Happy Torn Down Tuesday! Today we are featuring the two-story home that once stood at 8 Dana Street on the corner of Centre Street. Built in 1848, this elaborately ornate Italiante-style home was commissioned by the Honorable Zebina L. Raymond, a Senator and Mayor of Cambridge.
The house and land was purchased by Henry B. Ward in 1856 who in turn sold the house to merchant John S. Paine two years later. Paine’s Furniture Company was once the largest business of its kind in New England.
Paine executed many renovations in the home including new window treatments, gas fixtures, chandeliers, and carpets. The house was again renovated in 1891 when Paine contracted Wellington Fillmore to build a one-story addition.
The home was described in Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge Vol. 2: Mid Cambridge as follows:
Although the gable ends of 8 Dana Street have cornices carried across to form pediments in the Greek Revival manner, the rest of the detail is Italiante. The house is pictorial in effect, with much of its quality depending on the play of light and shadow across the wall surfaces and under the arcaded porches. (p. 53)
In 1911, owner Sterling F. Hayward contracted the well-known Cambridge architect John A. Hasty to complete alterations in the sum of $3,000–nearly $80,000 in today’s money. Hasty is also responsible for designing the Cambridge Mutual Fire Insurance building and “The University” apartments–both on Massachusetts Avenue.
In the 1920s, the building was purchased by Mary M. Collins and converted into multi-occupant housing catering to students and short-term tenants. The building was named Vernon Hall and offered dining options in addition to accommodation.
By the mid 1940s, the building was in use as a convalescent home and later classified as nursing/rest home. The house at 8 Dana St was demolished in 1975 to make way for an addition of that complex, now known as the Cambridge Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.
