The home of the Welles family was the original estate house for Ashmont Hill (see below) when the hill was all open land except the house in the illustration. George Derby Welles, who lived in Paris, inherited the estate from his grandfather in 1870 and asked Edward Ingersoll Browne to have a sub-division plan drawn up for the sale of lots. The house was replaced by the Edward Pierce School in 1892, and the school was itself replaced by the Codman Square branch of the Boston Public Library in the last quarter of the 20th century.
The rest of Ashmont Hill was developed into a railroad suburb in the late 19th century, now still exhibiting 40 acres of substantial, well-crafted, well-designed and well-preserved late-19th-century residences. Street after street in this residential quarter west of Peabody Square is bordered by wood frame, mostly single-family residences noteworthy for their originality and/or exuberance of design, quality craftsmanship, surviving stables on still-ample lots, etc. Exceptional examples of the Italianate / Mansard, Stick, Shingle, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles (as well as hybrids of these popular late-Victorian architectural modes) appear at every turn. (Neighborhood description of Ashmont Hill from the Boston Landmarks Commission).
House Tour News:
Check out the Dorchester House Tour 2016: Ashmont Hill on Sunday, June 12, 2016 see more info and buy tickets at www.dorchesterhistoricalsocietyblog.org
Visit a dozen delightful homes and carriage houses on Ashmont Hill. Talk with their owners about the ways they have preserved, restored, and transformed their 19th century homes for 21st century living Also tour the historic 1892 Parish of All Saints, Ashmont, to see the award-winning restoration of this landmark church.