15 Carruth Street

 

Date of construction: 1895

Architect: Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. – Shand-Tucci in The Second Settlement

In The Second Settlement appendix, Tucci cites a building permit from 1894 – Edwin J. Lewis, Jr architect, S. L. Sullis builder and S. Goodale owner.  By 1895 George Walden was living here.

The following is from Ashmont by Douglass Shand-Tucci.

The decisive projection of the roof beyond the main walls of the house on eaves so deeply flat and planar, with no supporting purlins or brackets, works with the roof slopes of porches and bays and the overall house roof itself–and the big gables of the third floor and the front porch–to create a striking and lucid geometry.

This is called the Captain Boyd House not because of an owner but because of a guest!  A connection of the wife of the house’s first resident , George Walden, an army officer living here by mid-1895 (the house was built ca. 1893-94), Captain George William Boyd was Boston born and bred but made his fortune in Alabama.  A member of the firm of L. Merchant and Company, “an important factor” in trade in Mobile, according to his Transcript obituary, Boyd returned home in his retirement and almost until his death in 1903 lived with the Waldens at 15 Carruth.  Perhaps the greatest benefactor in the street’s history, Boyd, like the Peabodys, was converted at All Saints’ and when he died he left to the parish very nearly–in today’s values-two million dollars.

The following is from the inventory form for Carruth Street – Peabody Square, Boston Landmarks Commission.

10 and 15 Carruth Street were designed by Dorchester architect Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. for Susan and Thomas H. Goodale. The Goodale’s resided in the former while the latter was built as an investment property for immediate sale. Built in 1888, 10 Carruth Street represents one of Lewis’ earliest documented works. Thomas H. Goodale, Jr. was a partner in Doliber, Goodale and Co., Boston merchants and was for years the Junior Warden of All Saints’; he was a member of the committee that raised the funds to build the present church. Additionally, Goodale’s wife Susan was a leader in a number of All Saints’ organizations.

15 Carruth Street was built c.1893-94 and by 1895 was owned by George Walden, a United States Army officer. Captain George William Boyd, a friend of the Waldens, spent his retirement at 15 Carruth Street. A native of Boston, Boyd made his fortune in Alabama as a member of the firm of L. Merchant and Company. Captain Boyd died at 15 Carruth Street in 1903, leaving a substantial fortune to All Saints’, said to have been worth two million dollars in today’s currency. By 1933, Mary R. Quinn, a teacher at the Oliver Wendell Holmes School lived here.

Carruth Street is the premiere street in this neighborhood in terms of noteworthy residential architecture. Highlights of this street include the grouping of houses at 12 Lombard (corner of Carruth), 13 Carruth Street and 15 Carruth Street. 13 and 15 exhibit Medieval qualities as interpreted via the Shingle Style. These Medieval qualities are most evident in the overhanging gables, wood shingle materials and diamond shaped uppersash of 13 Carruth Street. Additionally, 13 Carruth Street features a sweeping roof line that is typical of Shingle Style residences as well as a side porch with multi – pane windows. Situated off the main entrance hall, a sun porch like this speaks to upper- middle class Americans’ discovery of a less formal way of living during the 1890’s. 13 and 15 Carruth Street are set back from each other in a way that showcases #12 Lombard Street, a substantial Queen Anne house with a main facade characterized by a recessed corner entrance porch, octagonal oriel and broad gable with two levels of overhangs.

13 and 15 CarruthStreet ‘s land was owned by the Newbury Five Cents Savings Bank in 1884 and by Susan H. Goodale in 1894. 13 Carruth Street was built in 1895 and has been attributed to Albert W. Cobb of Cobb and Stevens.

Source: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 2001

15 Carruth Street is another design from the masterful Edwin J. Lewis, completed circa 1894.  Note the boldness of the gabled roof and its asymmetric relationship with the façade below.

Boston Directory

1893 Thomas T. Goodale, h. 10 Carruth

1894 Thomas T. Goodale, 178 Devnshire, rm 420, h. 10 Carruth

1895 Thomas T. Goodale 178 Devonshire, rm 421, h. 10 Carruth

1896 George Walden, U.S.A. h. 15 Carruth

owners form atlases

1894 no house on map – lot owned by Susan H. Goodale

1898 George Walden

1904 George Walden Hrs.

1910 Emma A. Walden Hrs.

1918 Mary E. Dudley

1933 M. R. & Wm Quinn et als

deed June 19, 1895 from Thomas J. or T. Goodale and Susan H. Goodale  to George Walden  Book 2285 p 175   Lot B pl. 2270 end parcel of land with the buildings thereon

refers to earlier deed May 12, 1891 from William B. Everett to Susan H. Goodale Book 1998 p 604

death record for Emma died June 4, 1906

her will is available on Ancestry – instructs that her house be sold and proceeds go to a niece, Mary E. Dudley, who in 1918 was the owner here

Census 1900  enumeratin district 1527 ?or 1547?

George Walden, 76, occupation unreadable

undreadable Walden, 60

Sarah Tyson, 30, servant