Benjamin Fox, Part 1

Benjamin Fox was an English-born architect, engineer and builder, and is credited as the designer and builder for both of the Pondside buildings. A century later he seems largely forgotten—I have not even been able to get birth or death dates—but he has left his mark on the area through a handful of interesting, thoughtful buildings that still live.

He practiced in Boston in at least the first two decades of the 20^th century with offices first in the [now-demolished] Devonshire Building and later on Exchange Street. His known work falls largely into two typologies: large brick warehouses, and stand-alone brick and brownstone apartment buildings. Of his warehouses there is at least (maybe at most) one remaining, an unremarkable (but active) building on Richdale Street near Porter Square.

A handful of his warehouses were in the canal area of East Cambridge between First and Sixth Streets, now all gone. There is record of one also on Kneeland Street near South Station, also demolished.

Many of Mr. Fox’s residential buildings, on the other hand, have survived the 20^th century and still make beautiful, useful contributions to the city. Beyond Jamaica Plain he built extensively in Brookline and the Fenway, and seems to have dealt specifically in the larger, less-dense apartment buildings being built for the upper class at what were then, in the era of streetcars, the fringes of the city.

What follows (in the next post) is by no means a comprehensive list of his existing work. As always I welcome input from anyone who has information I don't. The process of "finding" a Fox building is typically following a lead (or a hunch) and then trying to confirm it through varying methods and tools. Without that starter it is really a crapshoot. That said, as I have seen more and more of his buildings some consistent traits have emerged that have proven helpful in finding more.

Most significant of these are the relatively broad and narrow unit floorplans. As opposed to the typical “railroad” apartment or the triple-decker, Fox’s apartments maximize the front and rear faces, locating all of the windows where light is most present. The squarish units, with peninsular rear stairways that jut into a parking courtyard (or alternatively an alley-way), make a distinctive footprint in an aerial photo. Compare, for example, this aerial photo of various, similar apartment complexes along and near Comm Ave in Brighton to that of Pondside, or this L-shaped cluster of Fox buildings in Brookline.

Perhaps this was Mr. Fox’s signature, his marketing niche in the still-expanding city. In a 1908 Globe article trumpeting the planning of the second Pondside building, this layout strategy is called “the modern type of apartments”.

“The long, narrow dark hall so evident in many apartment houses will be eliminated, all of the windows either having front or rear exposure to the sun and air, every room being an outside one.”

The article goes on to levy the building with superlatives like “the finest of its kind” and “one of the most important improvements” in Jamaica Plain, with a view “unsurpassed in beauty”. Whether or not that language was courtesy of the journalist, the developer, or Fox himself is not known.

Sources:

Boston Daily Globe 1872; Nov 3, 1908; ProQuest Historical Newspapers Boston Globe (1872 - 1927) pg. 12

Men of Massachusetts, 1903

City of Boston, Inspectional Services Departments

PROLOGUE

This is my first time living in a landmark. It isn’t in history books, nor is it on any tourist maps, but most people with some familiarity of Jamaica Plain know this building—pass by enough and it will try to connect with you on some level. Along Centre Street its hulking presence seems to almost push cars and busses through the bend in the road. The slower moving may note the intricate sandstone beasts crawling around its surface, or the odd little faces that have watched a century of Boston move past. Others may simply know someone who lives, or has lived, here; its density and sheer longevity make for a large web of connections. Like many I was fascinated by it instantly, and as my relationship to it has grown more intimate (from passerby to visitor to resident) that fascination has not subsided.

A curious building attracts curious residents, and initial investigations have confirmed for me that the building’s current status as home to a group of wonderfully peculiar personalities is not just a modern phenomenon. To find the famous, noteworthy, eccentric, or otherwise mentionable (here, at least), one need not dig very deep. Needing a place to put the information I’ve uncovered, and as an exercise towards some synthesis of it, I’ve created this blog as a place to periodically share it with family, friends, neighbors, and anyone else who may be curious. I’m not a professional historian, nor am I professional writer, but I’m hoping this will be a way to improve on both. Above all I hope that this can engender some serendipity, and that it will bring out the holders of more information on this building. For as great as Boston’s public library (and librarians) are, and for as well documented the history of this neighborhood is, most of history evaporates as it happens. May this site help to sweep together any of the remaining minutiae and marginalia for this/our/my home.