The following is an index to property transfer deeds, party wall agreements, building restriction agreements, and easements recorded at the Suffolk County Deed Registry with respect to the original Harvard Club property at 374 Commonwealth, from the original land purchase until December 31, 2010. Mortgages, trust agreements, and other similar recorded documents are not included. This index is intended as a guide only; actual deeds should be reviewed for details.
The original lot on which 374 Commonwealth was built was purchased by the Harvard Club on August 14, 1912, from the estate of Henry Lee. The lot had a 100 foot frontage on Commonwealth and a 158.47 foot frontage on Newbury. The lot acquired by the Harvard Club was shown on a plan by Aspinwall & Lincoln dated February 26, 1912.
Date of Deed | Grantor | Grantee | Book | Page |
14Aug1912 | William J. Stober | Harvard Club of Boston | 3661 | 246 |
14Aug1912 | Schuyler S. Bartlett and Henry B. Cabot, trustees under the will of Henry Lee | William J. Stober | 3661 | 242 |

Detail from plan by Fuller & Whitney, 15Oct1886; Suffolk County Deed Book 1752, p. 580 (color added)
The lot purchased by the Harvard Club was part of a larger parcel which extended to Massachusetts Avenue (called West Chester Park at that time) between Commonwealth and Newbury, including the property where the Sherman Building was built at 93-97 Massachusetts Avenue in 1906 and where The Eliot would be built at 370 Commonwealth in 1925. Henry Lee had assembled this parcel through a series of transactions.
Henry Lee acquired the bulk of the land in two transactions on December 9, 1886, combining portions of two larger tracts of land originally purchased from the Boston Water Power Company. The lots acquired by Henry Lee were shown on a plan by Fuller & Whitney dated October 15, 1886.

Detail from plan by Fuller & Whitney, 26Jun1880; Suffolk County Deed Book 1506, p. 194 (color added)
The western parcel acquired by Henry Lee was shown as Lots A and B on the plan (outlined in red on the plan to the left). These were part of a larger tract of land originally purchased from the Boston Water Power Company on October 15, 1880, by The Park Entrance Lands Trust, a group of investors formed to purchase, develop, and dispose of four parcels of land they acquired from the Boston Water Power Company. The four parcels included all of the land on the south side of Commonwealth running west from a point about 24 feet west of Massachusetts Avenue to the intersection with Beacon Street (in what is now Kenmore Square), and south to Westland Avenue. These parcels were shown on a plan by Fuller & Whitney dated June 26, 1880; the parcel which included the land subsequently purchased by Henry Lee was shown as Lot 3 on this plan (outlined in red on the plan to the right) The investors called themselves The Park Entrance Lands Trust because their property included park land south of Commonwealth between what are now Charlesgate East and Charlesgate West, land which was designated as the Beacon Street entrance to the new Back Bay Park (now the Back Bay Fens),
Transfers of Lots A and B on a plan by Fuller & Whitney dated October 15, 1886 | ||||
09Dec1886 | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | Henry Lee | 1752 | 580 |
15Oct1880 | Boston Water Power Company | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | 1506 | 195 |
15Oct1880 | Dwight Foster, Gilman Collamore, and George Richardson, trustees for bonds issued by the Boston Water Power Co. | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | 1506 | 193 |
The eastern parcel acquired by Henry Lee was shown as Lots C and D on the Fuller & Whitney plan dated October 15, 1886 (see above, outlined in blue). These were part of two larger tracts that ran southwest from Commonwealth at approximately a 45 degree angle, spanning Massachusetts Avenue, that had been bought from the Boston Water Power Company on April 19, 1870, by David Nelson Skillings, as trustee for a group of investors that included himself, Lawrence Barnes, Charles Whitney, and David Whitney, Jr. These parcels were shown on a plan by J. F. Fuller dated April 19, 1870 (outlined in blue on the plan to the left). This land included Parker Street, which ran above the Cross Dam, and which ceased to be a street and was sold for development in 1878 (David Skillings bought the portion of the roadway that was within his other lands on February 7, 1878).
Transfers of Lots C and D on a plan by Fuller & Whitney dated October 15, 1886 | ||||
09Dec1886 | Henry M. Whitney | Henry Lee | 1752 | 584 |
06Dec1886 | Ambrose A. Ranney | Henry M. Whitney | 1752 | 217 |
29Nov1884 | Linus M. Price (foreclosure of mortgage by George Shepard to William Skillings et al, assumed by Linus M. Price) | Ambrose A. Ranney | 1662 | 396 |
13Oct1882 | George W. Shepard | Linus M. Price | 1576 | 335 |
13Oct1882 | Alfred A. Marcus (foreclosure of mortgage by Alfred A, Marcus to William Skillings et al) | George W. Shepard | 1576 | 417 |
28Mar1881 | Estate of David N. Skillings: Mary Skillings, William E. Skillings, Elisha D. Bangs and Georgia Bangs, his wife, by her own right, David N. Skillings, “formerly the younger,” James W. Skillings, Mary Skillings, and Julius P. Skillings | Alfred A. Marcus | 1520 | 577 |
12Jan1878 | David N. Skillings, Jr. | David N. Skillings | 1407 | 187 |
05Jan1878 | David N. Skillings, trustee for himself, Charles Whitney, and David Whitney, Jr. (Deed in foreclosure of mortgage from Horace M. Bearce and Ira T. Drew) | David N. Skillings, Jr. | 1407 | 185 |
03May1873 | David N. Skillings, trustee for himself, Lawrence Barnes, Charles Whitney, and David Whitney, Jr. | Horace M. Bearce and Ira T. Drew | 1162 | 281 |
19Apr1870 | Boston Water Power Company | David N. Skillings, trustee for himself, Lawrence Barnes, Charles Whitney, and David Whitney, Jr. | 997 | 73 |
On July 1, 1896, Henry Lee acquired a third lot, with a 23 foot frontage on Newbury between the west border of the land he already owned and a passageway running north-south from Newbury (today’s Alley 917), connecting with a second passageway running east-west between Newbury and Commonwealth (today’s Alley 918). This lot was shown as Lot C on a plan by William H. Whitney dated February 25, 1889 (outlined in red on the plan to the right).
The lot had been part of the same parcel originally purchased from the Boston Water Power Company by The Park Entrance Land Trust, shown as Lot 3 on the Fuller & Whitney plan dated June 26, 1880 (see above).
Transfers of Lot C on a plan by William H. Whitney dated February 25, 1889 | ||||
Date of Deed | Grantor | Grantee | Book | Page |
01Jul1896 | John F. Costelo | Henry Lee | 2375 | 454 |
01Jun1896 | John P. Rock | John F. Costelo | 2632 | 606 |
01Apr1896 | Edward B. Miles | John P. Rock | 2347 | 614 |
01Feb1896 | Mary J. Wason | Edward B. Miles | 2347 | 612 |
16Feb1894 | S. Horatio Whitwell | Mary J. Wason | 2181 | 90 |
08Mar1889 | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | S. Horatio Whitwell | 1865 | 294 |
15Oct1880 | Boston Water Power Company | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | 1506 | 195 |
15Oct1880 | Dwight Foster, Gilman Collamore, and George Richardson, trustees for bonds issued by the Boston Water Power Co. | Henry M. Whitney, Grenville T. W. Braman, and Henry D. Hyde, trustees, The Park Entrance Lands trust | 1506 | 193 |
The land on which 374 Commonwealth was built also was subject to party wall and building restriction agreements, and easements.
Party Wall Agreements | |||||
Date | Party One | Party Two | Book | Page | |
01Jan1913 | Harvard Club of Boston (374 Commonwealth) | Schuyler S. Bartlett and Henry B. Cabot, trustees under the will of Henry Lee (370 Commonwealth) | 3699 | 261 | |
Building restriction agreement by owners of property on the south side of Commonwealth and north side of Newbury between Massachusetts Avenue and Charlesgate East, allowing bay windows to extend into the alley, provided that they extend no further than three feet and are at least 19 feet above the surface of the passageway | |||||
Date | Parties to Agreement | Book | Page | ||
01Jul1908 | Henry M. Williams individually and as co-trustee, Somerset Hotel Trust; John D. Hardy, trustee, Avenue Realty Trust; Cambridgeport Savings Bank; A. L. K. Volkmann; Charles H. Rutan, Schuyler S. Bartlett, and Henry B. Cabot, trustees under the will of Henry Lee; Charles R. Batt and Walter R. Dyer, trustees, 399 Newbury Street; Benjamin D, Hyde, executor of the estate of H. D. Hyde; E. Florence Macconnell; Louisa P. Russell; Robert L. Winkley, conservator of the estate of Albert Pope; and Frank D. Ellison | 3518 | 48 | ||
Easement: Passageway to Newbury between 370 and 374 Commonwealth | |||||
Date | Party One | Party Two | Book | Page | |
27Jun1917 | William J. Stober (370 Commonwealth) | Harvard Club of Boston (374 Commonwealth) | 4041 | 262 | |
After 374 Commonwealth was completed, the Harvard Club acquired additional property on Commonwealth Avenue and on Newbury Street.
On Commonwealth, it acquired 398 and 400 Commonwealth in the 1920s, which it merged with 374 Commonwealth. In August of 2014, it subdivided 374 Commonwealth and 378-380 Commonwealth into two properties and converted 378-380 Commonwealth into condominiums. See 378-380 Commonwealth for indices to the deeds for this property.
On Newbury, it acquired 399-415 Newbury between 1927 and 1965, razing the buildings and using the area for expanded parking. The deeds by which the Harvard Club acquired these properties (but not the predecessor deeds) are included in the index below.
399 Newbury | |||||
Date of Deed | Grantor | Grantee | Book | Page | |
30Dec1915 (recorded 24Oct1927) | Phillips Ketchum | Harvard Club of Boston | 4947 | 314 | |
401 Newbury | |||||
Date of Title Certificate | Grantor | Grantee | Certificate Number | ||
24Oct1927 | Phillips Ketchum | Harvard Club of Boston | 22876 | ||
403 Newbury | |||||
Date of Deed | Grantor | Grantee | Book | Page | |
08Aug1941 | Emma Florence MacConnell, formerly Emma Florence Brann | Harvard Club of Boston | 5940 | 412 | |
405 Newbury | |||||
09Sep1953 | W. Randolph Angell, Jr. | Harvard Club of Boston, trustee of the Harvard Club of Boston Foundation | 6931 | 384 | |
415 Newbury | |||||
23Jun1965 | The Southern New England Conference Association of Seventh-Day Adventists | Harvard Club of Boston | 7962 | 564 | |