The Chestnut Hill Historic District encompasses the historic portion of the village of Chestnut Hill that lies in

Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...

, with only slight overlap into adjacent

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

. The district is bounded on the north by Middlesex Road, on the east by Reservoir Lane, on the south by Crafts Road and

Massachusetts Route 9 Route 9 is a major east–west state highway in Massachusetts, United States. Along with U.S. Route 20 (US 20), Route 2, and Interstate 90, Route 9 is one of the major east–west routes of Massachusetts. The western terminus is near th ...

, and on the west by Dunster Road. A small portion of the district extends south of Route 9, including a few houses and the Baldwin School on Heath Street. The district was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on October 17, 1985. The oldest portion of Chestnut Hill, including its colonial roots, lies just over the line in

, and was also the part of the village that was the first to be developed as a suburban residential area. When the Brookline section was being planned for development,

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822 – August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, Social criticism, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the U ...

was consulted in 1888, but his plans were not executed. The area was developed between then and about 1920, with large, high-quality houses on well-proportioned lots. Most of the houses in the district are either Colonial Revival or Shingle in their styling; there are also a few earlier Queen Anne houses and a number of later Craftsman-style houses, especially in the Reservoir Lane area which was the last to be developed. Several prominent area architectural firms were engaged in the development of properties in the district. Chapman & Frazer (later Chapman, Frazer & Blinn) were responsible for 29 of the more than 120 houses in the district; Horace Frazer lived in the district, at 471 Heath Street. Putnam & Cox designed seven homes, generally in the Arts and Crafts style, and William Putnam also lived in the district. Arthur Bowditch designed one house, as did the firm of Hartwell & Richardson.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Brookline, Massachusetts Historic districts in Norfolk County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Brookline, Massachusetts Historic districts in Middlesex County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Newton, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

See also

References