The Original House, 1899 - 1920
Albert hired a local architect for the job. James Murray, was very active in the City of Boston. According to the 1910 census, James was born in Scotland, and moved to the USA with his wife Ellen T Murray. He designed a number buildings in Boston and Cambridge, including the City of Cambridge Fire Station, 38 Spring Park Avenue, JP, 47 & 55 Patten St, 71 Walk Hill St, JP, as well as the Congregational Church on Cummings Highway in Roslindale Square. He also designed 'Fraternity Hall' in Roslindale, which no longer exists, but was on Poplar St, where Adam's Park is now. It contained, ground floor stores, a performance hall, offices on the 1st floor including that for the Roslindale Bicycle Club, and lodging (ie rentals) on the top floor.
He had offices at 120 Tremont St. Boston, but lived locally - at 104 Poplar St, where the Roslindale High School is now standing. Albert Fox is listed as the builder in each permit application, although on the Inspector's sign off, Morrison Bros. are listed as builders.
One must wonder if the shared Scottish heritage between the Dunn family (Isabella) and James Murray, helped Albert get his house designed by someone relatively famous, or just that they knew each other living so close, and being reputable people of the area.
In 1899, Albert applied for 2 permits (above) from the City of Boston: one to build a house and one to build a stable on the 318 Met Ave property.Two ward maps from 1895 (Lizzie) and 1905 (Isabella), you can see how similar the outline of the two houses were. Albert's is definitely more intriacte, with a portico between the house and incredibly large stable. But the overall similarity and placement makes us wonder how much of Lizzie's house Albert kept. The foundations? Nothing? Most likely nothing, since the permits are all for a new construction.
Within the City of Boston Archives, we found (with help from Marta Crilly the Archivist), the original building inspector's sign off, and initial blueprints for the house, dated 1899 - 1901. In 1943 the house was cut in two pieces (by a Roslindale based, and reputable builder, Albin Brodin), with the East side moved onto Maynard St and the stable converted to a one family house at 324 Met Ave (more later on). The plans from this operation were also in the Archives, including 318 Met, 324 Met (the stable) and 44 Maynard, the second part of the house.
Fairchild overhead from 1925.
Front of 318 from plans in 1943
You can see the entirety of the house in both the overhead photo from the 1920s (bottom right), as well as its front in an architectural sketch from 1943. Looking at the overhead photo closely:
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The wrap-around porch is overall similar today as it was then, although it was called a Piazza (Blanche spoke fluent Italian). It did wrap around all the way to the back exit of the house.
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A single story extension comes from the eastern side of the house, which currently exists today (and in the original plans). The stairs in the 1943 sketch are not visible/there. But there appears to be a covered passage way to the stable/garage. This passageway/portico looks mostly glass, with a flat shingle roof. On the original plans nothing more than two fences are mentioned in this area.
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There was at least one door/opening in this portico (which is currently open) leading onto a non-grass driveway/courtyard area in the front.
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The stable/garage was quite impressive by itself, with two floors, though no chimney (no heating), but a cupola, usually used to release heat from animals.
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Behind and to the side of the house there was a lot of open land.
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The property, Met Ave and Maynard St, were lined with trees - the current large magnolia on Maynard St side of the property was not present at the time.
The original front of house was very grand with the (still extant, though not same design) wrap around porch, and numerous decorative windows. The portico connection to the stable is not shown. Note the 3 chimneys, the left most was for the entry hall & music room, one for the living room and one for the kitchen.
The basement is vast. In 1943, it was cut along the three brick columns in the middle of the basement plan. There are 3 ash pits accesses under the lined flues for the three fireplaces. A whole wine cellar, a vegetable storage area, and a large section for coal storage. No obvious coal chute is seen (there are regular windows) so it may be that the coal was brought in across the basement floor from the access in the east wall. Coal was the method for heating and for the hot water system in the house. On the east side of the plan, there is the servants bathroom and toilet, next to the laundry (therefore not allowed to use the one in the house). A small spiral staircase goes up to the ground floor, which abuts the ash pit access to the kitchen's fireplace. There is no ash pit noted underneath the fireplace in the sitting room. The various grayed-in squares are brick support columns for the beams in the house, as well as the porch outside. There are a goof amount of windows throughout the basement - none of which are open now, and most are bricked up.
One symbol which you will see throughout the plans resembles a flower. This mark is placed in the middle of many rooms (eg second floor chambers, the reception hall) and along the walls of other rooms. This mark either suggests electrical hook up or a gas line for lights. These are found in the basement, first and second floor.
Electric or gas fitting symbol on plans
The First Floor. The whole floor is supported by framing on brick columns, as shown in the basement plan. The back of house shows a vestibule and porch, which supports 2 upper rooms (sewing room & study). This solved a mystery for us - above the current family room, the rooms are original, but not the family room itself. This now tells us, the vestibule and porch were enclosed to make the new family room and kitchen. The under-stair toilet is now stairs to the basement, and the vestibule is now a toilet springing off the present kitchen.
If you have read the history of the Fox Family, you will know they are musical - and the presence of an entire Music Room with annotated Organ and Pianoforte, as well as dedicated shelves for music books confirms this. This is the present dining room, but the room still contains many old musical touches - the fireplace decorations, and the theme of the stained glass window. There are two windows in the back of the Music Room; one of these is the doorway into the present kitchen, and the other has been covered over, although if you look closely, in both areas the crown moulding is slightly altered.
The Parlour is similar to the current parlour, although there is a fireplace indicated, this seems to have never been built.
Above the Fireplace in the main entrance hall is the Scottish motto "East West, Hame's Best", which represents the more modern saying of "Home Sweet Home". No doubt with a Scottish architect, and a Scottish one side of the family who lived close by, there was no argument about its prominent placing here. I'm sure it also reminded Albert and Blanche of home, when they walked through the front door after years of travel. The phrase, as mentioned, is Scottish, and can be found, also found written on the Leith Tower of Castle Fyvie in Aberdeen, Scotland built by Lord Leith in 190.0.
The seat in the front vestibule is the only one remaining - the other in that vestibule is now a closet, and the seat by the stairs has been removed to make way for a door to the basement.
The other half of the house is now 44 Maynard St. The final plans of which can be found on the page discussing the cut. This includes the Dining Room, which contains a stained glass window, and the sitting room which still contains a fireplace. This layout is classically Victorian, with the Dining Room by the Kitchen and Pantry, and the Sitting Room, also close, so that one could adjourn after dinner for brandy or port. A small conservatory is accessed by the back stairs area and outside, with a small window into the Sitting Room. This is a very English aspect of the house, and would definitely catch the morning and afternoon sun.
Grand stairs
Original pocket door
Hallway fireplace, Parlour (L), Music Room (R)
Original decorative fireplace bricks
Music room fireplace
Musical detail
Music room stained glass
Stained glass from outside
Stained glass from inside
Parlour
Our neighbors, Matt and Laura, who live on the ground floor of 44 Maynard St, showed us the current (2022) arrangement .
The Maynard St-facing front door enters into the original Sitting Room, although the door has been moved slightly as it is no longer central to the room. Original trim and moldings were re-used by Albin Brodin for these windows and doors. The Sitting Room was at the front of the original house, and still has the original curved window in the wall opposite the new front door. Next to the curved window the original fireplace still exists. There is no doorway to the old conservatory, which itself is no used as an entrance to the apartment.
The fireplace is in the Sitting Room, as marked on the plans, although the ash door has been sealed up, and the flu is also sealed shut. The entirety has been painted white. Looking closely, the fireplace is made out of brick, and contains the same decorative finishes as the hallway fireplace from the main house.
Sitting room fireplace and decorative bricks
The Dining Room was at the back of the old house - on the other side of the wall to the grand staircase. The large angular wall at the back of this room contains a large stained glass window with a central lion feature (see photo). It seems that the Fox crest from Ireland contains similar lion themes, although these often contain the Red Hand of Ulster as well. However, perhaps with the Fox's originally being from the South, they dropped the Protestant hands from the design? The glass and lead structure of the window is original. This crest is similar to a crest on a drum still owned by the Fox family - thanks to Cynthia Fox of New York for the photo.
The Dining Room also contains a fireplace, not found on the original plans which is is the corner, backing onto the fireplace in the Sitting Room (making use of a joint ash pit in the basement and a joint flu). It is however seen in the 1943 plans, so this was an active change on building: the Parlour fireplace was not installed, instead the Sitting Room gained a fireplace. This fireplace is no longer functioning, but still contains the original red brick (like in the main house hallway), and as you look at the brick, you can see that the floorboards surrounding it in the Dining Room are still original.
New front door in Sitting Room
Curved window at front of house
Stained glass & Crest
Dining room fireplace, showing original brick and floorboards.
Original radiator (and window!)
View to kitchen through pantry from Dining room.
Dining room looking towards the back of the house. Door to the right leads to the kitchen/pantry. Fireplace in near right corner is not in plans, and blocks entry to staircase passage.
Ash pit door under kitchen
Kitchen bumpout hides fireplace
The cold storage shown on the plans is now a pantry, and the entry way onto outdoor step and porch is now a closed in extra room.
The Second Floor. From these sketches you can see how large the house was. The grand staircase in the reception hall went up to a Sewing Room (now an office/study with much of the same wood finishing, and with an entrance to the new Conservatory) on the landing, and a closet (still present!), before opening onto the upper Hallway with entrances to two Bedrooms and a Dressing Room. The Dressing Room was accessed from two bedrooms, and the entire five bedrooms would have shared the bathroom (though not a toilet). Both bedrooms are still present, although the toilet between the two bedrooms are now full closets, albeit with a decorative window pointing over the porch/piazza. The grand Dressing Room is now a bathroom, and this wall marks the line where the house was. A passage heads east from the main hall, and this is now a large window in the remaining house. Both front and back staircases indicate going up to another level, however in the plans of 1899/1901, there is no mention of a third floor - and there is nothing marked missing either. The Permits and Inspector's Report declare a 2.5 story house. Perhaps it was unfinished? Maybe confirming this, a 1937 Water Company assessment of the house comments on the third floor as simply 'Attic'.
Stable from driveway
Stable from Met
The Stable. The sketches above were taken from the blueprints of the design of 324 Met Ave in 1943. They show the original look. of the Stable, right down to the detail of the cockerel weathervane. The plans themselves show that there was a main Carriage Room for a car or horse drawn carriage, as well as 2 stalls for horses, and a couple of spare rooms. The stairs go up to an unused second floor which, even in 1943, was used as a Hay Room.
One can only imagine how elegant the entire combination of the grand house and this exquisite stable must have looked in their prime.