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TheThree- Deckersof Dorshester

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BostonLandmarks Commission

Three-Deckers of Dorchester: An Architectural Historical survey by Arthur J. Krim

December 30, 1977

NorE: This is submitted to the Mayor's office of Program Development i n f u l f i l l m e n t o f o b l i g a t i o n s e s t a b l i s h e du n d e r a g r a n t t o t h e B o s t o n R e d e v e l o p m e nA u t h o r i t y . T h i s p a p e r i s p a r t o f a l a r g e r s t u d y e n t i i l e d t "Dorchestery'MattapanPreservation Study" which is administered by the Boston LandmarksCommission nd is funded in part by the Boston a R e d e v e l o p m e nA u t h o r i t y a n d i n p a r t b y t h e M a s s a c h u s e t t s i s t o r i c a l t H Commission, Office of the Secretary of State, through matching grantin-aid program for historic preservation of the National Park Service, D e p a r t m e n t o f t h e I n t e r i o r . E d i t o r i a l a s s i s t a n c ew a s p r o v i d e d b y J u d i t h M c D o n o u g h , R o b e r t B u r k e , a n d M a t t h e w K i e f e n . R e s e a r c ha s s i s t a n c e w a s p r o v i d e d . b y J o a n R i c h a n d s o n ,B o s t o n U n i v e r s i t y I n t e r n .

lCONTENTS

PREFACE Democratic Architecture D E V E L O P M E NO F T H E T H R E E . D E C K E R T Three-decker Roots Streetcar Suburbs Community of Builders Three-Decker- Three Family - Triple-Decker PERODS I Prototypes l. ll. lll. lV. V. Formative Period Victorian Period E a r l y C l a s s i cP e r i o d Late Classic Period Functional Period

Conclusion P R E S E R V A T I o NR E C O M M E N D A T T O Nn d O p p O R T U N t T t E s aS Appendixl Appendix ll Appendix lll -Three-DeckerBuilders - Three-Deckers lmagery - Survey Methodology

BIBLIOGRAPHY

PREFACE

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PREFACE

The three-deckers of Dorchester: you see them in the drive c r o s s i n g t h e N e p o n s e tm a r s h e s i n t o B o s t o n , t a l l a n d n a r r o w w i t h t h e i r woodenporches peering above the Southeast Expressway (p. 1).x You

see them again beyond the limits of the downtown into South Boston, wooden porches perched high above concrete walls. They line their

backs against the Red Line tracks to Ashmont and their fronts on the sandy beach at Malibu. They rise to meet the steeple of Meeting House Hill and stretch out towards Mattapan. The three-deckers are a large part of the identity of Dorchester and define its sense of place. What are these three-deckers? As architecture, they are curious They look like apartments

forms/ part urban and part suburban.

transformed into houses, or perhaps houses overgrown into apartments. They have the flat roofs of the city, but the wooden walls of the country. T h e y a p p e a r a s r o w h o u s e st r a n s p l a n t e d i n t o t h e s u b u r b s . And their porches, front and back. Tiers of porches, galleries of

porches, decks of porches, for sitting down and looking out, with columnsand railings on every floor. V e r a n d a h s a n d b a l c o n i e sh i g h Always there are In front, fine decor-

above the street, grandstand piazzas in the air. three porches in the back, one for each family.

o ated porches with grand columnsand fancy railings, sometimes ne/ sometimestwo, sometimesthree stories high. A t t i m e s i t s e e m st h a t a l l D o r c h e s t e r i s t h r e e - d e c k e r s , a n d i n d e e d a large part of it is. Over five thousand stand today, the largest

c o l l e c t i o na n y w h e r e . R a r e l y a l o n e , o f t e n i n p a i r s , u s u a l l y i n g r o u p s , t h r e e - d e c k e r s f o r m e n t i r e n e i g h b o r h o o d se x t e n d i n g a s f a r a s t h e e y e x Photos were taken bv the author. - 'ii-

can see. A hypnotic rhythm of repeated forms:

porches and bays,

shadow and light, detail and texture/ an endless array of threedeckers, over the hills and across the plains of Dorchester they extend, from South Cove to Neponset, from Andrew Square to Lower Mills, from UphamsCorner to Adams Village, from ColumbiaRoad to Gallivan Boulevard, from Boston Street to Blue Hill Avenue, from Ronan Park to Franklin Field, from Popes Hill to Mount Bowdoin. Nowhere e l s e i s t h e r e s u c h a l a n d s c a p eo f t h r e e - d e c k e r s . Dorchester's glories. T h e t h r e e - d e c k e r i s d e m o c r a t i ca r c h i t e c t u r e . lt was built to give lt is one of

the average family the benefits of suburban life while living close to city jobs. housing. lt was neither tenement nor mansion, but rather good solid lt was large enough to raise a host of children around the

dining room table, but small enough to keep a pot of flowers on the back porch. The three-decker was affordable, for the new family who rented the top floor, for the owners who occupied the middle floor, and for the retined couple downstairs whose rent paid the mortgage. lt was attractivel each floor had its own parlor bay and own piazza, its own stained glass and oak pantry/ and its own view. This was the appeal

that dnew the families out on the trolleys into Dorchester. Today the three-decker is still democratic, still affordable, and still attractive architecture for those who want the benefits of the suburbs while living closeto the city - including the porches!

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D E V E L O P M E N TF T H E T H R E E . D E C K E R O Three-Decker Roots

The roots of the three-decker lie deep within the traditions of Boston, and are as ingrained as the city's accents. lts origins can be traced to the Colonialwood building tradition in such landmarks as the Paul Revere House. Here the basic elements of the three-decker may a three-story wooden house built on the

be seen in their original form: side-entry rowhouseplan.

The basic architectunal characteristic of the thr"ee-decker is its wood frame construction. In most other American cities, the rowhouse ln Boston, however, the wood building

developedin brick or stone.

technology brought by the settlers remained the norm among colonial craftsmen and was continued into the 19th century industrial period. Thus, when the post-civil war flood of immigrants created a need for m u l t i p l e - f a m i l y h o u s i n g , n e w h o u s e t y p e s d e v e l o p e dw i t h i n t h i s w o o d building tradition. T h e f i r s t a r e a s o f t h r e e - d e c k e r d e v e l o p m e n tw e r e

South Boston and Roxbury, where the central city's fire laws prohibiting wood construction did not apply. The three-decker followed the height standards set by the houses of the Colonialperiod; two floors and an attic. This three-story

C o l o n i a lf r a m i n g s y s t e m , j o i n i n g l a r g e w o o d b e a m sw i t h o u t n a i l s ( m o r t i s e and tenon), was easily transferred to support the main frame of the new three-deckers. For the rest of the structure (interior walls, etc.)

balloon framing techniques with nails and studs were used; these had b e e n a d o p t e d b y b u i l d e r s a f t e r t h e C i v i l W a r b e c a u s eo f e f f i c i e n c y a n d

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DEVILOPMENT THE THREE.DECKER OF

T h r e e - d e c k e r s e r i v e d t h e i r n a m ef r o m t h e t h r e e - s t o r y r e a r p o r c h e s t h a t d s e r v e d t h e f a m i l y ' s d o m e s t i cn e e d s . 4 6 - 4 8 R o b i n s o nS t r e e t , F ' i e l d s C o r n e r I 890-I 894

t'reduced costs of construction. Thus the antique construction methods of mortise and tenon joinery were continued by thr ee-decker builders' into the 20th century. The narrow shape of the three-decker also is based on long trad i t i o n , t h e t o w n h o u s e p l a n o f E l i z a b e t h a nE n g l a n d . H e r e t h e b e s t room/ the'rparlourr" faced the street with the door set off to one side and the kitchen at the back. I n B o s t o n t h i s b e c a m et h e s t a n d a r d p l a n In

of the city rowhouse, with its side-entry doorway and kitchen ell. t h e e a r l y 1 9 t h c e n t u r y t h e f a s h i o n a b l eh o u s e s o n B e a c o n H i l l w e r e

designed with elegant bow front parlors, and this plan was adopted in the nowhouses f the new south End by the civil war. o Thus, when the

first three-deckers were built, they took after the familiar side-entry rowhouse plan complete with parlor bay. Often two rowhouses would be

built side-by-side as a double house, and this basic form was adopted by early three-decker builders in constructing six-family houses. The functional origin of the three-decker lies in the principle of multiple-family housing and the solutions developedin Boston before the civil war. T h e r e w e r e t w o o b v i o u s a n t e c e d e n t sa t e i t h e r e n d o f t h e

social spectrum, each built in the central city and each containing rental units for several families. one was the aparlment house or "French Flatil that had been introduced to polite society with the Hotel P e l h a mi n 1 8 5 7 . A t t h e o t h e r e x t r e m e w a s t h e t e n e m e n t h o u s e , w i t h f e w d o m e s t i c c o n v e n i e n c e sw h a t s o e v e r . T h e s e w e r e s i m p l y b u i l t a n d lvere chiefly occupied by the lrish immigrantsin the 1850,s. The back porches are the tnue architectural innovation of the three-decker, for it is they that give it the distinctive character of a

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S T R E E TC A R L I N E S

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"porch house" (p. v).

The rear decks developedwhen the rowhouse Thus, the

was divided into three-familyunits, one on each floor.

traditional kitchen ell had to be multiplied for each family floor, resulting in the formation of the "three-decker.', since the three-decker developed at the edge of Boston, between t h e c i t y a n d i t s n e w s u b u r b s , t h e r e d e v e l o p e dt w o t y p e s o f t h r e e deckers; those charactenistic of the city with flat roofs in South Boston, and those characteristic of the suburbs with pitched roofs in Roxbury. Each area had its own set of builders, who carried the two types down through Dorchester along the main streetcar routes; those from south Boston along Dorchester Avenue, and those from Roxbury along Blue Hill Avenue. T h e t w o t h r e e - d e c k e r f o r m s c o m m i n g l e do v e r t i m e , e a c h

borrowing from the other a roof or a porch, until in the end both l o o k e dt h e s a m e( p . v i i ) .

Streetcar Suburbs

The agent for diffusion of the three-decker in Dorchester was the s t n e e t c a r . T h e n o t e d u r b a n h i s t o r i a n S a m u e lB a s s W a r n e r h a s c a l l e d D o r c h e s t e r" t h e f u l l f l o w e r i n g o f t h e s t r e e t c a r s u b u r b r r t a n d i n a v e r y real sense the three-decker and the trolley were part and parcel of the samesuburban landscape. Originally both were quite independentof one another, each developing separatefunctional identities during the Civil War era. By the turn of the 20th century their paths had crossed,

a n d D o r c h e s t e r b e c a m et h e e s s e n c eo f t h e s t r e e t c a r s u b u r b ( p . i x and xi).

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Boston was among the first cities in the world to have a complete m e t r o p o l i t a n s t r e e t c a r s y s t e m . F o l l o w i n gt h e o l d c o u n t r y s t a g e l i n e s that radiated from the center city, railway technology was adapted in t h e 1 8 5 0 r s ,a n d b y t h e C i v i l W a r t h e s e h o r s e r a i l n o a d l i n e s f a n n e d o u t to Bostonrs limits, to Lynn on the north, Watertown on the west and Quincy on the south. In Dorchester the most impontant route ran from

South Boston through Fields Corner to Lower Mills, along the full length of Dorchester Avenue, and through the first neighborhoods of three-decker development. Other horsecar routes operated along Boston, Hancock, and Bowdoin Streets, and from Roxbury to Codman Square along Washington Street. The Depression of 1873 halted further expansion of the horse railroad system in Dorchester, and even caused the abandonment of several lines including the one on Freeport Street. With economic

r e c o v e r y i n t h e 1 8 8 0 ' st h e c a r l i n e s w e r e a g a i n e x t e n d e d . T h e n e w routes provided vital cross town service that linked Dorchester with Roxbury and the South End, including a loop from Fields Corner along GenevaAvenue to Upham'sCorner, from r.oxbury along Dudley Street through Upham'sCorner to Dorchester Avenue at Savin Hill, and from Edward Everett Square to the South End along Massachusetts venue. A By 1889

other lines opened along Blue Hill Avenue connecting the South End with Franklin Park, and Port Norfolk with Fields Corner along Neponset Avenue. H o r s e s , w h i l e h a n d s o m ea n i m a l s o n t h e s t e e p l e c h a s e ,w e r e i n e f f i c i e n t a s m o t i v e p o w e r f o r m e t r o p o l i t a nt r a n s i t s y s t e m s , a n d m u c h experimentation was conducted after the Civil War to devise a new power source for the horse cars. After several attempts with steam,

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g a s , a n d c a b l e , e l e c t r i c i t y w a s p e r f e c t e d b y t h e l a t e 1 8 8 0 r su s i n g o v e r head tnolley wires to power the cars. Again, Boston was amongthe

first cities to adopt the new trolleys, which ran faster and cheaper than the horse cars, and thus opened up whole new suburban areas for development. The meeting of the electric trolley and the three-decker occured about 1890. At this point both had been perfected; their combined presence began to create a new landscape of the streetcar suburb in D o r c h e s t e r . D u r i n g t h e 1 8 9 0 ' sn e w t r o l l e y l i n e s w e r e b u i l t i n t o t h e f a r reaches of practical service, from Fields Corner down Adams Street to A d a m s V i l l a g e , f r o m C o d m a n S q u a r e d o w n W a s h i n g t o na n d N o r f o l k Streets and from Lower Mills along River Street to Mattapan. By the turn of the 20th century a new web of streetcar lines were cut across Dorchester creating a complete grid of trolley routes linking every major corner with each other, from UphamsCorner along Columbia Road to Franklin Park, from Franklin Park down Talbot Avenue to P e a b o d y S q u a r e i n A s h m o n t , f r o m M a t t a p a n t o R o s l i n d a l ea l o n g C u m m i n s Highway, and the final thrust down Blue Hill Avenue to Mattapan. These were the streetcar routes that directed the builder's minds and formed the three-decker neighborhoods of the early 20th century. During rush hours, tnolleys ran every two minutes, and for 50 carried p a s s e n g e r sf r o m D o r c h e s t e r t o e v e r y c o r n e r o f B o s t o n . T h i s u n i v e r s e , the trolley and the: three-decker, lasted for a generation. Their era f i n a l l y c o n c l u d e d w i t h t h e a u t o m o b i l ea n d t h e e c o n o m i cc o l l a p s e o f t h e Great Depression. Still Dorchester trolleys ran for another generation, a s t r a c k l e s s . t r o l l e y b u s e s , u n t i l t h e y t o o w e r e d i s m a n t l e di n t h e 1 9 6 0 r s .

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Today the yellow MBTA buses run along the old car lines and maintain the fabric of the triple-decker neighborhoods,while the Red Line and the Southeast Expresswayprovide the modern transport links from Dorchester to the rest of Boston.

A C o m m u n i t yo f B u i l d e r s

Since the building of three-deckers was a competitivebusiness w h i c h d i d n o t r e q u i r e l a r g e a m o u n t so f c a p i t a l , t h e b u i l d e r s t h e m s e l v e s tended to be drawn from the ranks of local tradesmen. Evidence sug-

gests the existence of a community of builders - an informal alliance of tradesmen and speculators who worked for and with each other, borrowing and inventing designs. lt is they who were most responsible

for the lively vernacular quality of the streetscapes of porches and cornices that are the delight of Dorchester today. While some of these builders were Yankee carpenters, most of the three-deckers were constructed by newly emergent immigrant groups lrish, Canadians, Jews and ltalians, the very people the triple-deckers were meant to attract on the trolleys. Usually there were three roles involved in the building of a three-decker; the landowner, the builder and the architect. Often they

would, in fact, be three separatemen. Quite frequently, however, the builder would also own the land, design the three-decker, and construct it. Often the roles would be switched so that the same group or

individual would perform different functions in different neighborhoods. Not surprisingly, building three-deckers was mostly the work of men,

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but often women, widows and spinsters, would buy the land and dictate the number and type of three-deckers constructed. And at least one three-decker was designed by a womanarchitect. There were no blueprints or plans for the early three-deckers and builders followed the traditional measurements nd methodsof construca tion, repeating the basic rowhouseplan that had been handed down over generations. After the turn of the century, the three-decker But

d e s i g n s b e c a m em o r e c o m p l e x , r e q u i r i n g a r c h i t e c t r s b l u e p r i n t s .

these were simply an outgrowth of the mental plans in the builder's head, often drawn in quick pencil sketches to satisfy the City Building Department. There were few professionally trained architects, and most m e n w h o g a v e t h e m s e l v e st h e t i t l e w e r e n e a l l y b u i l d e r s t u r n e d d e s i g n e r s . Thus, the three-deckers were built by a repetition of successfulmethods a n d f o r m s , f o l l o w i n g e x a m p l e si n t h e l o c a l n e i g h b o r h o o d s , s o t h a t v e r y distinctive three-decker types developedin various parts of Dorchester. E v e n t u a l l y , t h e s t y l i s t i c i n d i v i d u a l i t y o f l o c a l g r o u p s d i s a p p e a r e da s builders from different parts of Dorchester crossed each otherrs paths a n d e x c h a n g e d i d e a s a n d d e s i g n s . A t t h e s a m et i m e , t h e s e l o c a l g r o u p s t h e m s e l v e sw e r e a b s o r b e d i n t o a l a r g e r , m o r e h o m o g e n o u s u i l d i n g b c o m m u n i t y . T h u s , b y t h e e n d o f t h e F i r s t W o r l d W a nt h r e e - d e c k e r s throughout Dorchester showed a great similarity of design.

N.B. Major groups of Dorchester builders and their respective areas operation are discussed in greater detail in Appendix l.

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Three-Decker- Triple-Decker - Three Family Origin of the Term

The three-decker is a unique housing type characteristic of New England cities in the early 20th centur"y. Generally defined, the threedecker is a free standing, wood frame structure on its own narrow lot, three stories high, with one family unit on each floor. Originally called

"three-deckers,rrthese houses were also known as three-familiesand in v e r y r e c e n t y e a r s , h a v e b e e n c a l l e d ' r t r i p l e - d e c k e r s r ' ra t e r m u n k n o w n to their original builders. The antique term reveals the origin and function of the form. The

three-decker is not simply a random term invented for the Dorchester triple-decker. Rather, the roots of the word can be traced to

E l i z a b e t h a nE n g l a n d a n d t h e g r e a t n a v a l w a r s h i p s b u i l t t o p r o t e c t t h e British lsles. The most impressiveman-of-war, the 'rsovereignof the

S e a s r " l a u n c h e d i n 1 6 3 7 / w a s c a l l e d a " t h r e e - d e c k e r r ri n r e f e r e n c e t o the three decks of guns that sat above the waterline. By the time of

the American Revolutionthe impressivequalities of a rrthree-deckerrl were applied in popular speech to anything of great size or importance. A s a c o m m o nf i g u r e o f A m e r i c a n s p e e c h , ' r t h r e e - d e c k e r t rw a s q u i t e naturally borrowed to describe the new three family, wooden houses evolving in New England cities during the late 19th century. The first

true applicationof the term, like the first three-decker, cannot be precisely dated. The earliest reference is from Worcesterin 1893,

i m p o r t a n t b e c a u s ei t i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h i s M a s s a c h u s e t t sn d u s t r i a l c i t y i w a s a n e a r l y t h r e e - d e c k e r c e n t e r , a n d m o r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e c a u s ei t occurs just at the time when the first Dorchester three-deckers were being built in large numbers.
. X V -

As an architectural tenm, the 'rthree-deckerrr has a certain appropriate quality. Most obviously it describes the three-story rear porches As in therrdeckstl

t h a t s i g n i f y t h e t h r e e f a m i l i e sl i v i n g i n t h e b u i l d i n g .

of the old English sailing ships, the term also refers to the unique wooden quality that defines the three-decker as a New England housing type. 'rThree-deckerfi was the commonterm until quite recenfly, used by both carpenter and scholar alike. In the last decade the old term

finally gave way to the modern "triple-decker.rr Like everything, it loses something in translation but the term is the one that many people now understand to be proper for official reports.

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