No. 20223 1 Fairfax Street, photograph March 26, 2020
Date of construction: 1885
Boston Directory 1884 has entry for
Frank D. Fairbanks, (Collins & Fairbanks), hats, caps, &c. 407 Washington, bds. 54 Appleton
Boston Directory 1885 has entry for
Frank D. Fairbanks (Collins & Fairbanks), hats, caps, &c. 407 Wash. h. Fairfax, cor. Carruth, Dor.
Deed Mar 21 1885 from Carruth to Mabel J. Fairbanks, wife of Frank D. Fairbanks Fairfax & Carruth Sts, Book 1670 p 411 Lot A on plan made in 1883 at book 1657 298
no mention of building
Source: Ashmont: An Historical Guide to Peabody Square, Carruth’s Hill and Ashmont Hill and the architecture of Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. and John A. Fox. By Paul Douglass Shand-Tucci. Dorchester Historical Society 1991.
p. 36-37
The Fairbanks-Dillaway House, 1 Fairfax (named after the house’s earliest owners, Frank Fairbanks of Collins and Fairbanks, Boston hatters, and C.O.L. Dillaway, president of the Mechanics Trust Company of Boston) is a most accomplished design. Particularly ingenious is the adventurous chimney-stack: pierced by a window at the ground-story level, the chimney then disappears into a second-story bay window only to emerge on the third-floor level to divide a dormer, which the chimney finally surmounts triumphantly! It is quite a performance, topped only perhaps by the elegantly simple window placement on the eastern facade, where no window of six is the same size. Boldly in front, subtly in back, Whiney Lewis’s design is eloquently picturesque in that Victorian style called Queen Anne, which, through varied massing, contrasting surface materials and textures, and broken, dramatic, and asymmetrical profiles sought always the striking, unusual effect so beloved of a highly individualistic age.
Source: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 2001
1 Fairfax Street is a characteristically Queen Anne work by Whitney Lewis, who also designed 15 Fairfax. Particularly noteworthy is the overhanging corner bay on the Carruth Street elevation, which the chimney below pierces only to re-emerge above the roof line, centering a pair of tiny dormers.
Source: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 2006
Year Built: 1884
Architect: W. Whitney Lewis
Style: Queen Anne/Shingle Style
The most dramatic feature of this elaborate Queen Anne/Shingle-style hybrid is the soaring chimney on the Carruth Street side: beginning conventionally enough at the base, it proceeds to engulf a window on the first floor, disappear into a projecting oriel on the second floor, and reappear triumphantly above the roof. Note the varied shapes of the shingles. Also characteristic of the 1880s are the windows, whose upper sashes are divided into tiny square panes.
The entrance door opens into a quintessential living hall. The exquisite fireplace mantel features Corinthian pilasters, a carved frieze, shell-head niches, and a Classical bas-relief panel. The wrought-iron lantern is a converted gas fixture, original to the house. The parlor fireplace is the inside face of the chimney that is so prominent on the exterior. The Lincrusta ceilings is a rare surviving original. In the dining room, one bay window is fitted with expertly draped curtains and valance. The other bay has a tile floor, rounded corners, and a spectacular central fireplace faced with golden Sienna marble, trimmed with a Celtic interlace frieze, and crowned by a unique china-cabinet-cum-overmantel. The wrought-iron light fixture over the table was probably designed by Whitney Lewis for this very spot. For the kitchen, the owners have chosen cabinets with a Queen Anne Flavor that suits the house. A palette of subtle, earthy wall colors, the work of a talented designer/owner, both differentiates and unifies the entire first floor.
Stained glass windows, some old, some new, step upward along with the main stairway. They share such Aesthetic Movement motifs as sun rays, flowering branches, and jewel-studded geometric patterns. In the home office at the head of the stairs, beyond an elliptical arch is a fireplace flanked by curved benches. Another bay with quadrant corners can be seen in the master bedroom. The fireplace here has a surround of Roman brick; the oak mantel is adorned with delicately carved wreaths. The third floor is the children’s domain with bedrooms and play space. The fourth f floor has a small hideaway room reminiscent of a Chinese cottage.
With five levels in all, this house is truly a “detached town house,” Douglass Shand Tucci’s term for many houses of late 19th– and early 20th-century Dorchester. The owners have risen to the challenge, decorating rooms on every floor with imagination, taste, and verve.
The following is from the inventory form for Carruth Street – Peabody Square at Boston Landmarks Commission
1 Fairfax Street is one of several houses on this street designed by W. Whitney Lewis. It was built for Mabel K. and Frank Fairbanks of Collins and Fairbanks, Boston hatters. During the early -20th -century, this house was owned by C.O.L. Dillaway, president of the Mechanics Trust Company of Boston. By the early 1930s, Frederick M. Drisko, “coml tray.” owned this house.
Shand Tucci, Douglass. Second Settlement.
Date of construction: in the Second Settlement appendix, Tucci cites a mention in American Architect, Aug. 2, 1890, for a house on Beaumont, S. [!] Whitney Lewis architect, owner F. Fairbanks
Could this be for an outbuilding?
deeds
Mar 21 1885 from Carruth to Mabel J. Fairbanks, wife of Frank D. Fairbanks Fairfax & Carruth Sts, Book 1670 p 411 Lot A on pl made in 1883 at book 1657 298
no mention of building
different property: May 18, 1887 from Herbert S. Carruth to f Frank D. Fairbanks et ux. 1771 267 Beaumont & Carruth Sts, pt lots 9 & 10 pl. 1608.234 in 1889 atlas this is vacant land at southeaster corner of Beaumont Street and Carruth
June 26, 1899 from Frank D. Fairbanks to Charles O. L. Dillaway Book 2616 p 457 Fairfax lot A
1910 Bromley Atlas shows property owned by Hrs. of Chas. O. L. Dillaway
1918 Bromley atlas shows property owned by Martha H. Drisko