No. 11897 25 Harley Street, photograph from Andrew Saxe, circa 2011.
No. 4544 carriage house at 25 Harley Street, photograph from 2001.
No. 20299 carriage house at 25 Harley Street, photograph from Google Street View, April, 2010.
Date of construction: 1883
The Boston Directory for 1884 has an entry for Thomas Hartford on Harley Street for the first time.
Architect: Edwin J. Lewis, Jr.
In the appendix to The Second Settlement, Tucci cites a mention in AA May 7, 1892 – Edwin J. Lewis, Jr. architect, M.C. Hartford owner.
The following is from Ashmont by Douglass Shand-Tucci, p. 78
On the far corner is 25 Harley, the Thomas Hartford House, a pre-1884 house perhaps later remodeled by Lewis for Hartford, a Boston businessman and Ashmont developer for whom Lewis did some of his earliest work. Beautifully restored (with its original exterior color scheme) by its present owners, the Gildays [Gildeas], 25 Harley rejoices in a wonderfully picturesque stable of ca. 1889, complete ogee-capped cupola, perhaps also the work of Lewis, who also designed the two houses next door: 21 and 17 Harley.
The following is from the area form for Ashmont Hill, Boston Landmarks Commission.
Situated at the corner of Roslin and Harley Street (#25 Harley Street)is one of Dorchester architect John A. Fox’s masterpieces. In the main (Harley Street) is composed of three 2.5 story segments: a two-bay segment with encircling verandah and gable roofed dormer with Palladian window, a central segment with two story octagonal bay and jerkin head gable and a two bay hip roofed kitchen ell. These components are visually tied together by vertical and horizontal stick work over clapboards. This house represents a sophisticated blend of Queen Anne form, Stick Style surface treatments and an early (for pre 1885) hint of the Colonial Revival Style in the dormer’s Palladian window. In recent years this house has been painted its original colors.Still intact on this property is one of the largest late 19th century belvedere-topped barns in the neighborhood.
The following is from: Codman Square House Tour Booklet 1997
Year Built: 1886
Architect: John Fox
Style: Queen Ann/Stick style
This house was built for the shoe and boot pattern manufacturer Thomas Hartford in 1886 and was occupied by the Hartford family until his widow’s death in 1920. The second owners converted the house—very sensitively—into two apartments in 1926.
Many of the original features and details survive, including never-painted woodwork, such as the oak and cherry mantels, pocket doors, and the built-in dining room sideboard. There is also leaded glass and an Anglo-Japanese porch railing.
The photo above [in the house tour booklet] calls attention to the decorative hinges, which are on doors that are meant to be left open. Also of interest are the wainscot panels below the parlor and dining room windows. These are filled with Lincrusta, a papier-mache-like pressed ornamental material and are original to the house. The bedroom, originally the library, retains its working fireplace with paneled oak over-mantel.
The décor is intended to evoke a Victorian feeling rather than a literal recreation of the period. Nineteenth- and twentieth-century furniture and decorative objects have been selected to complement the architecture.
The following is from: Ashmont Hill Association House Tour Guide, Sunday, May 22, 1977
This large, gray house, with its cupola-ed carriage house, has both Queen Anne and Stick Style elements (the “sticks” outlining the corners of the building). It was built before 1894. There is a fancy cutout pattern on the screen below the porch.
Owners from atlases:
1884 M.T?. Harford
1889 Mary Hartford
1894 Mary C. Hartford
1898 Mary C. Hartford
1904 Mary C. Hartford
1910 Mary C. Hartford
1918 Mary C. Hartford
1933 Jose B. Tanek et al
Boston Directory
1883 Thomas T. Hartford (Hartford Bros.), 154 Federal, house Washington, opp. Euclid, Dor.
1884 Thomas T. Hartford (Hartford Bros.), 154 Federal, h. Roslin, cor. Harley
Deed
April 26, 1882 from Geroge D. Welles to Thomas T. Hartford 1558.337 lot 104
Parcel of land
July 10, 1882 from George Derby Welles to Thomas T. Hartford 1566.284 lot 103
parcel of land
July 10, 1883 from George Derby Welles to Thomas T. Hartford 1604.309 1ot 103
parcel of land – same as entry above
Aug. 23, 1883 from Thomas T. Hartford to Charles F. Briggs 1608.435 lot 104 and 103
Aug. 24, 1883 from Charles F. Briggs to Mary C. Hartford, wife of Thomas T. Hartford, 1608.437 lots 103 and 104
land with buildings thereon
Census 1900
Thomas T. Hartford, 54, Mfg Shoe Machinery
Mary C. Hartford, 55
Arthur F. Hartford, 19
Catherine Walsh, 28, cook
Census 1910
Thomas T. Hartford, 69, manufacturer, machinery
Mary C. Hartford, 65
Arthur F. Hartford, 23, salesman, automobiles
Catherine Magrath, 31, servant
Marriage
Thomas T. Hartford to Mary C. Richardson, South Boston Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, June 19, 1865
Death
Thomas T. Hartford, 1916