22 Commonwealth is located on the south side of Commonwealth, between Arlington and Berkeley, with 20 Commonwealth to the east and 24 Commonwealth to the west.

22 Commonwealth was designed by Gridley J. F. Bryant and Arthur D. Gilman, architects, and built in 1860-1861, one of nine contiguous houses (20-22-24-26-28-30-32-34-36 Commonwealth). In his Houses of Boston’s Back Bay, Bainbridge Bunting calls the group “one of the most imposing compositions in the whole district.”

Bunting’s comment echoed the views of the Boston Evening Transcript in its July 14, 1860, article announcing plans for the nine houses:

“A large and elegant block of first class houses will shortly be seen rising in the very center of the filled area, being on the south or left hand side of the broad central avenue, and about half way from Arlington to Berkley [sic] street. Nine of these houses will be similar in height, arrangement, material and external finish – a fact which we record with some wonder – as we had never before believed that nine persons could be found in Boston, who had not some crotchets of their own which they would be sure to prefer to the general uniformity of the streets, or the general welfare and appearance of the city. In this case, the block will form a very marked and striking ornament to the wide avenue on which it is to be placed. We learn that the contracts for these houses have been concluded, and that the works will be commenced next week, Messrs. G. J. F. Bryant and Arthur Gilman, Architects.”

On September 24, 1860, the Boston Post commented on the design of the nine houses, noting that they are “substantially of the same design. The fronts are of handsome pressed brick, and have elegant door-ways, large bay windows, and Cumberland stone trimmings.”

20-26 Commonwealth and 34 Commonwealth were built on 19 foot wide lots, with entrances centered on the façade and no windows on the first floor (later, windows were added on both sides of the entrances at 22-26 and 34 Commonwealth). 28 Commonwealth was built on a 22 foot wide lot with the entrance on the east and a window on the west. 30-32 Commonwealth were each built on 19.5 foot lots as a symmetrical pair, with a window on the east at 30 Commonwealth and on the west at 32 Commonwealth. 36 Commonwealth was built on a 30 foot wide lot, but originally was identical to 32 Commonwealth, with the western portion of the lot left open. In about 1890, the entrance was converted into a window and a two-story addition was constructed on the west side of the house, with a street level entry. Small windows were later added on both sides of the window that had replaced the original entrance.

The land on which 20-36 Commonwealth were built was part of a larger tract of land owned by shipping merchant and US Congressman Samuel Hooper. He and his wife, Anne (Sturgis) Hooper, lived at 27 Commonwealth.

On May 2, 1860, Samuel Hooper had purchased two lots on the south side of Commonwealth Avenue from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one with a frontage of 78 feet starting with the lot where 20 Commonwealth would be built and extending west, and the other with a frontage of 220 feet extending east from the corner of Commonwealth and Berkeley. On the same day, Nathan Bourne Gibbs, Jr., also a shipping merchant, purchased a lot with a 60 foot frontage between the two lots purchased by Samuel Hooper. On June 22, 1860, Samuel Hooper purchased Nathan Gibbs’s parcel, so that he owned all of the land from 20 Commonwealth to Berkeley Street. He subsequently subdivided the property and sold the lots to different owners, for whom houses were then built. Among the purchasers was Nathan Gibbs, who bought a lot with a 40 foot frontage where he and his wife, Elizabeth Swift (Burgess) Gibbs, built their home at 38 Commonwealth.

Eight of the nine lots where 20-36 Commonwealth were built were sold by Samuel Hooper on July 1 or 2 in 1860 (the ninth lot, for 36 Commonwealth, also was sold at that time but was not conveyed by deed until July of 1862).  The buyers contracted with Charles Woodbury and Lemuel Miles Standish, masons, and Jonas Fitch, carpenter and builder, to construct the houses to the designs of Gridley J. F. Bryant and Arthur Gilman.  Based on the architectural drawings for 22 Commonwealth, cited by Bunting, and three building contracts filed with the Suffolk County deeds for 26, 28, and 34 Commonwealth, the contracts were executed on July 7, 1860, and specified a deadline for completion of the houses by August 1, 1861.  Two of the lots were purchased by the builders as their homes, 30 Commonwealth by Jonas Fitch and his wife, Catherine (Blodgett) Fitch, and 32 Commonwealth by Lemuel Miles Standish and his wife, Olive L. (Nutter) Standish.  Charles Woodbury and his wife, Relief (Ball) Woodbury, lived at 91 Pinckney, but then built a new home at 16 Commonwealth ca. 1864.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 22 Commonwealth, and click here for further information about the land between the south side of Commonwealth and Alley 437, from Arlington to Berkeley.

22 Commonwealth was built as the home of dry goods importer and merchant Edward Motley and his wife Ellen (Rodman) Motley. Ellen Motley purchased the land from Samuel Hooper on July 1, 1860. The Motleys previously had lived at 18 Boylston Place. They also maintained a home in Nahant.

The Motleys’ five children lived with them: Thomas Motley, Rebecca Rodman Motley, Ellen Rodman Motley, Jessie Rodman Motley, and Edward Preble Motley.

Rebecca Motley married in June of 1870 to Joseph Story Fay, Jr., an iron merchant. After their marriage, they lived at 65 Beacon, where their son, Joseph Story Fay, III, was born in November of 1871. In 1879-1880, they built 169 Commonwealth as their Boston home.

Thomas Motley married in April of 1872 to Eleanor Warren. After their marriage, they lived in the Longwood district of Brookline and in Nahant. He was a wholesale dry goods merchant and was known as Thomas Motley, Jr., until the death of his uncle, professor Thomas Motley, in March of 1895.

In about 1876, Thomas and Eleanor Motley joined his parents and unmarried siblings at 22 Commonwealth.  They continued to live there in 1877, but had moved to 87 Marlborough by the 1877-1878 winter season.

In 1877, 22 Commonwealth also was briefly the home of Roger Wolcott and his wife, Edith (Prescott) Wolcott.  They previously had lived at 238 Beacon with his parents, Joshua Huntington Wolcott and Cornelia (Frothingham) Wolcott.  They also maintained a home in Milton.  Roger Wolcott was a lawyer and later would serve as Governor of Massachusetts.  By the 1877-1878 winter season, they had moved to 59 Marlborough.

Ellen Motley married in May of 1885 to Dudley Leavitt Pickman of 15 Commonwealth.  He was a partner with his father, William Pickman, in his family’s shipping merchant firm.  After their marriage, they lived at the Hotel Agassiz at 191 Commonwealth and then at 98 Beacon.

Edward Preble Motley, a banker, married in November of 1887 to Marian Palfrey.  After their marriage, they lived briefly at 255 Beacon with her parents, Francis and Louisa C. (Bartlett) Palfrey, and then purchased and moved to 202 Beacon.

Jessie Motley married in March of 1890 to Samuel Eliot Guild, Jr., a stockbroker. After their marriage, they lived at 161 Beacon and in Nahant.

Edward Motley died in January of 1894. Ellen Motley continued to live at 22 Commonwealth, re-joined in about 1895 by Thomas and Eleanor (Warren) Motley.

Ellen Motley died in April of 1898, and on September 30, 1898, Eleanor Motley acquired 22 Commonwealth from her estate.

Thomas and Eleanor Motley continued to live at 22 Commonwealth and to maintain a home in Nahant.  Their five sons lived with them: Thomas Motley, Jr., Caspar Motley, Edward Motley, John Lothrop Motley, and Warren Motley. Edward and John Motley were twins.

Caspar Motley moved by 1900 and by 1903 was living in Waltham.

Thomas Motley, Jr., a banker, married in November of 1902 to Margaret Fay of 418 Beacon. After their marriage, they lived at The Torrington at 384 Commonwealth and then at 247 Beacon.

Thomas Motley, Sr., died in December of 1909.  Eleanor Motley continued to live at 22 Commonwealth and in Nahant with Edward, John, and Warren Motley.

Edward Motley, a banker, married in June of 1913 to Harriet Sayles Jaques of Chestnut Hill. After their marriage, they lived at The Belvoir at 636 Beacon and then at 413 Beacon.

John Lothrop Motley, a lawyer, married in January of 1918 to Nancy Elizabeth Barton of Worcester. He was serving as a Captain in the US Army and, after their marriage, they lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near where he was stationed.  By the 1919-1920 winter season, they were living at 7 Marlborough.

Eleanor Motley died in September of 1942. Warren Motley, a lawyer, continued to live at 22 Commonwealth, and on July 30, 1943, he and his brother, Thomas, as the executors under their mother’s will, transferred the property into Warren Motley’s name. He was unmarried. He continued to live there until about 1962, when he moved to an apartment at 68 Beacon.

The house was shown as vacant in the 1963 City Directory.

On September 25, 1962, 22 Commonwealth acquired from Warren Motley by Rosslyn Vallentine, who transferred it three days later to real estate dealer Edward Swartz.  In January of 1963, he applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house.  He also owned 24 and 26 Commonwealth, which already were lodging houses.

Edward Swartz died in May of 1972. His estate continued to own 22-24-26 Commonwealth and operate them as lodging houses.

On December 16, 1983, Mary Elizabeth Brady, trustee of the Roebuck Trust, purchased 22-24-26 Commonwealth from Edward Swartz’s estate, and on April 26, 1984, James J. Devaney of Worcester purchased the properties from Mary Elizabeth Brady. In January of 1985, he filed for (and subsequently received) permission to combine the three properties into a single property and convert them into eight apartments.  As part of the remodeling, windows were added on either side of each front door at 22, 24, and 26 Commonwealth.

On February 14, 1985, Patrick Ahearn, trustee of the Commonwealth Properties Realty Trust, purchased 22-24-26 Commonwealth from James Devaney. Patrick Ahearn had been James Devaney’s architect for remodeling the houses into apartments.

On the same day he purchased the properties, he converted them into eight condominium units, the 22-24-26 Commonwealth Avenue Condominium.