Structure · Built 1925
Arthur H. and Rose M. Hubert House
Arthur H. and Rose M. Hubert House
| Address | 2-4 Mason Av |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.268 |
| Built | 1925 |
The two-family house at 2-4 Mason Avenue, also numbered 4 Letchworth Avenue, stands on the southwest corner of the two streets in North Billerica, at the edge of the Billerica Garden Suburb. Its hip roof is typical of the 1920s houses on Mason and Hampstead Avenues, and the 1983 historic district survey suggested it was built about 1925, perhaps by the same builder as its neighbors. The deeds show that the house was built in the 1920s by Arthur H. Hubert, on a corner cut from the old Faulkner homestead (James R. Faulkner House).
The land was part of the mill property that Francis Faulkner bought from the Middlesex Canal proprietors in 1825. In 1859 his sons conveyed one acre "with the buildings thereon" to James Faulkner, who built the house that still stands at 1 Faulkner Street, with its barn behind it toward the later Mason Avenue. After his death in 1865 the homestead passed to his widow and children, and in 1883 the heirs sold it to the Faulkner Manufacturing Company, which kept it as a company house for 35 years. On December 27, 1918 the company sold the old homestead to Charles H. Williams, who had already bought the company's back land in 1914 and laid out the Garden Suburb on it.
Williams divided the homestead. On April 21, 1920 he sold the corner of Letchworth and Mason Avenues, 80 feet on Letchworth Avenue and 78 feet on Mason Avenue, to Arthur H. and Rose M. Hubert, who mortgaged it the same day to the Merrimack River Savings Bank of Lowell. In September 1920 he sold the barn lot to the west to Thomas R. Williams of Livermore Falls, Maine, and Smith and Brooks drew both lots on a plan "surveyed for Charles H. Williams." That plan shows the barn and the Faulkner house but nothing on the corner marked "Arthur H. Hubert," so the house was built after the fall of 1920. In 1924 Williams sold the Faulkner house itself to Daniel V. McSweeney, bounded on the north by the Hubert lot.
The Huberts lost the house in the Depression. The Merrimack River Savings Bank foreclosed their 1920 mortgage and bought the property at its own sale for $3,000 on December 24, 1930, "with the buildings thereon." In July 1934 the bank sold it to Arthur W. and Alice M. Raymond of Billerica. Alice Raymond died in Billerica on May 4, 1949, and in 1951 Arthur W. Raymond sold the house. It changed hands among private owners in 1954, 1964 and 1968, each deed describing it as the lot marked "Arthur H. Hubert" on the 1920 plan. The 1968 buyers' mortgage was foreclosed by the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank in May 1971, and the bank conveyed the house to the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, who had guaranteed the loan. In January 1972 the Veterans Administration sold it for $20,900 to a Cambridge couple who kept it as a two-family house for more than fifty years; it was sold in 2024 for $700,000.
The assessor's date of "about 1900" is too early, since the corner was vacant in 1920. The house is a contributing building in the North Billerica (Billerica Mills) National Register Historic District, listed in 1983.
References
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| May 5, 1825 | Deed | The Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal, by Benjamin Guild, President | Francis Faulkner of Billerica, clothier | Middlesex Canal to Francis Faulkner: the mill land the Faulkner homestead was taken from | 260/48 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 407-412. For $2,500, "three certain lots or parcels of land ... on the Northerly side of Concord River and near the Canal Mills so called": 2 acres 27 rods by William Rogers on "the road leading from the Canal Mills by said Rogers house to Billerica meeting house"; "about twenty one acres" from "the creek or water course to the fulling mill" along "the little Bason so called" and down the river to John Rogers and Thomas Richardson; and the fulling mill lot, "with the privilege of keeping and maintaining the building of said Mill over said creek", the creek itself reserved. With "the privilege of using the water which passes through one half of the creek leading from the mill pond to the Fulling mill ... for the purpose of working said mill and Factory", but never when the pond is 3/4 inch below the top of the dam, on pain of "one dollar for every half hour said gates remain open". The canal reserved its water, a way across, and the right to repurchase within a year.
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| February 14, 1854 | Quitclaim Deed | The other heirs at law of Francis Faulkner (Dwight F., George, Winthrop, Luther W., Lois R., Lydia H. and William E. Faulkner, Calvin and Ann F. Rogers, and the Keene heirs) | James R. Faulkner of Billerica, manufacturer (two thirds), and Charles Faulkner of Boston, merchant (one third) | Faulkner heirs to James R. and Charles Faulkner | 668/424 (South) |
Billerica town book 21, pages 191-193. For $600, land "at the canal mills so called" bounded by land of James R. and Charles Faulkner and of William E. Faulkner, by Herman Rogers, by Concord River on two sides, and by "land of said James R. Faulkner where he now lives, consisting of plain land and containing about fifteen acres": the rest of the 21 acres of the 1825 canal purchase, behind the mill. Dated Jan 2, 1854. With it James R. and Charles Faulkner held the whole mill property, two thirds and one third, the shares of the later 1857 and 1880 deeds.
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| November 9, 1859 | Quitclaim Deed | James R. Faulkner of Billerica and Charles Faulkner of Boston (wives Catherine and Anne S. releasing dower) | James Faulkner of Billerica | the one-acre James Faulkner homestead, which included this corner | 21/569 |
Dated October 7, 1859. For $500, "a certain tract of land situate in North Billerica, containing one acre, more or less, with the buildings thereon standing": from the northwest corner at land of J. R. and Charles Faulkner, east by their land 151 ft "to land of J. R. & Wm. E. Faulkner", south on that land 347 ft to the road, west on the road 160 ft and north 280 ft. The lot of the James R. Faulkner House (lot 5, "Estate of J. Faulkner", on the 1880 Faulkner Manufacturing Company plan); the older house that stood here is believed to be the one moved back onto the mill land, now 3 Mason Avenue.
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| 1865 | Will | Estate of James Faulkner of Billerica, son of James R. Faulkner | Henry Faulkner of Roxbury, executor; widow Frances R. Faulkner; their children | James Faulkner will: homestead to widow and children | Probate #31569 |
Middlesex probate case 31569 (80 pages). Will dated Dec. 12, 1864 (witnesses Daniel S. Richardson, Gardner Parker, George F. Richardson), proved at Cambridge Dec. 26, 1865: $10,000 in trust for his wife for life; "I give to my wife Frances A. Faulkner the use of the house where I now reside and the land connected therewith constituting my homestead estate and the use of the furniture in said house so long as she remains my widow", then to his children equally; Henry Faulkner of Roxbury executor and guardian of the children.
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| June 11, 1883 | Guardian's Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica, guardian of Carrie T. Faulkner, a minor child of James Faulkner | The Faulkner Manufacturing Company | Faulkner heirs to the Faulkner Manufacturing Company (one third) | 160/478 |
Licensed by the Probate Court May 22, 1883, private sale for $1,333.33 of "an undivided third part of a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon, situated in said Billerica, containing one acre more or less" (141, 347, 160 and 280 feet), "Being the same premises conveyed to James Faulkner by James R. Faulkner and Charles Faulkner by deed dated October 7th 1859" (21/569). Dated June 5, 1883, acknowledged before Frederic A. Morey JP.
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| June 11, 1883 | Deed | James N. Faulkner of Kingston, Mass., and Herbert Faulkner of Billerica, sons of James Faulkner | The Faulkner Manufacturing Company | Faulkner heirs to the Faulkner Manufacturing Company (two thirds) | 160/479 |
For $1 and other valuable considerations, "two undivided third part[s] of a certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon situated in that part of said Billerica called North Billerica", from land of James R. and Charles Faulkner 141 feet east, 347 feet south "to the road leading from North Billerica to Billerica Centre", 160 feet on the road and 280 feet north, "containing one acre more or less, and being all our right, title and interest in the premises which were conveyed to our father, James Faulkner" (21/569); "For our title see the will of said James Faulkner". Recorded with the guardian's deed, June 1883. With these deeds the mill company owned the whole homestead.
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| December 27, 1918 | Quitclaim | The Faulkner Manufacturing Company, by George M. Preston, President and Treasurer | Charles H. Williams of Billerica | the company to Charles H. Williams, the old homestead | 596/338 |
$4 in stamps. "The land in that part of Billerica ... known as North Billerica with the buildings thereon", shown on the 1914 "Plan of the Manufacturing Plant of Faulkner Manufacturing Company" (Plan 31/91): from a stone bound on the northerly line of Faulkner Street, north about 268.27 feet along land of James F. Preston et als, Trustees (the J. R. Faulkner homestead), east about 175.05 feet, south about 309.65 feet and along Faulkner Street about 177.6 feet, with the rights of way of the 1914 deeds. Dated Dec. 27, 1918, with the directors' vote "To accept the offer of Charles H. Williams". The old James Faulkner homestead, which Williams divided into three lots.
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| April 21, 1920 | Warranty Deed | Charles H. Williams of Billerica (Louisa A. Williams releasing dower and homestead) | Arthur H. Hubert and Rose M. Hubert, husband and wife, of Billerica | Williams to Arthur H. and Rose M. Hubert: this corner lot, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86 | 623/479 |
$5.50 in stamps. "The land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue and on the southerly side of Mason Avenue": 80 feet on Letchworth Avenue, 63 feet, 27 feet 7 inches and 68 feet by other land of the grantor, and 78 feet on Mason Avenue, "a part of the same premises conveyed to me by the Faulkner Manufacturing Company" (596/338). Dated April 21, 1920. The northeast corner of the old homestead, between the barn lot and Letchworth Avenue.
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| September 30, 1920 | Quitclaim | Charles H. Williams of Billerica (Louisa A. Williams releasing dower and homestead) | Thomas R. Williams of Livermore Falls, Androscoggin County, Maine | abutter on the west: the Faulkner barn lot sold the same year | 634/520 |
"A certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in ... North Billerica": from a stone bound on Mason Avenue 78 feet west of Letchworth Avenue, south 68 feet along Arthur H. Hubert, southwest 13.79 feet and west 68 feet along other land of the grantor, north 80 feet to Mason Avenue and east 85 feet on it, 6,328 square feet, "a part of the same premises conveyed to me by the Faulkner Manufacturing Company" (596/338), shown on Smith and Brooks's plan of Sept. 24, 1920 (Plan 37/86), which draws the barn on this lot and the house to the south. Dated Sept. 28, 1920.
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| September 8, 1924 | Quitclaim | Charles H. Williams of Billerica (Louisa A. Williams releasing dower and homestead) | Daniel V. McSweeney of Billerica | abutter on the south: the 1859 house lot, bounded by Hubert | 710/379 |
$3 in stamps. "That parcel of land, with the buildings thereon situated ... on the northerly side of Faulkner Street and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue": 206 feet on Letchworth Avenue to Arthur H. Hubert, 62.92 and 23.58 feet by Hubert, 13.79 and 72.17 feet by Thomas R. Williams, 160.42 feet parallel to and six feet inside the grantor's west line, and 171 feet on Faulkner Street, "a portion of the premises to me conveyed by the Faulkner Manufacturing Company" (596/338); the six-foot strip on the west "is to be forever kept open" as a passageway; subject to a $4,500 mortgage to the Merrimack River Savings Bank. Dated Aug. 8, 1924. McSweeney mortgaged it back to Williams for $1,000.
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| December 31, 1930 | Foreclosure Deed | Merrimack River Savings Bank, Lowell, by Thomas H. Varnum, treasurer, mortgagee of Arthur H. and Rose M. Hubert | Merrimack River Savings Bank, Lowell | bank forecloses the 1920 Hubert mortgage: this lot, with the house | 798/450 |
The Merrimack River Savings Bank, holder of a mortgage "from Arthur H. Hubert and Rose M. Hubert to it dated April 21, 1920" (Book 623, Page 480), "by the power conferred by said mortgage and every other power, for three thousand ($3000) dollars paid," grants to itself "the land in Billerica ... with the buildings thereon situated on the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue and on the southerly side of Mason Avenue": from the corner, south on Letchworth Avenue 80 feet to a stone bound at land of Charles H. Williams, west 63 feet to an iron pipe, northwest 27 feet 7 inches to an iron pipe, north 68 feet to a stone bound on Mason Avenue, and east on Mason Avenue 78 feet to the beginning. "Being the same premises conveyed to said Arthur H. Hubert and Rose M. Hubert by the said Charles H. Williams by his deed dated April 21, 1920." Subject to unpaid taxes. Dated and acknowledged at Lowell December 24, 1930 (Frederic S. Harvey, J.P.); recorded December 31, 1930, with the treasurer's affidavit that the principal and interest were not paid. The Huberts had built the house on the lot in the 1920s (the September 1920 plan shows the corner empty). Middlesex North Book 798, pages 449-450.
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| July 26, 1934 | Quitclaim | Merrimack River Savings Bank, Lowell | Arthur W. Raymond and Alice M. Raymond of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | bank to Arthur W. and Alice M. Raymond | 848/232 |
For consideration paid ($3.50 in revenue stamps, about $3,500), with quitclaim covenants, "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue and on the southerly side of Mason Avenue," the same bounds (Letchworth Avenue 80 feet, land of Charles H. Williams 63 feet and 27 feet 7 inches, 68 feet to Mason Avenue, Mason Avenue 78 feet). "Being the same premises conveyed to said Bank by itself by deed under power in power of sale mortgage dated December 24, 1930 ... Book 798, Page 450." Subject to taxes. Dated July 24, 1934 (as recited in 1951); recorded July 1934 with the votes of the bank. Middlesex North Book 848, pages 232-233.
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| August 1, 1951 | Quitclaim | Arthur W. Raymond of Billerica, unmarried (widower of Alice M. Raymond) | Private buyers of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | Arthur W. Raymond to private buyers | 1174/239 |
For consideration paid (federal stamps about $5.50, roughly $5,000), "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue": northerly by Mason Avenue 78 feet, easterly by Letchworth Avenue 80 feet, southerly by land now or formerly of Charles H. Williams 63 feet, southwesterly by the same 23.58 feet, westerly by land now or formerly of Thomas R. Williams 68 feet; "Being the lot marked 'Arthur H. Hubert'" on the 1920 Smith and Brooks plan for Charles H. Williams (Plan Book 37, Plan 86). "Being the same premises conveyed to me and Alice M. Raymond, my deceased wife, as tenants by the entirety, by the Merrimack River Savings Bank by deed dated July 24, 1934 ... Book 848, Page 232. The said Alice M. Raymond died in said Billerica on May 4, 1949." Subject to 1951 taxes. Dated and acknowledged at Lowell July 30, 1951 (Frederic S. Harvey); recorded August 1, 1951, with the buyers' mortgage to the Merrimack River Savings Bank (Book 1174, Page 240). Middlesex North Book 1174, page 239.
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| January 12, 1954 | Quitclaim | Private owners of Billerica (the 1951 buyers), husband and wife | Private buyers of Stoneham, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | private sale | 1245/150 |
For consideration paid (federal stamps about $13.75, roughly $12,500), "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue," the same five bounds, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86; "Being the same premises conveyed to us by Arthur W. Raymond by deed dated July 30, 1951 ... Book 1174, Page 239." Dated January 11, 1954; recorded January 12, 1954, directly after the Merrimack River Savings Bank's discharge of the sellers' 1951 mortgage and before the buyers' mortgage to the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank. Middlesex North Book 1245, pages 150-151.
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| December 1, 1964 | Quitclaim | Private owners of Billerica (the 1954 buyers), husband and wife | Private buyers of Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | private sale | 1676/116 |
For consideration paid (federal stamps about $17, roughly $15,500), "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue," the same bounds, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86; "Being the same premises conveyed to us by deed of [the 1954 sellers] dated January 11, 1954 ... Book 1245, Page 150." Dated November 1964; recorded December 1, 1964. Middlesex North Book 1676, pages 116-117.
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| December 6, 1968 | Quitclaim | Private owners of Billerica (the 1964 buyers), husband and wife | Private buyers of 4 Letchworth Avenue, Billerica, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | private sale (buyers of 4 Letchworth Av) | 1869/584 |
Massachusetts quitclaim deed, short form: "The land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and westerly side of Letchworth Avenue," the same bounds, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86; "Being the same premises described in a deed from [the 1964 sellers] to us dated November 25, 1964 ... Book 1676, Page 116." The buyers' address is already "4 Letchworth Avenue." Dated and acknowledged December 6, 1968; recorded the same day at 3:51 p.m., with the buyers' mortgage to the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank (Book 1869, Page 585). Middlesex North Book 1869, page 584.
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| May 21, 1971 | Foreclosure Deed | Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, Worcester, mortgagee of the 1968 owners | Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, Worcester | Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank foreclosure | 1959/566 |
The Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, "holder of a mortgage from" the 1968 owners "to it dated December 6, 1968 and recorded ... Book 1869, Page 585, by the power conferred by said mortgage and every other power for SEVENTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED and 44/100 ($17,700.44) DOLLARS paid," grants to itself "the premises conveyed by said mortgage": "A certain parcel of land, with the buildings thereon," on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue, the same bounds, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86. Subject to unpaid taxes and assessments. Recorded May 21, 1971 (four pages, with a court decree at Book 1959, Page 564). Middlesex North Book 1959, page 566.
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| June 25, 1971 | Special Warranty Deed | Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank (now called Consumers Savings Bank) | Donald E. Johnson, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, Washington, D.C., and his successors in office | bank to the Administrator of Veterans Affairs | 1965/127 |
On the Veterans Administration form (VA Form 26-6419), "for consideration paid, in the sum of seventeen thousand six hundred forty-one and 55/100 ($17,641.55) Dollars," the bank grants "A certain parcel of land situated in Billerica ... on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and westerly side of Letchworth Avenue," northerly by Mason Avenue 78 feet, easterly by Letchworth Avenue 80 feet, southerly by land now or formerly of Charles H. Williams 63 feet, southwesterly by the same 23.58 feet, westerly by land now or formerly of Thomas R. Williams 68 feet, the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86; subject to the rights and restrictions in the deed recorded December 6, 1968; "For title of grantor see foreclosure deed of the Worcester Five Cents Savings Bank, dated May 21, 1971." The 1968 mortgage had been guaranteed by the VA, which took the house back after the foreclosure. Recorded June 25, 1971. Middlesex North Book 1965, pages 127-128.
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| January 31, 1972 | Special Warranty Deed | Donald E. Johnson, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs | Private buyers of Cambridge, husband and wife, tenants by the entirety | VA to the owners of 1972-2024; later transfers summarized | 1996/607 |
On VA Form 26-6415, the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, "for a valuable consideration paid in the sum of $20,900.00," grants the same parcel on the southerly side of Mason Avenue and the westerly side of Letchworth Avenue (Mason Avenue 78 feet, Letchworth Avenue 80 feet, Charles H. Williams 63 and 23.58 feet, Thomas R. Williams 68 feet), the "Arthur H. Hubert" lot on Plan 37/86, "Together with all improvements thereon"; "For title of grantor see deed of the Consumers Savings Bank to Donald E. Johnson, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs, dated June 18, 1971 ... Book 1965, Page 127." Recorded January 31, 1972 (indexed by the registry as a mortgage). The buyers kept the two-family house for 52 years; they are the owners named in the 1983 historic district survey. Later transfers, private and summarized here: a family deed in August 2008 (Book 22393, Page 225); a sale on June 14, 2024 for $700,000 to the present owners (Book 38548, Page 240); and a family deed in May 2025 (Book 39223, Page 71). Middlesex North Book 1996, pages 607-608.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.