Historic Boston Incorporated 1999 Preservation Revolving Fund Casebook : Property Entries Online
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Seek MPPF monies to prepare a pre-development feasibility study and historic structures report. Based upon the findings in that report, encourage conveyance of the property to a development entity capable of restoring the building to active use.

Alvah Kittredge was a prominent Roxbury merchant and civic leader who became one of the earliest speculators in the residential development boom in the Roxbury Highlands. Kittredge bought several large parcels of land on the site of the Revolutionary War-era Roxbury Lower Fort north of Eliot Square, where he built this fine Greek Revival mansion as his residence in 1836. In the 1840s, Kittredge began to subdivide the land around his estate. Other landholders in the area followed his lead, and the Highlands began to take on its current dense residential character through the 1850s and 1860s. Kittredge sold his house to Nathaniel Bradlee in 1866, one of Boston's best-known architects in the latter third of the 19th century. When Bradlee sold the property in 1896, the new owners reoriented the house from its Highland Street frontage to its current position on Linwood Street across from Kittredge Square, where it is tightly hemmed in by late 19th century rowhouses.

Roxbury Action Program, the long-time owner of the property, has shown no ability to rehabilitate this extremely significant historic residence and was not successful in obtaining an MPPF grant in 1998. RAP's inaction has allowed the building to fall into an extreme state of disrepair. The building needs roof repairs and the Greek Revival columns restored under the BRA's urban renewal program in the 1970s are now severely rotted. Since HBI's last visit to the interior, important features have been vandalized and/or stolen. Title research carried out in 1991 suggests that transferring title or mortgaging the house may not be simple. Lack of land for a yard or parking poses challenges to the redevelopment of this property.

There appears to have been substantial investment made in the rowhouses and single-family residences on Linwood Street. The Kittredge House stands as the only neglected property on the street. Except for the vacant and highly deteriorated Alvah Kittredge Park rowhouses (see casebook entry) across the park from the Kittredge House, most other rowhouses around in the area are occupied and appear to be in good condition, although there are several vacant shells on Highland Street. Kittredge Park itself appears to be in need of additional care by the city.

National Register nomination form

Entry Completed: 06/02/1999