Beginning in 1879, until her death in 1911, Sara Chapman Bull lived in Cambridge, first at “Elmwood” (the Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House), and from 1889 until her death at 168 Brattle Street. A number of facts about her should pique our interest:
At age 20, she was married in a semi-secret ceremony in Norway to a 60-year-old renowned Norwegian concert violinist Ole Bull.
She was an early adherent and supporter of Swami Vivekananda, who introduced the Indian philosophy of Vedanta to the West.
She initiated and funded the Cambridge Conferences, a series of seminars at her home which drew important secular and religious lecturers.
Sarah Thorp Bull and Family, ca. 1890 (3.01BC) Left to right: Joseph Thorp, Jr., Sarah Thorp Bull, Annie Longfellow Thorp, unidentified woman, Olea Bull, Mrs. Amelia Chapman Thorp, (and seated) unidentified woman. Likely taken at 168 Brattle Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Image courtesy History Cambridge.
Sara Bull was born Sara Chapman Thorp in 1850 in Oxford, New York. Her parents later moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin where her father, Joseph G. Thorp, became wealthy in the lumber business. The family moved to Madison in 1866 after Joseph was elected to the State Senate. Her mother, Amelia, was a formidable individual who played a prominent role in Madison society. Sara was raised in a conventional manner under the controlling eye of her mother. This somewhat sheltered upbringing changed dramatically when she was introduced to Ole Bull, an internationally renowned Norwegian violinist who came to Madison on an American concert tour.
Portrait of Ole Bull by Franz Hanfstaengl. Image courtesy Bergen Public Library Norway.
Despite strong objections from her father–but with the encouragement of her socially ambitious mother–Sara Thorp and Ole Bull became engaged in early 1870, she age 20, he 60. Sara and her mother then accepted Ole’s invitation to visit Norway where, in a private ceremony, they were married in June, 1870. In the fall of that year, a splendid formal wedding took place in Madison. A daughter, Olea, was born in March, 1871.
Sara Olea Bull Vaughan posed, 1893. Courtesy of National Park Service, Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (1006/004.002.010).
For the next ten years Sara, when not at Madison, traveled with Ole to concerts throughout the United States and Europe, occasionally serving as his piano accompanist. After beginning his college career at the University of Wisconsin, Sara’s brother, Joseph G. Thorp, Jr., graduated from Harvard College in 1879. That same year, the Thorp parents, Sara, Ole, and Olea moved from Madison to Cambridge, where they rented Elmwood from James Russell Lowell. In 1880 Ole, aged 70, died in Norway with Sara at his side.
Elmwood, 33 Elmwood Avenue (built 1767). Photo ca. 1895–1900, showing the gardener’s cottage that was attached to main house. CHC collections.
Following her husband’s death, Sara continued to make her home in Cambridge and began a productive life of her own. She lived at Elmwood until 1889, when she and her family moved to a new house her father had built at 168 Brattle Street.
In 1883, Sara published Ole Bull: A Memoir. She also published a journal article supporting the claim that Norsemen discovered New England and raised funds for the statue of the Norseman presently standing at the western terminus of Commonwealth Avenue in Boston. Sara entered the Boston social scene and became close friends with such luminaries as Annie Fields, Celia Thaxter, Julia Ward Howe and Sarah Orne Jewett. Important connections were further cemented when her brother Joseph married Anne Allegra, youngest daughter of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
Title page of Ole Bull: A Memoir (1910) by Sara Chapman Bull
Sara Bull likely met Swami Vivekananda, founder of the Vedanta philosophy, in Boston or Cambridge in 1892. This encounter initiated her extensive sponsorship and financial support of the Swami’s work, both in the United States and India, particularly Vedanta schools. She traveled a number of times to India to lend support to these and other schools—particularly for girls–that were being established there.
In 1896 Sara initiated, hired a director for, and financially sustained what she titled the Cambridge Conferences. These weekly “class lectures” ran from November through May for four years and were held at her house at 168 Brattle Street. This was a wide-ranging intellectual endeavor, its purpose being “to afford opportunity for the comparative study of Ethics, Philosophy, Sociology and Religion”. A significant number of important philosophers and religious leaders of the day lectured at the Conferences.
Members of the Bull and Thorp family stand outside 168 Brattle Street, Sara Thorp Bull’s residence. Courtesy of National Park Service, Longfellow House-Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site (1006/004.002.010).
Sara also encouraged and financially supported important efforts of Dr. J. C. Bose, an Indian scientist doing pioneering work on remote wireless, and Okakura Kakuso, an expert on Japanese art who carried out the first classification of Asian Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. She met both these gentlemen in their home countries, and later opened her Cambridge home to them and promoted their work in this country.
When Sara Chapman Bull died in 1911, she was cremated at Mt. Auburn Cemetery and her ashes spread at Lysøen, Norway, the site of an island house she inherited from Ole Bull.
Bull villa in Lysøen, photographed 10 June 2005 by Sean Hayford O’Leary. Image obtained via Wikimedia Commons under the Creative CommonsAttribution 2.0 Generic license.
Today’s post was written by Cambridge resident Ted Hansen, a community volunteer and former President of the Cambridge Historical Society (now History Cambridge).
A year after his family purchased the easternmost acres of the former Coolidge farm in West Cambridge, Edward Waldo Forbes built an enormous Georgian Revival mansion on the lot in 1911. An early convert to Modernism, Forbes, an art historian and Director of the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University, allowed his daughter Rosamund and her husband, William Bowers, to build Cambridge’s first International Style house on the grounds in 1935. The introduction of this new design paved the way for M.I.T. physicist Francis Bitter and his wife, the singer Ratan Devī, to commission architect Carl Koch to design a modern house for the couple at the foot of the hill in 1946.
The House
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)
Carl Koch’s design for this house was praised by his contemporaries. Following its completion, the house was written up in two journals, Architectural Record (105:76-83 January 1949) and House & Garden (94:6;127-129 December 1948). The author of the article in Architectural Record described the well-conceived plan, “So in this house we have the straightforward, thoughtful planning that reflects and serves the owners’ individual needs and desires–convenient, cheerful, efficient, informal–but with its own welcome dignity.”
Coomarasumay, Ananda, Mrs. (Ratan Devī), 1917 May 8, by Arnold Genthe. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
Francis Bitter, ca. 1935, photographer unknown. MIT Museum.
The Bitter House was built as a modern, one-story, single-family house by Koch and his associate Frederic L. Day. The building was composed of cladding of vertical, tongue and groove fir boards on the living room wing. The bedroom wing, positioned for privacy opposite a garden “Plaza” from the living and service wing, was constructed of concrete block and not sided with another material. The entrance door opened into the glass-enclosed garden plaza which was designed around a sculpture by Francis Bitter’s father, Karl Bitter.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)
On one side of the plaza was the living and service wing, which housed the living room, dining room, kitchen, and basement study. The living room was acoustically designed to accompany Mrs. Bitter’s love of music. Indoor living space continued to the outside with two patios, one off the dining room and the other off the garden plaza. The kitchen was designed for efficiency and included pass-throughs to the dining room and service entrance for the easy delivery of packages. The large, hooded fireplace was the focal point of the living and dining rooms.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)
On the opposite side of the plaza was the bedroom wing. The master bedroom was designed as a suite with a large dressing area. The guest bedroom had a fold-out bed built into the slope of the linen closet in the hallway.
Unlike some of his later efforts in prefabricated housing components, this design is completely tailor-made to meet the needs of the Bitters: a physicist and a professional musician. Mr. Bitter was an expert in magnetic physics. Under her stage name Ratan Devī, Mrs. Bitter was a performer of Hindu songs and poems and recorded Indian music. Koch considered both of their vocations when designing the residence at 44 Gerry’s Landing. Koch designed the basement as Mr. Bitter’s laboratory and study with plenty of natural light provided by the sloping site on which the house was built. The living room was acoustically designed to enhance the piano music of Mrs. Bitter.
Photograph by Ezra Stoller. Architectural Record (January 1949)
Koch paid careful attention to the smallest details of the house–from the acoustics in the living room to the linen closet to the delivery panel in the kitchen wall. Koch employed the use of twentieth century materials such as linoleum and corrugated Transite in his design.
Development of the Site
Detail of Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, March 1950 (Vol. 2) with 44 Gerry’s Landing Road circled in blue. Library of Congress
The Brown and Nichols boys’ school was originally located on Garden Street. Although the school purchased fields at the base of Coolidge Hill in 1910-12 to use as athletic fields, its classes were not held on the lower campus until late in the 1940s. Brown and Nichols School gradually moved all its classrooms to the Gerry’s Landing campus between 1948 and 1963. The modern residences on the Forbes estate were soon acquired by the school and the Bitter House was converted for use as an art studio.
The Bitter House at 44 Gerry’s Landing Rd, photographed by R. Cheek in January 1969
Higher taxes, fewer domestic employees, and increased density after World War II affected the scale and efficiency of the designs for post-war construction. New technologies in building materials and construction quickly made their way to the private sphere after being developed by the military during the war. Carl Koch’s design intent for 44 Gerry’s Landing Road was a product of the new materials and design ideas of the post-war period. It was built in the same year as Koch’s more famous Snake Hill Houses in neighboring Belmont.
The Bitter House at 44 Gerry’s Landing Rd, photographed by R. Cheek in January 1969
An application to demolish the house at 44 Gerry’s Landing Road was received by the Cambridge Historical Commission on November 6, 1996, and the final application was made on November 26. The applicant, Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, was notified of an initial determination of significance and a public hearing was scheduled for December 4. Although the Bitter House was found to be significant in part as an example of post-war architecture and in great part due to its relationship to the internationally significant architect, Carl Koch, the building was demolished in 1997. At the time of demolition, the intentionally limited exterior detailing of the modern residence was primarily intact with no evident additions or major remodeling.
Detail: “Map of the city of Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.” 1854. Henry Francis Walling.
The neighborhood name Strawberry Hill (Area 13) refers to the area between Homer Avenue and Grove Street in Cambridge. Starting off as part of Watertown, conveyed to Belmont (1859), and finally annexed to Cambridge (1880), the story of “Strawberry Hill” is a little complicated. The establishment of this neighborhood navigated varying groups of investors, two different surveyors, changing official street names, and established colloquial names for the area.
Broadly speaking, this western most area of Cambridge was generally known as “Mount Auburn.” Strawberry Hill was originally part of the Bird-Coburn estate in Watertown.
Fun Fact: This was the same Bird family that owned “Bird’s Tavern,” at the junction of Mt Auburn and Belmont Streets (near the current Star Market). In 1758 this 17th century residence became a tavern run by Edward Richardson. In 1795 Jonathan Bird bought the property. During his ownership Bird established Watertown’s first public lending library on the premises. He also ran a music school. By 1830 the town plan of Watertown lists the property as “Wyeth’s Hotel.” The building was demolished around 1892.
Columbian Centinel March 19, 1814
Richardson Tavern. Watertown Free Public Library. Image via Digital Commonwealth
Detail: Plan of Watertown from survey made in June 1830 by by John G. Hales. Watertown Free Public Library. Image via Digital Commonwealth
Development
The advent of the omnibus route to Mount Auburn in 1845 as well as a new stop on the Watertown Branch Railroad made the area ripe for development. The Strawberry Hill residential development came into being when a group of investors hired both surveyors Alexander Wadsworth (1806-1898) in 1847, and John Low in 1848 to map it for two adjacent developments: Wadsworth platted most of Strawberry Hill, while John Low platted an area including “Auburn Place” (now Homer Ave) for house lots.
It is not quite clear why this area was named Strawberry Hill. Strawberries likely had little to do with the selection, although an article in the Cambridge Chronicle from October 9, 1941 made that claim. The name may have derived from Horace Walpole’s renowned estate and gardens in England of the same name. When Walpole sold his estate in 1842, local newspapers published lavish descriptions of the property. During the early to mid-19th century “Strawberry Hill” became a popular name for estates, farms, parks, and hotels across the country. The name evoked a certain elan, a romantic setting in this case complete with a view over Fresh Pond. Developers may have hoped the name would appeal to the middle-class buyers they wanted to attract. Its location across the street from the popular Mount Auburn Cemetery added cache to the neighborhood.
View of Horace Walpole’s villa at Strawberry Hill, as seen from the southeast part of the property. Pen and ink and watercolor by John Buckler, 1831. The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University.
The reason Cambridge wanted to acquire the land was to have more control over the town’s water supply at Fresh Pond, which was threatened by runoff of two other ponds to the west: Cider Mill Pond and Bird’s Pond. More about them later.
Sales
House lots were auctioned:
Boston Courier June 29, 1848
“PERSONS who intend purchasing lots for building in the neighborhood of Boste, are invited to examine the lots on Strawberry Hill, which is bounded by Belmont street on one side, by Fresh Pond on the other, and intersected by avenues 40 feet in width. On the grounds are a large number of forest trees, and grafted fruit trees. It is pleasantly diversified by hill and valley, and the land being of the very best quality gives every opportunity for the cultivation of fruit of all kinds.
The location is unsurpassed, being opposite Mount Auburn, contiguous to Fresh Pond, little more than a mile from Harvard University, with easy communication with the city, the depot of the Watertown Branch Railroad being within four minutes’ walk of the farthest part of the estate, and the passage by the cars being only fifteen to twenty minutes from the depot of the Fitchburg Railroad, in Boston, on Haverhill Street, (which is nearly finished). The Cambridge omnibuses leaving Mount Auburn gate every hour or half hour, renders Strawberry Hill one of the most desirable places of residence for the retired gentleman or the active business man. These lots will be offered at low prices, and for dwellings only, and no artizans [sic] or mechanic’s shops will be allowed erection on the premises….”
To discourage the “hoi-polloi,” deed restrictions required houses be a minimum of two stories on lots not less than 1,000 feet. For the same reason a purchaser had to be a native born American. No businesses were allowed, specifically including soap boiling, tanning, distilling, chandlers, tin men, bleachers, brickmakers and stablers.
Initially sales were slow, in part because of these restrictions and the concomitant financial crisis of 1848. Eventually restrictions were loosened and by the 1860s sales picked up – – only to be stalled again by a subsequent financial crisis in 1873.
Street Names Evolution in the Neighborhood
The 1854 map at the top of this piece shows Cushing and Kirkland streets parallel to one another other. In 1880 Kirkland Street was renamed Holworthy Street to eliminate confusion with the Kirkland Street in Mid Cambridge. It was named after English merchant Sir. Matthew Holworthy (1608-1678), a major contributor to Harvard University, and after whom Holworthy Hall is also named.
Cushing Street was named after John Perkins Cushing (1786-1862), a merchant in the China Trade. At one point Cushing and Holworthy streets were known as “East Village.”
Auburn Place (part of the land John Low surveyed) changed to Homer Ave. in 1899.
Vineyard St. was originally named Vine Street when laid out in 1848.
Prospect Street evolved to become Woodlawn Ave, which was eliminated in 1893 when the City took over the property by eminent domain to extend Huron Ave to Grove Street (over a road that was previously a continuation of Cushing Street veering left at the approach to Fresh Pond). The houses on the street were sold at auction by the City, and buildings were required to be moved within 30 days:
Cambridge Chronicle October 7, 1893
Fun Fact: At least three streets in the vicinity were given Scandinavian names after Harvard professor Eben Horsford’s theory that the Vikings landed in Cambridge. Such streets include Thingvalla Ave, Ericsson Street, and Norumbega Street.
Those Pesky Ponds: Cider Mill Pond and Bird’s Pond
The map below illustrates the proximity of both ponds to the Strawberry Hill Development and Fresh Pond.
Detail: “Atlas of the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts : from official records, private plan and actual surveys.” 1886. G. M. Hopkins
The Cambridge Water Department was concerned about seepage from both ponds contaminating the main water source of the City’s water at Fresh Pond. The streams ran through farmland in Belmont carrying vegetable, human, and animal effluvia deposited in both ponds. Neither pond had an outlet. So, while fun for skating in the winter, in the summer the smaller ponds became stagnant, bred mosquitoes, produced a stench, and, through seepage, contaminated Fresh Pond. Debates about how to eliminate the contamination went on for decades. A system of storm drains and connecting sewers eliminated part, but not all, of the problem. Finally, both ponds were drained and filled in.
Fun Fact: The Rifle Range at the Cider Mill Pond
Before the outcry over sewage from the pond began, there was another dust up over the rifle range established in the area. In 1888, the City leased land adjacent to the pond for a military rifle range. Right off the bat there were problems with bullets going astray and hitting houses.
Cambridge Chronicle April 16, 1892
The rifle range was closed in 1894. Later, a murder victim was deposited in the pond:
Cambridge Chronicle April 16, 1936 (excerpt)
By 1970 the pond had been filled in, and zoning was approved for the apartment building called Parkside Place at 700 Huron Avenue.
Birds Pond was also drained, filled in, and in the early 1950’s a subdivision called Corcoran Park was built on the premises for low-income housing. (Back in the day, theaforementioned Professor Horsford also thought that the “amphitheater” at Birds Pond was used by the Vikings.) The housing project was named for John H. Corcoran, Mayor (1942-1945) later City Manager and chairman of the Housing Authority:
Cambridge Chronicle July 9, 1953 (excerpt)
A few well-known residents of Strawberry Hill include Mayor William F. Brooks and Governor Charles F. Hurley
Today
After deed restrictions were loosened, most of the homes built were small, single family worker’s cottages. Many of these homes have been remodeled—in fact, in 2024 you’d be hard put to find a single family home in Strawberry Hill for a less than a million dollars.
Today’s post was written by CHC volunteer Kathleen M. Fox
