[MassHistPres] Does anyone know of plans from around 1820 for building a two over two workman's cottage

[Betty Slade]

You might take a look at the entries for Westport on Beeden Road.  We registered these workers' houses. 
 Betty SladeChair, Westport Community Preservation Committee  
Sent from AOL DesktopIn a message dated 1/2/2024 2:50:44 PM Central Standard Time, masshistpres at cs.umb.edu writes: 

Dear All,

      I am attempting to write a book about “Hart’s Content,” the area in Brookline where workman’s two over two cottages were moved in 1870 for lower income primarily Irish Catholic families. https://www.brooklinema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25192/Draft-SR_Harts-Content?bidId=

     Here is a picture of these cottages on Hart Street that measure 16.5 feet in width.  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3262343,-71.1230713,3a,75y,5.24h,90.16t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s5-er_Rv5wYjO4q6M1SDy_Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3D5-er_Rv5wYjO4q6M1SDy_Q%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D308.24866%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

    I recently visited Cambridge Antiques and had the choice of walking on nearby Winter Street that also contains workman’s cottages. I “paced” all these cottages (one foot in front of the other - thankfully it was dark but any observer would have said, “That is one of those weird preservation people”). These cottages are about 16.5 feet in width and have a main door that is on the side, as on Hart Street.  https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3725571,-71.0807857,3a,75y,9.03h,91.87t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1svsC0-c6c3hLMhXgoWgyMZA!2e0!5s20180901T000000!7i16384!8i8192?authuser=0&entry=ttu

     So often, houses of the wealthy have been well documented while details about working class houses are harder to find.  Benjamin Bradley built many of these workman cottages to house lower income families in Brookline (30 on Bradley Hill) and Jamaica Plain and he must have used a set of plans due to the regularity of the framing. 

     Does anyone have leads for finding the pattern that housewrights would have used, starting around 1820, for such a cottage?

With much appreciation and wishes for a Happy New Year,

Anne

 

Anne Lusk, Ph.D. 

18 Hart Street, Brookline, MA 02445 

Boston University Metropolitan College Lecturer – Urban Agriculture

617-879-4887 h

617-872-9201 c

https://sites.bu.edu/anne-lusk/

 

 
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