240 Ashmont Street

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No. 11989 240 Ashmont Street, All Saints Rectory, photograph from Andrew Saxe, circa 2001.

Date of Construction: 1912   

Architect:  Edwin J. Lewis, Jr.    

Style: Neo-Georgian

MACRIS (Massachusetts Cultural Resource Information System)  mhc-macris.net accessed [date]

            BOS.5654 All Saints Church Rectory

The following is from: Tucci, Douglass Shand. Second Settlement: A Case Study in the Development of Victorian Boston. 1974.  Although this book is about Jones Hill, the appendix has a list of properties built in the 1880s and 1890s.

 Inspec. Rep. 1912 Edwin J. Lewis, Jr, 240 Ashmont, cost $25,000, builder:  David Burns, owner: Rectory.  Estimated cost to build $25,000.

The following is from Ashmont: An Historical Guide to Peabody Square, Caruth’s Hill, and Ashmont Hill and the Architecture of Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. and John A. Fox. By Paul Douglass Shand-Tucci.  Dorchester, Dorchester Historical Society, 1991. p. 69

The brick on the left is grandest of the three and may properly be called the finale of this long peregrination.  Fittingly, it is the All Saints’ Rectory, 240 Ashmont, the work in 1912 of Edwin J. Lewis.  It has taken me years to appreciate this house.  Note, for example, the architectural framework around the front door — and the way the returns of the surmounting pediment “return” rather  too far, but with such style and finesse that it is distinctly reminiscent of Sir Edward Lutyens’s work.  Then too, this house, reminiscent of the work of the British designer Leonard Stokes, is not quite what it seems.

Seeing this elegant Georgian facade for the first time, turn around with your back to the house and ask yourself if the facade is symmetrical.  Then turn back to it — either very proud of yourself or, more likely, shamefaced — for it is decidedly not symmetrical after all!  Doubtless you will be reminded of 28 Radford Lane, for in this, virtually the last house on our Carruth’s Hill tour, the same kind of deliberately off-axis design by Edwin J. Lewis confronts us as at the first, and again, the way Lewis combines Arts and Carfts ideas, usually wed to the medieval vernacular styles, with the classical tradition, is notable.  Granted that an architect’s art is to present ideas not verbally but visually, and that for the beholder to see is not enough; granted, too, that one must try to think about what meets the eye and to understand the idea behind the visual form — Lewis was a demanding enough designer!  And good enough to be worth some thought here.

On the facade of this house, as on the page of a book, lines, are, in fact, paths — paths along which the eye is led, paths that may be either monotonous or interesting.  Lines in so doing divide the overall surface into shapes, while the interplay been shapes makes a pattern, and both shapes and pattern may be, on the on hand, stimulating or, on the other, boring.  As in printing, where the body of type is not necessarily centered on the page, so with the ensemble of shapes (doors and windows ) of a facade — which interestingly, is sometimes called a “frontispiece,” a word from the art of bookmaking.  I f the ensemble of shapes on the facade (or the body of type on the page) is not centered but is off-axis, it is, clearly, in order to create an effect, one sought by these dispositions because it expresses visually the underlying idea. And the more interesting a path the lines make, the more interesting the shapes and overall pattern they accomplish, so the more stimulating the effect.  Lewis’s designs are stimulating because they create such thoughtful and arresting effects.  The underlying idea here, for example, is surely to quicken the ye and to sharpen the sense that most architects’ designs lull us into putting up with, to catch our eye, as the old saying has it — in fact, to set up a tension.

Certainly, it is thought-provoking.  And the first question any student will want answered is whether Lewis put four of the big facade windows to the left of the center door and five to the right for purely aesthetic reasons.  Is the effect here sought for itself, or does it (undoubtedly handled adroitly and beautifully) arise out of a functional necessity?  That is too complex a matter for a walking tour, but whichever is the case (and in this instance on could, really argue either way), if you study any design that attempts “off-center balance,” you will, if you look hard enough, usually see how accents of varying weight do balance the facade in the end, though the emphasis may not be where you expect it.  But that is more work than a visitor needs.  Better to enjoy 240 Ashmont like 28 Radford — two of Edwin J. Lewis’s most brilliant descants.

The following is from the Area Form for Carruth Street/Peabody Square prepared as part of 1994 Survey of Dorchester, Boston Landmarks Commission.

Constructed of brick in 1912 by the important Dorchester architect Edwin J. Lewis, 240 Ashmont is one of the grand houses of this street.   It was built as the All Saints’ Rectory.  Having lived most of his life at 597 Adams Street in Ashmont, Lewis was an MIT graduate.  Serving a nine year apprenticeship with Peabody and Stearns, Lewis set up his own practice in 1887 and by the early 1900s had “a distinctive style that is quickly recognizable.”  240 Ashmont Street replaced the Augustus Meisel House which as extant by 1884 and demolished to accommodate the rectory.

Street history:

entry for Ashmont Street in

A Record of the Streets, Alleys, Places, Etc., in the City of Boston. (Boston, 1910).

Ashmont Street, Dor., 1849; from 760Washington Street to 263 Neponset Avenue (formerly turnpike), and from Wentworth Street, easterly nearly to Washington Street, and from Wentworth Street, westerly nearly to Milton Avenue; laid out by County Commissioners, December, 1849, for a part of the way through a private way called Ashmont Avenue, authority to open portions from Wentworth Street easterly and westerly, given by Street Commissioners, April 29, 1898. Plans in Boston Engineering Dept.  L 881, L 976, Notes/Summary: L 1856, L 2189

The following is from: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 2005

Year Built: 1912

Architect: Edwin J. Lewis, Jr.

Style: Neo-Georgian

To those familiar with Lewis’s Shingle-style houses, the All Saints’ Rectory—Neo-Georgian in red brick—may come as a surprise.  The seemingly conventional façade is worth a close look: there are two windows to the left of the front door, but three windows to the right.   The doorway, with its swan’s neck pediment, draws the eye so insistently that the overall asymmetry goes unnoticed.

Through the front door and the oak-paneled vestibule, the broad stairhall leads, in typical Georgian fashion, to four main rooms.  In the intimate reception room on the left, the fireplace features a Siena marble surround and a vigorously-carved egg-and-dart molding.  The light-filled living room, on the right, has a less-formal red brick fireplace surround.

Beyond a set of unique leaded-glass pocket doors lies the dining room.  Here Lewis’s Arts and Crafts loyalties come to the fore in the beamed ceiling, oak wainscot, and leaded-glass casements.  Other original details include the green-tiled window ledge and the wall sconces.  The chandelier, although not original, harmonizes beautifully with the sconces.  Across the hall in the rector’s study beckon more leaded glass windows and dark-stained woodwork.  The butler’s pantry and kitchen have been minimally modernized over the decades.

A second-floor guest room, a few steps up fron the stair landing, has an old-time New England feel.  Passing through the ensuite bathroom, one reaches another guest room, whose features include a Federal-style mantel, a four-poster bed, and a “garden” carpet.  An “extra” room off the hall has a built-in bench and an original pendant fixture.  The master suite includes the bedroom with a handsome brass-end bedstead; a bathroom with eccentric 1980s tiling; and a sitting room with comfortable leather-upholstered seating.  The servants’ wing has been adapted as a separate apartment for a family member.

On the third floor can be found two charming “under the eaves” bedrooms.  The bathroom between them retains its original tub and tiles.  The big playroom across the hall was once even bigger: one end has been partitioned off to create a storeroom.  The fact that this partition is the most drastic architectural change in the house’s history testifies to the excellence of the original design and the affectionate respect with which it has been maintained.

The following is from Dorchester House Tour, Ashmont/Carruth Neighborhood, June 11, 2017

Year built: 1912

Architect: Edwin J. Lewis, Jr.

Style: Neo-Georgian

To those familiar with Lewis’s Shingle-style houses, the All Saints’ Rectory—Neo-Georgian in red brick—may come as a surprise.  The seemingly conventional façade is worth a close look: there are two windows to the left of the front door, but three windows to the right.   The doorway, with its swan’s neck pediment, draws the eye so insistently that the overall asymmetry goes unnoticed.

Inside the broad stair hall leads, in typical Georgian fashion, to four main rooms.  The fireplace in the reception room to the left features a Siena marble surround and a vigorously-carved egg-and-dart moulding. The light-filled living room has a less-formal red brick fireplace surround. Leaded-glass pocket doors lead to the dining room, where Lewis’s Arts and Crafts loyalties come to the fore i the beamed ceiling, oak wainscot, leaded-glass casements, arched alcove, and wall sconces.  The Arts and Crafts style continues in the rector’s study with more leaded glass windows and dark-stained woodwork.  Designed to accommodate parish gatherings, these first-floor spaces manage to retain a domestic scale and fell, providing a comfortable home for the rector’s family.

A second-floor guest room, a few steps up from the first stair landing, has an old-time New England feel. Through the en suite bathroom is another guest room with a Federal-style mantel  An inviting sitting area has a built-in bench and an original pendant fixture.  The master suite includes the bedroom with a handsome brass-end bedstead, bathroom and sitting room.  The servants’ wing now houses a guest room and office.

The main stairs and their robustly turned balustrade continue to the third floor.  Two charming “under the eaves” bedrooms are connected by a bathroom that retains its original tub and tiles.  One end of the playroom has been partitioned off to create a storeroom.  This partition is the most drastic architectural change in the house’s history, testimony to the excellence of the original design and the affectionate respect with which it has been maintained.

The house had an exciting summer in 2016, when it served as a location for the movie Detroit, set to be released this August.  Its transformation into a dingy motel included replacing the elegant hallway wallpaper with a depressing, dark patter.  To undo this “Hollywood magic,” the interior was extensively refurbished, including the recreation of that original wallpaper.

Owners’ names from atlases

1884 Augustus Meisel—this is a different house than the rectory

1889 Lyman Abbot Hrs

1894 Alice G. Whittemore

1898 Alice G. Whittemore

1904 Alice G. Whittemore

1910 Mary L. Peabody (still a wooden house)

1918 Mary L. Peabody (now brick)

1933 Mary L. Peabody

Dorchester Blue Books

1915 Miss Katharine M. Blunt; Rev. & Mrs Simon Blinn Blunt

Skills

Posted on

July 24, 2020