8 Gloucester is located on the NW corner of Gloucester and Marlborough, with 6 Gloucester to the north, 334 Marlborough to the south, across Marlborough, 7 Gloucester to the east, across Gloucester, and 337 Marlborough to the west.

8 Gloucester was designed by Parker, Thomas, and Rice, architects, and built in 1912 for the Gloucester Trust.  It was built as a 7-unit apartment building, The Gloucester, replacing a house built ca. 1871.

Plans for the building — including elevations, floor plans, and framing plans — are included in the City of Boston Blueprints Collection in the Boston City Archives (reference BIN A-75).

Frederick Lewis Dabney, trustee of the Gloucester Trust, purchased 8 Gloucester on January 25, 1912. He purchased 6 Gloucester on the same day. He subsequently demolished 8 Gloucester and had the new apartment house built on its site.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 8 Gloucester, and click here for further information about the land between the north side of Marlborough and Alley 415, from Gloucester to Hereford.

Frederick Lewis Dabney was a stockbroker. He and his wife, Elizabeth Elliot (Fay) Dabney, lived at 298 Beacon.

The Gloucester had been completed and occupied by the 1912-1913 winter season.

Frederick Dabney died in November of 1920 and real estate dealer Richard DeBlois Boardman subsequently became trustee of the Gloucester Trust.

On April 1, 1927, 6 Gloucester and 8 Gloucester were acquired from the Gloucester Trust by Abbott Lawrence Lowell, president of Harvard University. He and his wife, Anna Parker (Lowell) Lowell, lived in Cambridge.

A. Lawrence Lowell died in January of 1943. He and Anna Lowell (who had died in March of 1930) had no children, and 6 Gloucester and 8 Gloucester were inherited by his six nieces and nephews: Elfrida (Roosevelt) Clarke, the wife of Orme Bigland Clarke, and Katharine Lowell (Roosevelt) Reeve, the wife of J. Stanley Reeve, the children of Katharine (Lowell) Roosevelt and Alfred Roosevelt; and George Lowell Putnam, Katharine Lawrence (Putnam) Bundy, the wife of Harvey Hollister Bundy, Roger Lowell Putnam, and Augustus Lowell Putnam, the children of William Lowell Putnam and Elizabeth (Lowell) Putnam.

On February 28, 1944, they transferred the property to Caleb Loring and George Putnam as trustees on their behalf.

On May 1, 1945, 6 Gloucester and 8 Gloucester were acquired by Mildred Elizabeth (called Elizabeth) (McKenzie) Hollander, the wife of Charles Michael Hollander. They lived in an apartment at 86 Commonwealth and moved to an apartment at 8 Gloucester after acquiring the building. He had been a furrier and was a wine importer and retailer, president of the firm Charles L. Richardson & Co.

In January of 1946, Elizabeth Hollander sold 6 Gloucester to Ethel M. (Crowell) Lowd, the widow of Arley A. Lowd.

The Hollanders retained 8 Gloucester and in the deed selling 6 Gloucester, they included several stipulations for the benefit of their building, including language limiting 6 Gloucester to its current height, providing an easement permitting the maintenance of windows at 8 Gloucester overlooking 6 Gloucester, and specifying that 6 Gloucester could only be used for dwelling house purposes.firm Charles L. Richardson & Co.

The Hollanders continued to live at 8 Gloucester until the mid-1950s.

On December 22, 1955, 8 Gloucester was acquired from Elizabeth Hollander by real estate dealer Thomas J. Diab. In March of 1957, he filed for (and subsequently received) permission to legalize the occupancy as nine apartments, which he indicated was the occupancy when he acquired the building, stating that the building “shows every evidence of having been used as such for at least the past ten years.”

The property subsequently changed hands and on April 2, 1962, was acquired by the Lister Realty Corporation (Samuel Stearns, president, and Norman Lipson, treasurer). In May of 1962, it filed for (and subsequently received) permission to convert the property into 17 apartments.

On August 1, 1963, 8 Gloucester was acquired from the Lister Realty Corporation by Jack Eadie Molesworth.  Jack E. Molesworth was a philatelic dealer specializing in Confederate stamps.  A leader of the ultra-conservative Young Americans for Freedom and a Republican State Committee member, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1964.  He and his wife, Phyllis (Carpinteri) Molesworth, lived in an apartment at 166 Beacon in the early 1960s, but had moved to an apartment at 88 Beacon by 1964.

On August 23, 1973, 8 Gloucester was purchased from Jack Molesworth by Niceno Mastrobuono and Robert W. Zimmerman, trustees of the Eight Gloucester Street Realty Trust. On October 12, 1973, they converted the property into 17 condominium units, the 8 Gloucester Street Condominium.

8 Gloucester (Demolished)

The original house at 8 Gloucester was built ca. 1871, one of three contiguous houses (4-6-8 Gloucester) built for investment banker Henry Chapman Wainwright for speculative sale.

Henry C. Wainwright purchased the land for 4-6-8 Gloucester on May 23, 1871, from George Williams Pratt, an investment banker and stockbroker and one of the founders of the Boston Stock Exchange. He and his wife, Mary Barrow (White) Pratt, lived at 13 Louisburg Square. They also maintained a home, Oakley, on Belmont Avenue in Watertown (it became the Oakley Country Club in 1898). The land for 4-6-8 Gloucester originally was part of a larger parcel purchased from the Boston Water Power Company on February 20, 1863, by George Pratt’s son, Robert Marion Pratt, also a banker and broker.

When he sold the completed houses, Henry C. Wainwright included in the deeds a four foot wide easement across the rear of 4-6 Gloucester to provide access to the alley for 4-6 Gloucester and drainage to the alley for 4-6-8 Gloucester.

On June 15, 1872, 8 Gloucester was purchased from Henry C. Wainwright by John A. Dove of Andover. He was the founder of the Smith and Dove Manufacturing Company, which built the first flax mill in the United States.

8 Gloucester became the home of John Dove’s son-in-law and daughter, John Adams Blanchard, Jr., and Laura Smith (Dove) Blanchard. In 1872, they had lived at 58 Beacon with his father. They also maintained a home in Nahant.

John Blanchard was a shipping merchant in the Calcutta trade and later a cotton commission merchant.  He had retired in 1872.

John and Laura Blanchard’s five children lived with them at 8 Gloucester: John Adams Blanchard, III, George Dove Blanchard, Rosamond Dove Blanchard, Harold Blanchard, and Archibald Blanchard.  George Dove Blanchard died in April of 1873.

On February 1, 1876, John Dove transferred a two-sevenths undivided interest in 8 Gloucester to Laura Blanchard. In May of 1876, he purchased 4 Gloucester, which became the home of his son-in-law and daughter, attorney William Phillips Walley and Clara Lyell (Dove) Walley.

John Dove died in November of 1876. The remaining five-sevenths interest in 8 Gloucester was inherited by Laura Blanchard and her five siblings, Clara (Dove) Walley, George William Webster Dove, Isabella Dove, Helen C. Dove, and Mary A. (Dove) Johnson, the wife of Francis Howe Johnson. On December 10, 1879, John Blanchard;s sister, Sarah Harding Blanchard, acquired their interests and on December 13, 1879, she transferred the property to Laura Blanchard.

John and Laura Blanchard continued to live at 8 Gloucester during the 1880-1881 winter season.

The house was not listed in the 1882 Blue Book.

By the 1882-1883 winter season, 8 Gloucester was the home of cotton merchant Francis Williams Sargent and his wife, Jane Welles (Hunnewell) Sargent.  They had married in November of 1881, and 8 Gloucester may have been their first home together.  They also maintained a home in Wellesley. They continued to live at 8 Gloucester during the 1884-1885 season, after which they moved to 183 Marlborough while awaiting completion of their new Boston home at 40 Hereford, where they were living by the 1887-1888 season.

The Blanchards had been traveling in Europe since April of 1883 and in March of 1885 John Blanchard died in Florence, Italy. Laura Blanchard and their children returned to Boston in September of 1885 and resumed living at 8 Gloucester.

Laura Blanchard married again in February of 1888 to George Alexander Philips Duncan (later Duncan-Haldane).

George Duncan was an engineer. Thirty years later, in June of 1918, he would become the 4^th Earl of Camperdown of Lundie upon the death of his brother, Robert.

After their marriage the Duncans made 8 Gloucester their Boston home. John, Rosamond, Harold, and Archibald Blanchard lived with them. They continued to maintain the Blanchard residence in Nahant and frequently spent the winter seasons in Europe, leasing 8 Gloucester to others.

During the 1888-1889 winter season, 8 Gloucester was the home of Daniel Denny and his wife, Mary DeForest (Bigelow) Denny.  They previously had lived at 287 Beacon.  They also maintained a home in Milton.  Daniel Denny was a dry goods commission merchant in the firm of Denny, Poor & Co., doing business in Boston and New York.  Daniel Denny’s unmarried brother, Clarence Holbrook Denny, lived with them.  He was a wool dealer.  By the 1889-1890 season, they had moved to 401 Marlborough.

8 Gloucester was not listed in the 1890 Blue Book.

During the 1890-1891 season, George and Laura (Dove) Duncan were living at 8 Gloucester. For the next two seasons, they were living in Europe.

In September of 1891, the Duncans advertised 8 Gloucester for lease through real estate dealer Walter Burgess, whose advertisements in the Boston Daily Advertiser described the house as a “full and excellent accommodation,” with “4 bath rooms, electric light throughout, gas can be arranged if preferred, telephone, perfect plumbing. No arsenic papers.”

During the 1891-1892 winter season, the house was leased by wholesale dry goods merchant Joseph Stevens Kendall and his wife, Ellen (King) Kendall.  They previously had lived at 315 Dartmouth.  By the 1892-1893 season, they had moved to 316 Beacon.

8 Gloucester was not listed in the 1893 Blue Book.  However, on December 9, 1892, the Boston Globe reported that the house had been leased by Trinity Church as the temporary home of its newly-named Rector, Rev. Elijah Winchester Donald, and his wife, Cornelia (Clapp) Donald. The Donalds moved in the fall of 1893 to the rectory at 233 Clarendon, which had been expanded with an additional story for their use.

By the 1893-1894 winter season, George and Laura (Dove) Duncan had resumed living at 8 Gloucester  They continued to live there during the 1894-1895 season, but were again living in Europe for the next two season.

During the 1895-1896 winter season, 8 Gloucester was the home of Anna Smith (Miller) Bigelow, the widow of former Massachusetts Chief Justice George Tyler Bigelow, their daughter, Caroline Miller (Bigelow) Amory, the wife of George Washington Amory (who was living separately at 10 Charles), and Mrs. Amory’s daughters, Caroline and Constance Amory.  Mrs. Bigelow and Mrs. Amory previously had lived at 234 Beacon.  They continued to live at 8 Gloucester during the 1896-1897 season, but moved thereafter.  Caroline Amory and her daughters moved to the Hotel Victoria at 273 Dartmouth and then to 228 Beacon.  Anna Bigelow moved elsewhere and by 1900 was living in Quincy.

On May 18, 1896, while the Duncans were living in Austria, their home in Nahant was one of several destroyed by fire. They subsequently rebuilt it.

In November of 1897, the Duncans returned to Boston and resumed living at 8 Gloucester. They continued to live there until about 1901.

During the 1901-1902 winter season, 8 Gloucester was the home of note broker Frederick Strong Moseley and his wife, Helen (Carpenter) Moseley.  They previously had lived in Newburyport.  By the 1902-1903 season, they had moved to 144 Beacon.

During the 1902-1903 winter season, 8 Gloucester was the home of Amy Gore (Walker) Iasigi, the widow of Oscar Iasigi, and their daughter, Nora. Oscar Iasigi had been treasurer of the Vassalboro Woolen Mills and had served as Consul General in Boston for the Ottoman Empire; he was killed in the wreck of the steamer City of Columbus in 1884. Amy and Nora Iasigi had lived in an apartment at 333 Commonwealth during the previous season and at 151 Commonwealth prior to that. They also maintained a home, Clovercroft, in Stockbridge. During the 1903-1904 season they were traveling abroad, after which they moved to 54 Beacon during the 1904-1905 season and then to 199 Commonwealth.

By the 1903-1904 winter season, the Duncans had resumed living at 8 Gloucester.

Laura Duncan’s four surviving children continued to live at 8 Gloucester. John Adams Blanchard graduated from Harvard in 1891 and from Harvard Law School in 1895, and was a lawyer. Harold Blanchard graduated from Harvard in 1898 and studied naval architecture at MIT, after which he worked as a draughtsman in San Francisco, returning to Boston in about 1904 and subsequently becoming a stock broker. Archibald Blanchard graduated from Harvard in 1902 and became a note broker.

Rosamond Blanchard married in October of 1903 to Count Carlo (Karl)) von Courten of Munich, an officer in the Bavarian Royal Army. After their marriage, they lived in Germany.

Archibald Blanchard married in May of 1904 to Elinor Whitney of 239 Marlborough. After their marriage, they lived at 1091 Boylston and then, by the 1910-1911 winter season, at 10 Fairfield.

George and Laura Duncan continued to live at 8 Gloucester during the 1905-1906 winter season. John and Harold Blanchard lived with them.

During the 1906-1907 season it was the home of Charles Ellis Mason and his wife, Elizabeth (Andrew) Mason.  He was associated with his family’s paper manufacturing firm, S. D. Warren & Co.  They had married in July of 1905, after which they had lived in Hingham, where they continued to maintain a residence.  Prior to their marriage, he had lived at 347 Commonwealth and she had lived at 32 Hereford and in Hingham. They continued to live at 8 Gloucester during the 1907-1908 season, after which they moved to 25 Exeter.

The Duncans were again living at 8 Gloucester by the 1908-1909 winter season. They continued to live there in until her death in August of 1910. George Duncan moved soon thereafter, and by the 1911-1912 season, he was living at 62 Commonwealth.

John and Harold Blanchard had continued to live at 8 Gloucester until their mother’s death, after which they moved to 925 Boylston.

On January 25, 1912, 8 Gloucester was acquired from Laura Duncan’s estate by Frederick Lewis Dabney, trustee of the Gloucester Trust.

8 Gloucester was razed soon thereafter.