382 Marlborough was designed by Peabody and Stearns, architects, and built in 1881-1882.

Plans for house are included in the Peabody and Stearns Collection in the Boston Public Library’s Arts Department (reference PS/MA.081). The plans include drawings of the front and rear elevations and floor plans, including three alternative designs: one with front and rear bays, a second without bays, and a third (which was built) with a substantial oriel window in the front on the second floor and no rear bay. The plans also include framing plans for each floor and a piling and foundation plan.

One of the drawings of the second floor plan includes a notation referring to a June 1, 1881, contract and is signed by the owner and several of the firms and individuals who built the house, including Woodbury & Leighton (masons), Ovid D. Mooney (stucco), Smith & Jacobs (stair builders), James B. Hand (painter), Greenleaf L. Swett & Co. (galvanized iron cornaces), Hugh Riley’s Sons (slaters and metal roofers), and Cyrus Carpenter & Co. (furnaces and ranges). [descriptions of businesses or trades are from the 1881 and 1882 Boston and Brookline City Directories].

The original plans are fragile, faint, and in poor condition, and these images have been gently manipulated to reduce the stains and tears where possible.

Click on the individual images to enlarge them.

As noted above, the plans contain several variations of the front and rear façades and floor plans. Although the drawings are not dated nor otherwise labeled in terms of sequence, it appears that the original design presented by Peabody and Stearns included front and rear octagonal (angled) bays extending from the basement through the second floor. The floor plans show that the library in the front on the first floor and the parlor in the front on the second floor both were set off with arches and had window seats.

A second proposal was then presented with neither front nor rear bays. In this plan the flat front was embellished with an elaborate set of three windows at the second floor.

This version apparently was accepted with one modification. The floor plan for second floor (which is the drawing signed by the owner and contractors) has a substantial front oriel window penciled in, and there is a separate drawing of the exterior of the oriel with various notations.

Below are the front and rear elevations, floor plans, and roof plan for the design with the oriel that ultimately was built. The plans for the earlier alternatives follow after these.

382 Marlborough, front elevation with oriel (as built), Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, rear elevation, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

382 Marlborough, basement plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, first floor plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

382 Marlborough, second floor plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, third floor plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

382 Marlborough, fourth floor plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, roof plan, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

Below are the front elevation and floor plans for the original design, including front and rear bays from the basement to second floor. The Peabody and Stearns Collection does not include the rear elevation, basement plans, and roof plan for this set of drawings.

382 Marlborough, first floor plan with front and rear bays, Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, second floor plan with front and rear bays, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

382 Marlborough, third floor plan with front and rear bays,, Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, fourth floor plan with front and rear bays,, Peabody and Stearns (1881)

Below is the alternate front elevation with neither front nor rear bays, together with a revised second floor plan for this alternative, with the front oriel window penciled in, and a separate drawing of the exterior of the oriel.

382 Marlborough, front elevation without bay (not built), Peabody and Stearns (1881) 382 Marlborough, second floor plan without bay (oriel sketched in), Peabody and Stearns (1881)