71 Marlborough is located on the north side of Marlborough, between Berkeley and Clarendon, with 67 Marlborough to the east and 73 Marlborough to the west.

71 Marlborough was built ca. 1864 for shipping merchant and real estate investor John Lowell Gardner, one of nine contiguous houses (71-73-75-77-79-81-83-85-87 Marlborough) he had built as rental property.  He and his wife, Catharine Elizabeth (Peabody) Gardner, lived at 7 Beacon and then at 182 Beacon.

71-85 Marlborough are designed as a symmetrical composition (following a pattern of c-c-b-a-a-b-c-c).  In the center are 77 and 79 Marlborough, with bow fronts and entrances that mark the mid-point of the composition.  75 Marlborough and 81 Marlborough match each other and have a continuous cornice line with 77-79 Marlborough.  71–73 Marlborough and 83–85 Marlborough also match each other and form the ends of the composition.  87 Marlborough – which gives the impression of possibly having been built as an afterthought –  has the same roof and cornice design as 83-85 Marlborough, extending the composition one house further to the west, but includes an oriel window which sets it apart from the other eight houses.

71-87 Marlborough were originally numbered 65-81 Marlborough, and renumbered in about 1868 when houses were built further east.

On November 18, 1862, John L. Gardner contracted to purchase the land for 71-87 Marlborough from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On December 31, 1862, he entered into a party wall agreement with Richard M. Hodges with respect to the lot to the east where 67 Marlborough would be built, and on February 26, 1863, he entered into a party wall agreement with James T. Eldredge with respect to the lot to the west where 89 Marlborough would be built. On March 3, 1863, the Commonwealth conveyed to John L. Gardner the 200 foot wide lot where 71-87 Marlborough would be built.

John Gardner died in June of 1884 and on January 3, 1885, his executors (his sons George Augustus Gardner and John Lowell Gardner, Jr., and his grandson George Peabody Gardner, son of George A. Gardner) transferred the property to themselves as trustees under his will. They continued to lease the houses to others. John L. Gardner, Jr., died in December of 1898; George A. Gardner and his son, George P. Gardner, continued to serve as trustees of the Gardner estate.

On December 21, 1899, the trustees transferred 71-73 Marlborough to John Lowell Gardner’s grandson, Francis Skinner, Jr., the son of Francis Skinner and Eliza Blanchard (Gardner) Skinner (who had died in September of 1898).  On the same day, they transferred 85-87 Marlborough to be held jointly by three of John Lowell Gardner’s grandsons: George P. Gardner (who also continued to serve with his father as a trustee of the Gardner estate), and William Amory Gardner and Augustus Peabody Gardner, the surviving sons of Joseph Peabody Gardner (who had died in June of 1875). The trustees retained the remaining five houses (75-77-79-81-83 Marlborough). All nine houses remained rental properties until 1906-1907, when they were sold to individual purchasers.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 71 Marlborough, and click here for further information about the land between the north side of Marlborough and Alley 420, from Berkeley to Clarendon.

While they were rental houses, 71-87 Marlborough tended to change occupants more frequently than many other Back Bay homes.

By 1864, 71 Marlborough was the home of Dr. Algernon Sidney Coolidge, a physician, and his wife, Mary (Lowell) Coolidge. They previously had lived at 14 Chauncy. Algernon Coolidge’s brother, Joseph Randolph Coolidge, was married to John Lowell Gardner’s daughter, Julia (Gardner) Coolidge; Mary (Lowell) Coolidge was the granddaughter of John Lowell Gardner’s sister, Mary (Gardner) Lowell, and Francis Cabot Lowell.

The Coolidges continued to live at 71 Marlborough in 1871. They subsequently lived at 70 Chestnut and 1 Fisher, and by 1879 at 81 Marlborough.

By 1872, 71 Marlborough was the home of Elizabeth Gorham (Gray) Story, the widow of Franklin Howard Story, a merchant, who had died in February of 1871.  At the time of his death, they had lived at 20 Chestnut.

In 1877, she was joined by her granddaughter and her husband, Elizabeth Gray (Story) Gray and Edward Gray, a cotton broker. They previously had lived at 183 Beacon with her parents, Franklin Howard Story, Jr., and Adeline (Wainwright) Story. By 1878, they had moved to 214 Beacon.

Elizabeth Story continued to live at 71 Marlborough until her death in February of 1885.

In 1885, 71 Marlborough became the home of Dr. Morton Henry Prince and his wife, Fanny Lithgow (Payson) Prince.  They had married in February of 1885 and 71 Marlborough probably was their first home together.

Morton Prince was a psychologist specializing in neurology, psychotherapy, and abnormal psychology.

The Princes continued to lived at 71 Marlborough during the 1893-1894 winter season. They also maintained a home in Nahant.  In September of 1894 they purchased and subsequently moved to 458 Beacon.

71 Marlborough was not listed in the 1895 Blue Book.

By the 1895-1896 winter season, it was the home of Adelia Elizabeth (Conant) Winslow, the widow of Thomas Savage Winslow, and their daughter, Adelia Isabel Winslow. They previously had lived at 16 Marlborough. Mrs. Winslow rented rooms to school girls, providing them a home while they were studying at one of Boston’s many private schools.

Adelia Winslow and her daughter continued to live at 71 Marlborough until 1899, when they moved to Hale House at 6 Garland, a settlement house and social center for the children of the Dover Street neighborhood.  Hale House had been founded by the Tolstoi Club, of which Dr. Edward Everett Hale was president, and was named in his honor.  A. Isabel Winslow served as resident director.

On December 21, 1899, the trustees under John L. Gardner’s will transferred 71-73 Marlborough to his grandson, Francis Skinner, Jr. He lived at 266 Beacon with his widowed father, dry goods merchant Francis Skinner. He married in June of 1900 to Sarah E. Carr; after their marriage, they lived in Dedham. He continued to lease 71 Marlborough and 73 Marlborough to others.

By the 1899-1900 winter season, 71 Marlborough was the home of Mary Wilder (Foote) Tileston, the widow of paper manufacturer John Boies Tileston.  Prior to his death in January of 1898, they had lived in Milton. She also maintained a home in Cataumet.

Mary Tileston was an author of inspirational works (including Daily Strength for Daily Needs and Joy and Strength for the Pilgrim’s Day) and of genealogical materials and memoirs.

She continued to live at 71 Marlborough during the 1905-1906 winter season, but moved thereafter to 99 Mt. Vernon.

On August 24, 1906, 71 Marlborough was purchased from Francis Skinner, Jr., by Dr. Joseph Payson Clark.

J. Payson Clark was a physician, specializing in diseases of the throat.  He was unmarried.  He maintained his home and medical office at 71 Marlborough, and also rented residences and office space to other doctors.  He previously had lived and maintained his office at 409 Marlborough, and prior to that at 76 Marlborough with Dr. Charles Wendell Townsend.

Among the residents at 71 Marlborough with Dr. Clark were Dr. Harry Winfred Goodall, a physician, who lived and maintained his office there from 1907 through 1909, and then moved to 213 Beacon by 1910; and Dr. Theodore Jewett Eastman, a physician, who maintained his home and office there from about 1913 until his death in 1931. He previously had lived and maintained his office at 396 Marlborough.

From about 1912, Frederick Grantham Hopkins, a leather merchant, was a lodger at 71 Marlborough. He also maintained a home in Dover, Massachusetts. He married in April of 1923 to Jane Lockwood and they made their primary residence in South Orleans on Cape Cod. He also continued to maintain a Boston address at 71 Marlborough until about 1931.

In about 1917, Dr. Clark was joined at 71 Marlborough by his brother, Herbert Clark, a real estate agent. He previously had lived at 385 Marlborough with their mother, Mary Elizabeth (Mulliken) Clark, the widow of Joseph James Clark.

Herbert Clark died in December of 1935.  J. Payson Clark continued to live at 71 Marlborough until his death in July of 1940.

The house was shown as vacant in the 1941 City Directory and was not listed in the 1941 and 1942 Lists of Residents.

On February 7, 1941, 71 Marlborough was acquired from J. Payson Clark’s estate by Edward F. McKnight.

In May of 1941, real estate agent Donald Allmon of R. M. Bradley & Co. filed for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a single-family dwelling into a lodging house.

On June 2, 1941, 71 Marlborough acquired from Edward McKnight by Julia Szabo.

On January 5, 1942, the Workingmens Co-operative Bank foreclosed on its mortgage to Julia Szabo and sold 71 Marlborough to Mabel C. Adams, and on April 16, 1942, she sold the property to Shirley Clifford Speed, a real estate dealer who converted many Back Bay houses into lodging houses and apartments.

On June 30, 1944, 71 Marlborough was acquired from S. Clifford Speed by Leon Mitchell Marshall and his wife, Winona Ellen (Webb) Marshall, who operated it as a lodging house. They previously had lived at 34 Hyde Park Avenue in Forest Hills (Jamaica Plain), where they had operated Webb’s Bakery.

On March 13, 1958, Leon Marshall transferred his interest in 71 Marlborough to his wife.

Leon Marshall died in January of 1968.

On October 7, 1968, 71 Marlborough was acquired from Winona Marshall by Anthony P. Baker.

On August 22, 1972. 71 Marlborough was acquired from Anthony Baker by Aldo Garda and Robert L. Rusconi, trustees of the Rusgar Realty Trust, who continued to operate it as a lodging house. The trust subsequently was merged into the Rusgar Realty Corp. and on October 2, 1980, it transferred the property back to Aldo Garda and Robert L. Rusconi as trustees of the Rusgar Nominee Trust.

On January 11, 1982, 71 Marlborough was purchased by Barrett Enterprises Inc.

Barrett Enterprises was owned by Diana Barrett, a real estate consultant and developer, and her husband, Robert J. (Bob) Vila, a contractor and restoration specialist who was host of the Public Television series “This Old House” from 1979 to 1989 and of “Bob Vila’s Home Again” from 1990 to 2007.

In April of 1982, Barrett Enterprises applied for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property from a lodging house into six apartments.

On July 26, 1985, it converted the property into five condominium units, the 71 Marlborough Street Condominium.

71-85 Marlborough were designed as a symmetrical composition. In the center are 77 and 79 Marlborough, with bow fronts and entrances that mark the mid-point of the composition. 75 Marlborough and 81 Marlborough match each other and have a continuous cornice line with 77-79 Marlborough. 71-73 Marlborough and 83-85 Marlborough also match each other and form the ends of the composition. The symmetry of the composition has been diminished by the remodeling of the entrance and the penthouse addition at 81 Marlborough, and by the visible roof deck railing at 85 Marlborough.