132 Marlborough is located on the south side of Marlborough, between Clarendon and Dartmouth, with 130 Marlborough to the east and 134 Marlborough to the west.

132 Marlborough was built in 1871 by John Fisher Farrington, a carpenter and builder, for speculative sale, one of three contiguous houses (132-134-136 Marlborough). He also built five more contiguous houses in 1872-1873 at 140-142-144-146-148 Marlborough. 138 Marlborough was a vacant lot until 1891.

John Farrington acquired the land for 132 Marlborough on March 1, 1871, from attorney and author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., who had purchased it from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on April 14. 1865.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 132 Marlborough, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Marlborough and Alley 424, from Clarendon to Dartmouth.

On November 27, 1871, 132 Marlborough was purchased from John Farrington by Annie Crawford (Clark) Grew, the wife of dry goods merchant Edward Sturgis Grew. They previously had lived at 28 Brimmer.

They continued to live at 132 Marlborough during the 1884-1885 winter season, but moved thereafter to a new home they had built at 185 Marlborough.

In February of 1885, 185 Marlborough was offered for sale.  It remained on the market in December, when real estate dealer Walter Burgess advertised it in the Boston Evening Transcript as “a wide house, octagon front and swell rear,” with “two parlors and dining room on first floor” and ”eight chambers and two bathrooms.”

On January 30, 1886, 132 Marlborough was purchased from Annie Grew by wholesale dry goods merchant Frederick Deane Allen. He was a widower, his wife, Mary Richmond (Baylies) Allen, having died in February of 1883. His daughter, Mary Josephine Allen, and his son and daughter-in-law, Rev. Frederick Baylies Allen and Alberta Hildegarde (Lewis) Allen, lived with him. They all previously had lived at 66 St. James.

Frederick Baylies Allen was assistant rector of Trinity Church from 1879 until 1888, when he was named Superintendent of the Episcopal City Mission in Boston.  He also was president of the “Watch and Ward Society,” which led efforts to ban books and promote “moral purity” in Boston.  The Allens’ son, Frederick Lewis Allen, was an author and historian, best known for his popular history of the 1920s, Only Yesterday.

On April 13, 1887, Frederick Deane Allen transferred 132 Marlborough to his daughter, Mary Josephine Allen.

Frederick Deane Allen died in September of 1894.  Frederick and Alberta Allen, and Mary Josephine Allen, continued to live at 132 Marlborough.

Frederick Baylies Allen died in February of 1925.  Alberta Allen and her sister-in-law, Mary Josephine Allen, continued to live at 132 Marlborough in 1931.  Alberta Allen’s unmarried daughter, Hildegarde Allen, and her step-daughter, Rebecca Gorham Allen (the daughter of Frederick B. Allen and his first wife, Louisa Ripley (Vose) Allen), lived with them.

Mary Josephine Allen died in April of 1931. 132 Marlborough was inherited by Alberta Allen and Rebecca Allen.

Alberta Allen and Hildegard and Rebecca Allen moved soon thereafter to Brookline.

132 Marlborough was not listed in the 1932 and 1933 Blue Books, and was shown as vacant in the 1932 and 1933 City Directories.

On January 17, 1933, 132 Marlborough was acquired from Alberta Allen and Rebecca Allen by Rebecca Allen’s sister (and Alberta Allen’s step-daughter), Josephine Francis (Allen) Clark, the wife of Benjamin Preston Clark. They previously had lived at 171 Marlborough.  They also maintained a home in Cohasset.

B. Preston Clark was a retired cordage manufacturer.  He was an internationally noted entomologist and also served as Consul for Guatemala and Haiti.  With his wife, he founded the Lincoln House Association, which supported a settlement house in the South End.

B. Preston Clark died in January of 1939.  Josephine Clark continued to live at 132 Marlborough until her death in May of 1961.

On October 23, 1961, 132 Marlborough was purchased from Josephine Clark’s estate by Henry (Hans) Jacob F. Winter, a real estate broker, and his wife, Helen (Eilena) Mercurio (Schiff) Winter. They previously had lived at 130 Marlborough, which they sold earlier that year.

On December 22, 1961, 132 Marlborough was acquired from the Winters by Margaret J. Kiely.

On July 17, 1962, 132 Marlborough was acquired from Margaret Kiely by Channing St. Claire MacDonald, an attorney. In August of 1962, he filed for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house.

He and his wife, Myra Rose (Murrin) Channing, a nurse, lived at 132 Marlborough and operated the lodging house. They previously had lived at 26 Montgomery.

On November 15, 1963, he transferred the property to George A. Kessler, and on November 6, 1963, George Kessler transferred a one-half interest back to him.

On November 15, 1964, 132 Marlborough was acquired from Channing MacDonald and George Kessler by Miss Mary Angela Cocuzzo and Miss Nancy A. Casey. They owned several Back Bay properties which they operated as lodging houses.

Mary Cocuzzo and Nancy Casey continued to own 132 Marlborough for the next 47 years, transferring it temporarily on several occasions to other owners and then reacquiring it, holding the property as trustees of various trusts. It remained a lodging house.

Mary Cocuzzo died in June of 2003.

On September 14, 2011, 132 Marlborough was acquired from Nancy Casey, surviving trustee of the Sebastian Two Realty Trust, by Mainsail Management, Inc., and on the same day, it was acquired from it by David C. Megan, trustee of the NMK Nominee Trust.

In December of 2011, the NMK Nominee Trust filed for permission to convert the property from a lodging house into a single-family dwelling.

132 Marlborough continued to be assessed as a single-family dwelling in 2020.