... Page 74

Addendum 1 - Paint Colors

Addendum 2 - District Data Sheet

INTRODUCTION

The Aberdeen Study Committee hereby transmits to the Boston Landmarks Commission its report on the designation of the Aberdeen neighborhood as an Architectural Conservation District.

The work of this Committee was initiated in 2000 after a petition was submitted by registered voters to the Boston Landmarks Commission asking that the Commission designate the proposed Aberdeen neighborhood an Architectural Conservation District under the provisions of Chapter 772 of the Acts of 1975, as amended. The purpose of such a designation is to recognize and to protect the architectural and historical characteristics that make an area unique and worthy of preservation.

As a result of the petition and at the request of the Boston Landmarks Commission, the Mayor appointed and the City Council confirnied a Study Committee to make recommendations to the Commission on the proposed district. The Aberdeen Study Committee, which consists of members from the Landmarks Commission and property owners and residents from the Aberdeen Study Area, began its work together in 2000 to evaluate the architectural and historical significance of the area, the potential boundaries, and to propose the standards and criteria that would ensure the protection of the area.

All Study Committee meetings were held in or near the Study Area on a regular schedule and were open to the public. After more than a year of work, study and deliberation, a report with suggested standards was drawn up. During the period from March 20,2000 through August 27, 2001, the Study Committee held 25 working meetings to which all property owners and interested residents in the Study Area were invited. The Study progress was reported at two larger community meetings, held AprillO and May 22,

2000. Following these meetings, the Study Committee completed its recommendations for submission to the Boston Landmarks Commission.

INTENT

The intent of the Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District is to protect the unique character of a Boston streetcar suburb and preserve the diversity of housing types present in the area. Constructed predominantly between 1890 and 1940, Aberdeen is united by its architectural quality and landscape features.

The hilly topography, rural landscape and rock outcroppings of Aberdeen attracted the initial suburban developers to this section of Brighton and continues to distinguish the area within the city of Boston. It is, therefore, a primary objective to protect the existing landscape and topography of the district, built elements constructed to respond to the setting, mature plantings that enhance it, and stone elements of the architecture that deri~e'from the site.

The homes constructed in Aberdeen were predominantly designed in romantic tum-of-the-century types and styles that complement the landscape of the area. It is the goal of the Architectural Conservation District to preserve the fundamental character of the forms, materials, and details of the houses and their ancillary structures, which make a coherent ensemble with their landscape context.

The apartment development of the early twentieth century was a response to the construction of Commonwealth A venue through the area. The consequent development of an urban apartment district, along this spine and spreading throughout the neighborhood, established the diverse confluence of housing types that characterizes the district. The apartment forms respond to the previously laid-out winding streets and unusual lot shapes often integrating landscape features. The materials and detail of ff1ese apartment buildings were built to meet the standard of quality set by the suburban houses. It is the goal of the Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District to safeguard the fundamental character of these apartment bl!ildings, their ancillary structures and landscape features. _..

David Payne, Architectural Historian Michael Cannizzo, Staff Architect

The Committee was assisted by Boston Affiliates, a preservation consultant who was retained to complete Chapters 1- 6 and 12 of the Study Report with funding from the Massachusetts Historical Commission.

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1.0 PROPOSED DISTRICT BOUNDARIES

• The eastern boundary of the Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District begins at the southwestcorner of Corey Road and Washington Street anchored by the Harriet Baldwin School.
• Extending northward along Washington Street, the eastern boundary crosses Commonwealth Avenue and extends to the back lot line of 1607 Commonwealth Avenue.
• The northern boundary extends from Washington Street to Claymoss Street, following the back lot lines of 1607-1619 Commonwealth Avenue.
• From Claymoss Street, the northern boundary extends a single block, turning west at Ransom Road to include numbers 4 to 38 Ransom Road.
• Crossing Colbome Road, the northern boundary extends along the north side of 14 Col borne Road, jogging southward along the back lot lines of 1705 to 1729 Commonwealth A venue and 15 Euston Street.
• The northern boundary jogs northwestward along the back lot lines of 31 to 51 Leamington Road, extending along the north lot line of 29 Wallingford Road.
• At Wallingford Road, the boundary line continues south-westward to 24 Wallingford Road, continuing along the back lot lines of 24 Wallingford, turning west at the back lot line of 127 Chiswick Road and extending along the rear property lines as far as 153 Chis wick Road.
• Crossing Chestnut Hill Avenue, the northern boundary extends along the north lot line of 185 Chestnut Hill, extending westward across Chiswick Road, following the back lot line of the former First Parish Unitarian Church (189 Chestnut Hill Avenue) and continu:lng as far as 225 Chestnut Hill A venue.
• Rounding the bend formed by the intersection of Chestnut Hill A venue and South Street, the northern boundary follows the back lot lines of 5 to 43 South Street.
• From the intersection of South Street and Commonwealth A venue, the northern boundary continues westward along the back lot lines of 1999 to 2051 Colilii).onwealth A venue, comer of Greycliff Road.
• Aberdeen's western boundary extends along th~ Greycliff Road side of 2025 Commonwealth A venue, extends along Commonwealth A venue, and turns south at Foster Street.
• Crossing Commonwealth Avenue, the southwestern boundary of the Aberdeen district extends along the side and rear lot lines of 2018 Commonwealth Ayenue and continuing eastward:to 1940 Commonwealth Avenue.
• At 1940 Commonwealth Avenue, the southwestern boundary turns northward to the center of Commonwealth Avenue, and then turns south and east along the center of Chestnut Hill A venue to the south side of Cleveland Circle.
• From the southern side of Cleveland Circle, the southern boundary of the Aberdeen District extends eastward following the back lot line from 1971 to 1927 Beacon Street, comer of Ayer Road.
• The southern boundary then turns northward at the intersection ofAyer Road and Beacon Street and follows the Boston/Brookline boundary line for its entire length between Ayer Road and Washington Street, comer of Corey Road. -. In other words, the A-berdeen District's southern boundary follows the side and rear lot lines of 1912 Beacon Street and the rear lot line of 2 to 4 Ayer Road, turning eastward along the rear lot lines of 20/22 to 8 Orkney Road and the south sides of 42 and 39 Strathmore Roads.
• The southern boundary then turns north and east, following the back lot lines of 39 to 45 Strathmore Road and 3 to 50 Englewood Avenue, respectively.

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2.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE. PROPOSED ABERDEEN ARCHITECTURAL

CONSERVATION DISTRICT

A. Introduction

The proposed Aberdeen Architectural Conservation District is located at the southwestern comer

of Boston's Allston-Brighton neighborhood. Possessing an irregular, roughly V -shaped form, this

area was originally developed in the mid-1880s with a system of winding streets set out over

rocky terrain. Echoing the type of Romantic Suburb advocated by the Hudson River Valley

landscape architect and cultural critic Andrew Jackson Downing in Cottage Residences (1842),

the development of the residential enclave known as Aberdeen was triggered by the introduction

of the electric trolley to Beacon Street in 1888. Commonwealth Avenue, the area's meandering

"spine", is an Olmsted-designed thoroughfare constructed between 1884 and 1892 as part of a

larger arterial system linked with Beacon Street and known as the Chestnut Hill loop.

Commonwealth Avenue, as originally planned by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 1880s was not

really a parkway, as commercial traffic was permitted along with pleasure vehicles. Between the

introduction of the electric trolley to Commonwealth Avenue in 1909 and World War II, multi-

family buildings, encompassing two and three family residences as well as large apartment

buildings, were constructed along Commonwealth Avenue. To the north and southofthe Avenue,

the construction of large apartment buildings along side streets frequently required the demolition

of detached houses dating from Aberdeen's initial development as a Romantic Suburb.

The District's mid-1880s to early 1900s single family residences and large, early to mid-twentieth

century apartment buildings illustrate two distinct trends in American housing development: 1)

the need of tum-of-the-century city dwellers to escape from the inner city to leafy suburban

enclaves dotted with detached residences, and 2) the extension of the city via the construction of

parkways and boulevards thrust out from the City proper; thoroughfares that became lined with

apartment buildings inhabited by both streetcar and automobile commuters. Aberdeen's streets are

lined with buildings that reflect these developmental trends in a manner which, if not always

visually cohesive, are, nevertheless, consistent in their alternation of 1-3 family residences and

more massive apartment buildings. Indeed, the District's streetscapes present an interesting

picture of the area's evolution from the late nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century

The Aberdeen district comprises wood frame, single family residences and multi- family housing

clustered on narrow winding streets, and early 20th century apartment house development. Single

family residences date to Aberdeen's initial development as a garden suburb between 1885 and

No longer extant to illustrate the mid nineteenth century agrarian era of the District are a handful

of houses originally located on and near Washington Street and Chestnut Hill A venue. Similarly,

a half dozen houses developed by Wellesley's Hunnewell family no longer survive to tell the

story of the early 1870s suburban development near Cleveland Circle. Stylish and substantial

Queen Anne, Shingle, Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Tudor and Mission style residences provide a

physical link with the late nineteenth/early twentieth century development of Aberdeen. A

handful of residences categorized within the Medieval Revival variant of the Queen Anne style

are one of the Districts strengths.

Multi-family housing rang,es from brick two-family houses and wooden three-deckers to large

masonry apartment buildings containing thirty or more units. The District 's twentieth century

apartment building development began in 1909, with the introduction of the electric trolley to

Commonwealth Avenue ushering in an extended period of explosive growth; growth which was

associated with widespread automobile ownership. Between 1910 and 1950, the original garden-

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5 Leamington Road

24 Sidlaw Road

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Examples of Colonial Revival residential work by important Boston architects include: the wood frame 19 Braemore Road, designed during the mid-1890s by Eugene Clark, architect of the Allston Congregational Church on Quint Avenue; the brick Georgian Revival house at 2018 Commonwealth Avenue designed by Edwin J. Lewis Jr. during the late 1890s, and the stucco parged Colonial Revival/Craftsman style house des.igned by Maginnis and Walsh at 66 Englewood Avenue (c. early 1900s).

Less common are the Late Victorian, asymmetrical house forms with Queen Anne or Shingle

Style elements and topography elements

Representative examples include several large early 1900s residences situated on the southwestern slopes of Notting Hill at 5 and 9 Leamington Road. In the case of Cummings Road, the houses on the southwest side of the street are situated atop a steep ridge. The land behind these houses descends sharply to the back yards of Kilsyth Road houses. For example, the c. early 1900s Medieval Revival residence at 28 Cummings Road possesses a basement that is a full story below the grade of Cummings Road.

A unique, oval development of 50 connected masonry Georgian Revival residences

Located at 1729 to 1767 Commonwealth Avenue, 1-21 Wallingford Road and 2 to 48 Leamington Road. Designed in 1909 by A. Estes, these residences are characterized by modest scale, planar red brick surfaces, curving comers and a rhythmic repetition of door hoods.

C. Non-Residential Buildings

Non-residential buildings in the form of one-story, multi-storefront commercial blocks, schools and commercial buildings are scattered throughout the area. Stylistically, the non-residential buildings of Aberdeen generally do not relate to residential properties in the District by virtue of dissimilar scale, form and, in the case of commercial buildings, an absence of style-defining ornamentation. (i.e. the small, boxy, one story scale of the commercial buildings bordering the Commonwealth A venue/Sutherland Road intersection). Commercial buildings are clustered at highly visible, heavily trafficked intersections such as Washington Street-Commonwealth Avenue, Cummings Road-Commonwealth Avenue, Sutherland Road-Commonwealth Avenue, Chiswick Road-Commonwealth Avenue and Chestnut Hill Avenue-Cleveland Circle. Constructed as support buildings within a residential area, these stores served the early automobile trade of the 1910s and 1920s.

The area's most extensive commercial nodes are located at Cleveland Circle and the intersection of Sutherland and Commonwealth A venue. With its black marble panels and fanciful poured concrete parapet ornamentation, 1795-1799 Commonwealth A venue, comer of Chiswick Road, exhibits the most ornate surface treatments in the District. In addition, a large, c.l922 public garage, now used as offices, at 1686 Commonwealth Avenue is noteworthy for its Classical Revival design.

Three schools are located within the proposed Aberdeen Architectural District, including the former Aberdeen School, a wood frame Craftsman/Medieval Revival building at 186 Chestnut Hill A venue, now an American Legion post, the Georgian Revival Alexander Hamilton Elementary School at 198 Strathmore Road (1924), and the Fay-Spofford and Thorndike- designed Tudor Gothic Revival Harriet A. Baldwin School (1926) at 121 Corey Road. Constructed of red brick \tith.cast stone trim, the Hamilton and Baldwin Schools possess large, asphalt-paved schoolyards. Two purpose-built houses of worship are located in the area, The stone First Unitarian Church of Brighton at 189 Chestnut Hill A venue was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Cabot, Everett and Mead in 1894. This church has been adapted for reuse as a karate center. Overlooking Rabbi Shubow Park, Temple B'nai Moshe was designed in 1947

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~·· 1982-1992 Commonwealth Avenue ffil 8 B IBl 6 ElB8 Ill B8 8 [) 8S8 B8EJ gg Wilson Park Triple deckers

by the Boston architectural firm of Krokyn and Brown. The synagogue is housed in a concrete and brick Art Moderne building at 16 Sidlaw Street which retains its original bronze exterior lighting fixtures.

D. Integrity.

In general, the condition of Aberdeen buildings is good to excellent with some integrity problems related to the following: replacement of original fabric with vinyl siding, front lawns paved with asphalt to create parking areas, and the alteration of late nineteenth to early twentieth century single family residences with the construction of large, multi unit rear wings.

Intrusions to the area tend to be located at the western and eastern edges of the proposed district, including modern high rise apartments and altered storefronts along Washington Street, between Corey Road and Commonwealth Avenue. At the western edge of the district, along Chestnut Hill A venue, near Cleveland Circle, a gas station, modem bank and architecturally undistinguished mid-to late-twentieth century commercial buildings compromise the architectural integrity of the District. Towering over Chestnut Hill Park, at the intersection of Chestnut Hill and Commonwealth Avenues, the molded concrete and metal Reservoir Tower does not respect the two to six story scale of adjacent buildings. Additionally, a modern motel and gas station are located at the comer of Mount Hood Road and Commonwealth A venue.

On the other hand, the improved appearance of most of the District in recent years stems from increased on-site home ownership and the adaptive reuse of architecturally significant properties. For example, conversions of apartment buildings from rental to condominium units has often resulted in better maintained buildings and grounds. Front yard gardens enliven streetscapes and promote pride of place.

Successful adaptive reuse of architecturally significant buildings has helped to preserve the character of the District. As early as the late 1960s, the substantial, yellow brick and wood- trimmed residence at 77 Englewood A venue was converted from a house into a synagogue after it vacated its original, early twentieth century building on Nightingale Street, near Franklin Field, Dorchester.

Currently housing a karate center, the former First Unitarian Church of Brighton (1894) at 189. Chestnut Hill Avenue retains its original siting, rubble stone materials, asymmetrical form and Gothic Revival, elements. Designed by Cabot, Everett and Mead, Boston architects responsible for the Colonial Revival First Parish Church on Meeting House Hill, Dorchester, the Brighton Church's rubble st~ne retaining walls are key landscape features within the northwestern corner of the District.

Across the street from the First Unitarian Church of Brighton, the former Aberdeen School (1895), a wood frame, Craftsman/Medieval Revival building of modest scale is situated on a relatively ample, grass-covered lot. For many years this building has housed an American Legion post which was named in honor of President John F. Kennedy during the 1960s. The continued viability of the property in its present form is important because it is the District's only original non-residentiallink with the Aberdeen residential development of the late nineteenth century and because its land provides green space within a densely built up area of apartment buildings.

E. Topography and Landscape

Topographically, the Study Area is characterized by rocky, undulating terrain with the highest elevations located in the eastern section of the District. The southern and western slopes of Notting Hill skirt the northern edge of the proposed district behind buildings located at 1705 to

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140 Kilsyth Terrace

. -. '.&.

Site plan

Retaining wall detail

45 Lanark Road

Main elevation

Main elevation