134 Marlborough is located on the south side of Marlborough, between Clarendon and Dartmouth, with 132 Marlborough to the east and 136 Marlborough to the west.

134 Marlborough was built in 1871-1872 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 134 Marlborough on December 4, 1871, from Edwin H. Abbot, who had purchased it from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on January 3, 1867.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 134 Marlborough, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Marlborough and Alley 424, from Clarendon to Dartmouth.

On October 21, 1872, 134 Marlborough was purchased from John Farrington by Nancy (Grout) Kimball, the wife of boot, shoe, and leather dealer Joshua Brooks Kimball. They previously had lived at 13 Mt. Vernon.

At the time of the 1880 US Census they were living elsewhere and 134 Marlborough was the home of Sidney Frederick Tyler and his wife, Mary Woodrow (Binney) Tyler. He was Massachusetts General Agent for the Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company. They had married in February of 1880, and 134 Marlborough probably was their first home together.  In 1879, he had lived in Providence.

By the 1880-1881 winter season, the Tylers had moved to 120 Marlborough and 134 Marlborough was once again the home of Joshua and Nancy Kimball. Soon thereafter, they moved to 83 Worcester to live with their son and daughter-in-law, George Henry Kimball and Sylvia (Pitcher) Kimball. George Kimball was a partner in his father’s shoe, boot, and leather firm. They continued to live there for the rest of their lives. Joshua Kimball died in September of 1885, and on July 6, 1891, Nancy Kimball transferred 134 Marlborough to George Kimball. She died in February of 1892.

During the 1881-1882 winter season, 134 Marlborough was the home of shoe manufacturer Albert Leighton Coolidge and his wife, Elizabeth (Wiggin) Coolidge.   They had lived at the Hotel Vendome during the previous season.  By the 1882-1883 season, they had moved to the Hotel Agassiz at 191 Commonwealth.

134 Marlborough was not listed in the 1883 Blue Book.

By the 1883-1884 winter season, 134 Marlborough was the home of dry goods merchant Alexander Henderson and his wife, Mary A. (O’Connor) Henderson.  They continued to live there during the 1884-1885 winter season, but moved thereafter to the Hotel Kensington at 687 Boylston.

By the 1885-1886 winter season, 134 Marlborough was the home of dry goods commission merchant Eugene Battelle and his wife, Susan Parkman (Munro) Battelle.  They had lived at 321 Dartmouth during the previous season.  By mid-1886, they had moved to 317 Dartmouth.

By the 1886-1887 winter season, 134 Marlborough was the home of Eugene Henry Sampson and his wife, Martha (Gilbert) Sampson.  They previously had lived at 16 Newbury and, before that, at 36 Commonwealth.  He was treasurer of Everett Mills, textile manufacturers.

By the 1887-1888 winter season, Mrs. Helen (Ayer) Winslow, the widow of Dr. Edward Hubbard Winslow, a physician, also was living at 134 Marlborough.  Their son, Edward Winslow, lived with her.  They previously had lived at 157 Boylston.

A third family also was living at 134 Marlborough during the 1887-1888 season: Daniel Lothrop, a book publisher specializing in children’s books, and his wife, Harriet Mulford (Stone) Lothrop, who was the author of children’s books (notably the “Five Little Peppers” series) writing under the name Margaret Sidney.  Their primary residence was their home, Wayside, in Concord, which had been the home of Nathaniel Hawthorne.  The Lothrops probably were living in Boston for the winter while he reorganized his publishing firm into a corporation.

By the 1888-1889 winter season, the Lothrops had moved and were living at their home in Concord.  The Sampsons and Mrs. Winslow and her son were joined at 134 Marlborough by commission merchant Charles E. Maxwell and his wife, Velma Elizabeth (Clapp) Maxwell.  They previously had lived at 62 Bowdoin.

By the 1889-1890 winter season, Sampsons had moved to New York City, where Eugene Sampson was in charge of the New York office of O. H. Sampson & Company, a wholesale dry goods firm organized by his brother, Oscar Hallet Sampson.  The Maxwells also had moved, to 16 Mt. Vernon.

Helen Winslow and Edward Winslow continued to live at 134 Marlborough during the 1890-1891 winter season, but moved soon thereafter to Chestnut Hill.

By the 1891-1892 winter season, 134 Marlborough was the home of Miss Helen L. McLellan.

By 1896, she had been joined by Dr. James Marsh Jackson, a physician, and his wife, Leonora (Lewis) Jackson.  They had married in May of 1895 and 134 Marlborough probably was their first home together.  Prior to their marriage, he had been a lodger at 197 Beacon, where he continued to maintain his office.  By the 1897-1898 winter season, they had moved to an apartment at The Grosvenor at 259 Beacon.

Helen McLellan continued to live at 134 Marlborough until late 1899, when she traveled abroad.

134 Marlborough was not listed in the 1900 Blue Book.

On December 29, 1899, 134 Marlborough was purchased from George Kimball by Charles Louis Flint, Jr., a broker. He and his wife, Rebecca M. (Burbank) Flint, lived in Brookline. The January 4, 1900, Boston Globe article on the sale indicated that Charles Flint purchased 134 Marlborough “for a residence” but it appears that he never lived there.

On June 30, 1900, 134 Marlborough was acquired from Charles Flint by cotton merchant Isaac Rand Thomas. He and his wife, Gertrude Stewart (Fabyan) Thomas, made it their home. They previously had lived in Brookline. They continued to live at 134 Marlborough during the 1906-1907 winter season, after which they moved to 303 Commonwealth.

On December 1, 1906, 134 Marlborough was purchased from Isaac Thomas by Mary Richards (Clark) Bayley, the wife of Edward Bancroft Bayley. They previously had lived at 42 Gloucester. They also maintained a home in Cohasset.

Edward Bayley was affiliated with the shipping firm of Henry W. Peabody & Company, a partner in the Boston Office, which dealt primarily in hemp, sisal, and other fibers.

In January of 1931, Edward Bayley purchased 136 Marlborough. It appears that he left the house vacant until he sold it in August of 1935.

Edward Bayley died in July of 1936.  Mary Bayley continued to live at 134 Marlborough until her death in 1956.

On February 28, 1957, 134 Marlborough was purchased from Mary Bayley’s estate by Eli (Elie) A. Richard, a barber, and his wife, Jeanne M. (Ducharme) Richard, a musician and music teacher.  They previously had lived at 134 St. Botolph.  In August of 1957, they applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a single-family dwelling and lodging house.  They continued to live at 134 Marlborough and operate it as a lodging house until 1972.

On January 4, 1973, 134 Marlborough was purchased from the Richards by real estate broker and investor George P. Demeter. He continued to operate it as a lodging house, but in the late 1970s apparently converted it into apartments.

On February 1, 1996, George Demeter transferred 134 Marlborough to his affiliated organization, the Yia Yia Realty LP, and in January of 1997, it applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property into nine apartments, noting that the “building has been occupied as apartments at least since 1978.”

134 Marlborough remained an apartment building in 2021.