Anna Capobianco House
Anna Capobianco House
| Address | 6 Topliff St |
| Built | 1943 |
| Demolished | 2006 |
| Tenants | |
| Early Bird Farm (1943 - 1957) | |
The Early Bird Farm of Ralph T. Capobianco and his sons stood at 6 Topliff Street in The Pines, the summer-colony subdivision laid out along the Shawsheen River in 1912 for Frank W. Coughlin ("The Pines," H. A. Millhouse, civil engineer, Plan Book 30, Plan 13). The farm advertised in the Howe High School yearbooks from 1943 to 1957. Ralph Capobianco, a bricklayer, lived on Topliff Street by 1941; the directories of 1949 and 1951 list him with the Early Bird Farm, his son Carl as a poultryman, and Alden F. Lane as a poultry worker on the same street, and the 1957 directory gives the farm's address as 6 Topliff.
The land was assembled from small Pines house lots, many of them abandoned for taxes in the Depression. Lots 197 to 207 had been assessed in 1932 to Helen I. Regan; when the tax went unpaid the town took them in 1934, and in 1937 the town treasurer released them, with dozens of other Pines lots, to John D. Cooke of Wilmington. In October 1941 Cooke sold the eleven lots to Anna Capobianco, Ralph's wife, then "of Off Pine Road, Pinehurst," and the next month Paul J. Toomoth sold her lots 208 and 209 as "land of low value." She added lots 215 and 216 at the town's tax-title auction of July 1943 and lots 217 and 218 at the auction of July 1944, by which time she was "of Topliff St." None of these deeds mentions a building, so the farmhouse was built about 1942 or 1943, as the farm began to advertise. Anna Capobianco had been buying Pines lots since 1929, among them lots on Montrose, Kenilworth and Mosley Streets, and her son Carl added more in 1947.
In 1969 Anna Capobianco, then a widow, gave the homestead lots to Carl, who sold them in 1972 for $24,000. The property changed hands again in 1973, 1977 and 1983. The old farmhouse was taken down about 2006, and the present house, built about 2007, stands on the same lots, combined as Lot A on Plan 230-99.
References
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| July 26, 1934 | Tax Collector's Deed | Patrick J. Mahoney, Collector of Taxes for the Town of Billerica (land assessed to Helen I. Regan) | The Town of Billerica | 1934: lots 197-207 taken for 1932 taxes assessed to Helen I. Regan | 848/121 |
The assessors had assessed Helen I. Regan "as owner or occupant" of the land for the 1932 tax of $11.90. The demand went unpaid, the land was advertised in the Billerica News and offered at auction at the Town Hall on June 1, 1934, the sale was adjourned to June 4, and with no bidder the collector bought it for the town for $18.55, subject to redemption. The land was lots 197 to 207 on "The Pines" (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), as listed under Helen I. Regan in the 1936 affidavit of the Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation (Book 888 Page 1). Signed June 4, 1934. Book 848 Pages 121-123.
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| January 19, 1937 | Treasurer's Release | Lawrence E. Desmond, Treasurer of the Town of Billerica | John D. Cooke of Wilmington | 1937: the town releases its tax title to John D. Cooke | 895/427 |
Under the affidavit of Henry F. Long, Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation, of Dec. 3, 1936 (Book 888 Page 1), and General Laws chapter 60, sections 79 and 80, the treasurer sold at auction and for $80 released to John D. Cooke all the town's title, acquired by the takings and deeds of the collectors Patrick J. Mahoney and John J. Ritchie, in dozens of lots on "The Pines" (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), some "with buildings," among them "197-207 inc." Signed Jan. 8, 1937, recorded at 4:46 PM, just after a similar release to Cooke of lots in Nuttings Lake Park. Book 895 Pages 427-428.
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| October 27, 1941 | Quitclaim | John D. Cooke of Wilmington (Margaret R. Cooke releasing dower) | Anna Capobianco "of Off Pine Road, Pinehurst, Billerica" | 1941: lots 197-207 to Anna Capobianco | 969/409 |
Signed Oct. 21, 1941. "All my right title and interest in eleven (11) lots of land," lots 197 to 207 on "The Pines," drawn by H. A. Millhouse, civil engineer, June 1912 (Plan Book 30 Plan 13). "For my title see deed to me from the Town of Billerica, dated January 8, 1937" (Book 895 Page 427). No buildings are mentioned. Book 969 Page 409.
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| December 26, 1941 | Quitclaim | Paul J. Toomoth of Somerville (Mary A. Toomoth releasing dower) | Anna Capobianco of Billerica | 1941: lots 208-209 to Anna Capobianco | 972/400 |
Signed Nov. 28, 1941. Lots 208 and 209 on "The Pines" (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), "being the same premises as bought from John and Helena Toomoth" (Book 925 Page 261, Jan. 23, 1939). "Being land of low value, no stamp required." Book 972 Page 400.
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| August 25, 1943 | Treasurer's Deed | Robert H. Fowler, Treasurer of the Town of Billerica | Anna Capobianco "of Topliff St., Pinehurst" | 1943: lots 215-216 added at the tax-title auction | 995/556 |
For $137, under General Laws chapter 60, section 79, the town's tax titles to "Pines" lots 83-84 (assessed to James R. Connors), lots 215-216 (assessed to Benjamin and Marion Drinkwater, tax title Book 927 Page 313), lots 1016, 1017 and half of 1108 (J. Joseph Evans) and lots 149-156 (Albert E. Whitehouse), included in the commissioner's affidavit of June 17, 1943 (Book 992 Page 1) and sold at public auction on July 14, 1943 to Anna Capobianco as the highest bidder. Executed Aug. 2, 1943. Lots 215 and 216 became part of the farm parcel. Book 995 Pages 556-557.
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| August 10, 1944 | Treasurer's Deed | Robert H. Fowler, Treasurer of the Town of Billerica | Anna Capobianco "of Topliff St., Pinehurst" | 1944: lots 217-218 added at the tax-title auction | 1011/199 |
For $23, the town's tax title to "The Pines" lots 169-177 and 217 and 218, assessed to Gilbert B. Rowe (tax title Book 968 Page 412), included in the commissioner's affidavit of June 30, 1944 (Book 1007 Page 501) and sold at auction on July 18, 1944. Executed Aug. 2, 1944. Lots 217 and 218 became part of the farm parcel. Book 1011 Pages 199-200.
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| April 25, 1969 | Quitclaim | Anna Capobianco of Billerica, unmarried | Carl J. Capobianco of 1 Jenkins Road, Andover | 1969: the farm lots to Carl J. Capobianco | 1882/648 |
Signed April 23, 1969; "the consideration for this deed is other than monetary." Five parcels on "The Pines" (Plan Book 30 Plan 13): lots 411 and 412 (from Rachel C. Kimball, May 10, 1938); lots 197 to 207 (John D. Cooke, Oct. 21, 1941, Book 969 Page 409); lots 208 and 209 (Paul J. Toomoth, Nov. 28, 1941, Book 972 Page 400); lots 215 and 216 (Robert H. Fowler, Treasurer, Aug. 2, 1943, Book 995 Page 556); lots 217 and 218 (the same, Aug. 2, 1944, Book 1011 Page 199): the Early Bird Farm homestead. Book 1882 Page 648.
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| March 16, 1972 | Quitclaim | Carl J. Capobianco of Andover | Private owners (husband and wife) of Billerica | 1972: the farm lots sold out of the family | 2001/673 |
Signed March 13, 1972, for $24,000. Lots 197 to 207, 208-209, 215-216 and 217-218 on "The Pines" (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), "being a portion of the premises conveyed to me by Anna Capobianco by her deed dated April 23, 1969" (Book 1882 Page 648), excluding lots 411 and 412; the buyers assumed a $15,000 Stoneham Co-operative Bank mortgage. Later: the same lots sold in 1973 for $38,000 (Book 2088 Page 309), and again in 1977 and 1983; the old house was replaced by the present one, built about 2007 on the combined lots 207-218 (Plan 230-99, Lot A), 6 Topliff Street. Book 2001 Page 673.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.