National Register of Historic Places

Fernwood

Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
Listed
October 16, 1985
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
85003264

About this property

Fernwood is a historic estate house at 155 Clyde Street in Brookline, Massachusetts, United States. Built in 1909, it is a distinctive example of Jacobethan architecture, and one of a few surviving country estate houses of the early 20th century in the town. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Fernwood main house is located in southern Brookline's Buttonwood Village area, in the northeastern part of the former Fernwood estate. The estate has been subdivided, and this house is accessed via the main drive through the former estate (now Fernwood Road). It is a 2+1⁄2-story masonry structure, with brick walls and limestone trim. It has bands of sash windows with rectangular lights, parapeted gables that are steeply pitched, and round-arch doorways. The interior of the house is framed with steel beams, and contains no wood finishes. The land of the Fernwood estate was owned in the late 19th century by Thomas Handasyd Perkins, whose own estate was next door. This land he gave to his daughter Caroline and son-in-law William Gardiner. It was purchased in the early 20th century by Alfred Douglass, a retired New York merchant, who tore down the existing house and had Fernwood built. The estate house was designed by Charles Patch, and the landscaping was done to a plan by the Olmsted Brothers. The house's Jacobethan or Tudor Revival style was quite popular at the time. Douglass only briefly lived on the estate, forced to sell in the 1910s by financial reverses. The Fernwood estate was subdivided later in the 20th century, including splitting off the servants' quarters. National Register of Historic Places listings in Brookline, Massachusetts

Location

155 Clyde St.
Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts
42.32059, -71.14682

Categories

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTUREARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Douglass, Alfred, House
Industrial
0.1 mi
Perkins Estate
Industrial
0.2 mi
White, Benjamin, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Cabot, Lewis, Estate
Industrial
0.2 mi
Elliot, Gen. Simon, House
Industrial
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Boston – Roxbury Lines
1775Revolutionary War
2.5 mi
Siege of Boston – Cambridge Lines
1775Revolutionary War
4.1 mi

Questions about this property

When was Fernwood listed on the National Register?

Fernwood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1985.

What type of historic resource is Fernwood?

Fernwood is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Fernwood?

The period of significance for Fernwood is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Fernwood?

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