Home of the Week: A Boston mansion anarchists blew up in 1919
Anarchists blew up this home with dynamite in June 1919 because they didn't like the judge. Continue reading at realestate.boston.com.
11 Wayne St., Dorchester
$995,000
Style Colonial
Year built 1905
Square feet 4,819
Bedrooms 5
Baths 2 full, 1 half
Taxes $9,549 (2021; without residential exemption)
There are plenty of homes with rich histories in Boston, but only 11 Wayne St. is linked to the May Day riots and eight bombings across the country in 1919 that targeted, among others, a Newton lawmaker, the US attorney general, and the first owner of this home: Roxbury Municipal Court Judge Albert F. Hayden.
Designed by J. Williams Beal, the architect behind New Hampshire’s “Castle in the Clouds and other notable commissions,’’ this 1905 Colonial was heavily damaged by a bomb “Bolsheviks’’ planted in what the Globe reported was retaliation for the heavy fines and jail terms Hayden imposed on dozens of May Day protesters. No one was home when the dynamite ignited, no one was injured, and there was $10,000 in damage (that’s roughly $155,000 today). Hayden later sold the home to Gus Bowen and Lucy Cordice, celebrated Black fashion designers and teachers at the Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts in Roxbury. The third and current owners bought the home in 2016 and updated the kitchens and baths, among other improvements, according to the listing.
There are no traces of the home’s illustrious past, only Beal’s inspiration. On the left-hand side of the home, one finds a porte cochère and a porch topped with a half-circle roof. Two doors lead into a vestibule and then a grand foyer.
Gracing the two-story foyer is a curving staircase cast in natural light from a Palladian window and later the glow of a Murano crystal chandelier from Italy. The oval ceiling above is framed with crown molding.
Turning right from the foyer leads to the living room, where the focal point is a wood-burning fireplace (one of five in the home) with the original elaborate wood mantel. The room also features crown molding that is almost Greek key-like, a candle-like chandelier, and tall windows, including a Palladian. The original hardwood floors were refinished in this space, where the ceiling reaches 12 feet.
Straight ahead off the foyer is a curvy formal dining room with a fireplace, ornate crown molding, a chandelier, and two built-in china cabinets. Windows and a door to the deck offer a view of the flat backyard of this quarter-acre lot.
French doors off the dining room open to one of the home’s five bedrooms, which could be used as a home office. The bedroom, which has a decorative fireplace, can also be accessed via the foyer.
A hallway off the foyer leads past a full bath with a tub and a single vanity and then into the first of two kitchens in the home. Here the look is 21st century: white Shaker-style cabinets (some with glass fronts), a wine rack, a bank of windows above the porcelain farmer’s sink, an island with a sink and seating, white quartz counters with gray veining, and stainless-steel appliances, including a gas stove. The flooring is porcelain tile, and exposed brick lends a welcome pop of color.
The second-floor landing is a homage to the Greeks, with its elaborate crown molding and Ionic, fluted columns. Off to the right is the owner bedroom, which runs the length of the house and offers six windows, a fireplace, and two closets.
Directly off the landing is a family room that mirrors the dining room with its curved exterior wall and fireplace. To the left off the landing is an updated shower-only bath with a single vanity and a porcelain tile floor and shower surround. Steps away is the home’s third bedroom. It has two windows and a deep closet.
The final spot on this floor is the second full kitchen. Although it is the smaller of the two, this kitchen is up to date with quartz counters, stainless-steel appliances, and a farmer’s sink. The flooring is hardwood, and there’s a balcony that can easily accommodate a table for four.
The final two bedrooms are on the third level, where the ceilings are shaped by the slope of the roof and dormers admit natural light. There is also storage space on this level, including a cedar closet.
The basement is unfinished.
Sam Reifman-Packett of the RP Group at Compass has the listing. As of press time, an offer had been accepted on the property.
See more photos of the property below:
Follow John R. Ellement on Twitter @JREbosglobe. Send listings to [email protected]. Please note: We do not feature unfurnished homes and will not respond to submissions we won’t pursue. Subscribe to our newsletter at pages.email.bostonglobe.com/AddressSignUp. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @globehomes.
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