December 22, 2015 Alvah Kittredge House Proposed for Boston Landmark Designation
This fall the Boston Landmarks Commission commissioned a study report of the 1834 Alvah Kittredge House in Roxbury a mandatory step in designating the Greek Revival structure a Boston Landmark. The study report detailing the nomination is available here.
Historic Boston is no stranger to Landmark buildings as the Hayden Building in Chinatown and the Fowler Clark Epstein Farm in Mattapan are both Boston Landmarks, and the Eustis Street Fire House is included in the Eustis Street Architectural Conservation District in Roxbury. In addition a petition for designating the Old Corner Bookstore downtown a Boston Landmark was accepted by the Commission which essentially requires that the building be protected and reviewed as a Landmark.
Boston Landmark status offers the highest level of honor and protection to a building or place of historic or architectural merit in the city of Boston. In order to be eligible, a historic place must have national significance by virtue of the events that occurred there, the people associated with the site, or the uniqueness of the architecture. Ten Boston residents must petition the Commission to consider a prospective site and, should the site meet Landmark criteria and the petition accepted by the Commission, the historic resource will be studied and, with public input along the way, determined to meet Landmark status and levels of physical protection that the site will receive in perpetuity.
Landmark study reports also provide the most comprehensive view of historic buildings and places and can shed new light on the past. For example, the Kittredge House report tells us that the building, which until now was thought to have been built in 1836, was actually constructed in 1834. We also learn from this report more about the people who lived in the house through most of the 20th century, well after the house’s two most illustrious owners, Alvah Kittredge and Nathaniel Bradlee, lived there.
The Boston Landmarks Commission serves to protect the beauty and history of Boston and their mission aligns strongly with our own at Historic Boston. The final vote by the Commission on the Kittredge House will happen in early 2016. Historic Boston is proud that the Alvah Kittredge House is being considered for this honor and will be preserved and protected for future Bostonians to enjoy.