About the Blake House
735 Columbia Road
(Richardson Park)
Dorchester, MA 02125
Boston’s oldest house, the James Blake House, sits on Dorchester’s Columbia Road, about 400 yards from its original location on what is now Massachusetts Avenue. The house is thought to be the only example of West England country framing in the United States. Most of the early colonial homes in Dorchester, such as the Pierce House, were built by housewrights from the south and east of England, where brick and plaster building predominated. However, the Blake House was built in the manner of the homes of western England, which had long used heavy timber framing methods. The James Blake House is a two-story, central chimney, gable-roof dwelling of timber-frame construction. It is on a rectangular plan, three bays wide and one bay deep and measures 38 by 20 feet. Built in 1661, the house is one of a relatively small number of its type — the post-Medieval, timber-frame house — surviving anywhere in New England.
The house’s original occupant was James Blake, born in Pitminster, England, in 1624, who emigrated with his parents to Dorchester in the 1630s. Deacon James Blake became a constable, town selectman, and deputy to the General Court. James married Elizabeth Clap (the daughter of Deacon Edward Clap and niece of Roger Clap) in 1651. The house passed to his son John who in turn divided it between his two sons in 1718. The east and west halves of the house were occupied by separate families for over a century, one half being sold out of the Blake family in 1772. In 1825 Caleb and Eunice Williams purchased the west half of the house from Rachel Blake, the sole surviving heir, and in 1829 they acquired the east half by inheritance. The house remained in the Williams family until 1892 when it was acquired by George and Antonia Quinsler who in 1895 sold it to the City of Boston. The City government acquired the land to complete a large parcel for the building of municipal greenhouses.
The Dorchester Historical Society, which had been incorporated in 1891, undertook the preservation of the Blake House as its first major project. The Society convinced the City to grant the Society the house and the right to move it to Richardson Park at its own expense. By January, 1896, the house had been moved to its new location by a local building mover for $295. This seems to be the first recorded instance of a historic private residence being moved from its original site in order to rescue it from demolition. The Blake House is a museum of early American Home construction and is studied by students of architectural history.
Read about the archaeological excavation at the Blake House!
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