Colby House
Colby House
| Also Known As | George Warren House |
| Address | 73 Gray St |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.142 |
| Built | 1843 |
The Colby House, also recorded as the John O. Richardson House and the George Warren House, stands at 73 Gray Street in East Billerica, on the southeast side of the street just north of the railroad at the old East Billerica Station. It was built about 1843 by John O. Richardson, who ran the family saw mill and grist mill, on five acres between the road to Tewksbury, Content Brook and the Boston and Lowell Railroad. The house was enlarged in 1878 and was converted to three condominium units in 2006.
The land was once part of the Bowers family's meadow and woodland "on each side of Content brook," bounded northwest by the road from Billerica to Andover, as it was described when Dr. William Bowers bought out his brothers' half in 1808. After the doctor died in 1820 his children William, Priscilla, Mary and Fanny Bowers sold the Boston and Lowell Rail Road Corporation, in January 1834, seven acres "beginning at Cold Brook so called on southeasterly side of the County road leading from Billerica corner so called to Tewksbury," running 443 feet along the road to the land of Samuel Needham or Saunders and back to "Cold or Content Brook." The railroad, built through the Richardson farm in 1834-35, needed only a four-rod strip, and in 1841 it sold its surplus ground northeast of the line, about 29 acres between the county road, the tracks and Content Brook, to John Richardson 2d for $160.
John Richardson 2d lived across the road in the Richardson Homestead. His son John O. Richardson built his own house on the new land about 1843; the 1993 survey dates it from the censuses of 1840 and 1850 and says it first faced the old Mill Lane but now faces the railroad. When John Richardson 2d died in June 1861 his will divided his estate among his three sons. In October 1861 Alden B. Richardson quitclaimed to his brother John O. "all my right, title and interest in and to the following described real estate with all the buildings thereon, ... containing five acres more or less," beginning at "the road leading to Tewksbury by land of Wm. Gray," running 270 and 429 feet along William Gray's land "to a bound at the ditch," by the ditch and Content Brook "to the R.R. land," and back along the railroad to the road. These are the bounds of the lot in every deed down to 2006. In the same division Alden and Albert R. Richardson released to John O. the rest of the farm north of the railroad, 190 acres, bounded in part "by land of said John O.," while Albert kept the old homestead.
When John O. Richardson's daughter Fannie married Homer Colby in 1878 the house was doubled in size, the Colbys living in the back half. There was an icehouse at the back, an adjoining barn and a windmill for power. John O. Richardson died between 1896 and 1898; in June 1898 "Pamelia Richardson, Executrix of the will of John O. Richardson," was settling his mortgages. Pamelia lived on in the front half until she died in 1917. In 1928 their children John A. Richardson and Fannie P. R. Colby, with their spouses, granted the New England Power Construction Company a 250-foot strip for a power line across their land from the railroad over the highway. Fannie Colby died in 1928 or 1929, and her daughters Eva R. and Florence A. Colby, who had stayed in the family home, inherited the house under her will.
On January 6, 1939 the Colby sisters sold the five acres "with the buildings thereon" to Jessie E. Hinds of Medford and Marion A. Warren of Billerica as joint tenants, taking back a mortgage of $2,300. (The 1993 survey names the buyers as George and Marion Warren.) The icehouse had come down in the 1920s, and the barn and windmill burned about 1960. In 1949 the county relaid Gray Street over the railroad bridge at the station and took highway and slope easements along the front of the lot. After Marion Warren's death her executor sold the house in May 1976 for $42,000 to a private owner, who held it until a mortgage foreclosure sale in August 2003, when Litchfield Company Inc. of Burlington bought it at auction for $302,000. The company sold it in May 2004 for $375,000, and the buyers transferred it to their company, 73 Gray Street, LLC, which in June 2006 recorded the master deed of "The John O. Richardson House Condominium": units 73A (the front section), 73B (the middle section) and 73C (the rear), each with basement, two stories and attic. The units have since been owned privately. The assessor dates the house to 1843.
References
- MACRIS BIL.142
- Billerica assessor's record, unit 73A (parcel 26-186-1): built about 1843; condominium conversion of the John O. Richardson House, master deed Book 20182, Page 276; sales from 1976
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 20, 1808 | Quitclaim (heirs) | Jonathan Bowers, Esq., and Samuel Bowers of Billerica (Sarah, wife of Samuel, releasing dower) | Dr. William Bowers of Billerica, physician | 1808: the Bowers land on both sides of Content Brook by the road to Andover (Tewksbury) | 179/148 (South) |
For $5, the sons of the late William Bowers released to their brother the doctor their shares in lands "which our honored father William Bowers late of Billerica died seized," first "one undivided half of a certain tract of meadow and wood land situate in the northeasterly part of Billerica on each side of Content brook so called the whole peice containing about eight acres bounded northwest by the road leading from said Billerica to Andover and on the other sides on land of Jeremiah Allen Benjamin Beard and others," and also half of a 13-acre swamp lot near Seth Crosby's. The other half of the Content Brook tract was the Richardsons'. Dated March 1, 1808; Billerica town book 10, pages 467-468.
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| May 29, 1821 | Administration | Estate of Dr. William Bowers of Billerica, physician (d. Nov. 17, 1820) | Heirs: widow Priscilla (Goodrich) Bowers; children William, Fanny, Priscilla and Mary Bowers | 1820-21: estate of Dr. William Bowers | Probate #2314 |
Dr. William Bowers "died, seized of Estate, both real and personal" on Nov. 17, 1820, intestate, "leaving his widow, your memorialists and Pricilla Bowers and Mary Bowers his only Heirs". His son William and daughter Fanny were appointed administrators May 29, 1821. The inventory of June 27, 1821 begins with "The homestead containing 25 acres with all the buildings thereon", $3500, out of $5585 in real estate, and lists his "medicine drawers", books and phials. No division of the real estate is in the file.
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| January 27, 1834 | Deed | William Bowers, yeoman, and Priscilla, Mary and Fanny Bowers, gentlewomen, all of Billerica (heirs of Dr. William Bowers) | The Boston and Lowell Rail Road Corporation | 1834: the Bowers heirs sell the seven acres at Cold (Content) Brook to the railroad | 328/551 (South) |
For $200, three pieces in the easterly part of Billerica. The first begins "at Cold Brook so called on southeasterly side of the County road leading from Billerica corner so called to Tewksbury," runs northeasterly by the road 443 feet 9 inches to land of Samuel Needham or Saunders, east 366 feet, southerly 231 feet by Needham or Saunders, "a little east of south" 369 feet by land of Frost "to Cold or Content Brook or land of the widow Sarah Kendall," and southerly by the brook and Kendall back to the road, "containing seven acres more or less." The second, about 1,600 feet southeast, is ten acres beside the land of Oliver and John Richardson three rods southwest of the centre line of the railroad; the third an undivided half of 51 square rods further southeast. Dated January 18, 1834 (Billerica town book 13, pages 481 to 483). The first piece is the ground north of the railroad on the east side of Gray Street where the Richardson-Colby house was built.
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| April 15, 1843 | Quitclaim Deed | The Boston and Lowell Rail Road Corporation (Ozias Goodwin, treasurer) | John Richardson 2d of Billerica | 1841: the railroad sells its surplus land east of the road to John Richardson 2d | 427/33 (South) |
For $160, two pieces of the corporation's surplus land "on the easterly side of the county road from Billerica to Tewksbury": the first from a point three rods northeast of the centre line of the railroad, southeasterly parallel to the line 138 rods to Richardson's land, northerly to "Cold or Content Brook," westerly by the brook to the land bought of Wm. Bowers, northerly 369 feet and westerly 598 1/2 feet to the county road, about 29 acres; the second a half acre on the other side of the line by Cold Brook and the road. The corporation was to fence the first piece's southerly boundary three rods from the centre of the track to the brook. Dated July 30, 1841, recorded April 15, 1843 (Billerica town book 17, pages 454 to 456). John Richardson 2d held this land beside the East Billerica depot until his death in 1861; his son John O. Richardson built his house on it about 1843.
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| 1861 | Will | Estate of John Richardson 2d of Billerica, died June 15, 1861 | His widow Nancy (rooms for life); his sons John O., Alden B. and Albert R. Richardson | 1861: will of John Richardson 2d; the estate to his three sons | Probate #40437 |
Will dated March 20, 1841 (witnesses Zadok Howe, Charles Hopkins, Marshall Preston). The widow Nancy received "the northwest lower Room in my homestead Dwelling house, and the chamber over the same, and a privilege in the southwest Parlour, and in my Kitchen, Cellar and out buildings" for life or widowhood, with maintenance and a $50 annuity; daughters Abigail A. and Maria E. a home in the house until 21 or marriage and $2,000 each; grandson John Anthony Jones, son of the late daughter Nancy Jones, $300. The rest of the real and personal estate, with the reversion of the widow's rooms, went "to my three sons, John O. Richardson, Alden B. Richardson and Albert R. Richardson," on condition they support their mother. Proved at Framingham June 25, 1861; John O. Richardson executor (bond $10,000). Heirs then: Alden B. of Lowell, Abigail A. Gray (wife of William Gray), Maria E. Teele (wife of Elbridge Teele of Medford). Final account allowed Feb. 4, 1868.
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| December 21, 1861 | Quitclaim Deed (division) | Alden B. Richardson of Lowell and Albert R. Richardson of Billerica (Martha and Harriet Richardson releasing) | Their brother John O. Richardson of Billerica | 1861: the division of the Richardson farm; John O. takes the land north of the railroad | 29/555 |
For $6,000, "all our right, title and interest" in the real estate "with all the buildings thereon" of their father's farm north of the Boston and Lowell railroad, 190 acres 3 roods 23 rods, running 2,008 feet along the railroad, by the heirs of William Bowers, "by land of said John O." and "by land of John O. & Alden B. Richardson," Joshua Bennett, the Salem road, the road to the Billerica and Tewksbury depot (plan of Wm. J. Fox) and Peter B. Bohonan; also the Pond lot in Tewksbury at the outlet of Long Pond and the canal lots bought of the Middlesex Canal in 1851. Dated October 3, 1861. With the quitclaim of the five-acre house lot of the same date (Book 29, Page 559) and Albert's release of half of the Mill Meadow (Book 29, Page 558), this completed John O. Richardson's share of the 1861 division.
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| December 21, 1861 | Quitclaim Deed | Alden B. Richardson of Lowell (Martha Richardson, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | His brother John O. Richardson of Billerica | 1861: Alden B. Richardson quitclaims the five-acre house lot to John O. Richardson | 29/559 |
In the division of their father John Richardson 2d's estate, for $1,750, "all my right, title and interest in and to the following described real estate with all the buildings thereon, situate in said Billerica, containing five acres more or less": beginning at "the road leading to Tewksbury by land of Wm. Gray," south 76 degrees 45 minutes east 270 feet and south 85 degrees 45 minutes east 429 feet by Gray "to a bound at the ditch," southerly by the ditch to Content Brook, by the brook to "the R.R. land," westerly by land of the Proprietors of Boston and Lowell Rail road to the Tewksbury road, and northerly by the road to the start; John O. Richardson "is to do all fencing against my line." Dated October 3, acknowledged October 16 before Dudley Foster, recorded December 21, 1861. These are the bounds used in every deed of the house lot down to 2006.
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| June 18, 1898 | Assignment of Mortgage | Pamelia Richardson, Executrix of the will of John O. Richardson | Fannie P. R. Colby of Billerica, his daughter | 1898: Pamelia Richardson, executrix of the will of John O. Richardson | 298/343 |
"I, Pamelia Richardson, Executrix of the will of John O. Richardson," for $1,000 paid by Fannie P. R. Colby of Billerica, assign to her the mortgage given to John O. Richardson by Barnet Schwartz of Tewksbury on August 27, 1896 (Book 277, Page 557). Dated June 1, acknowledged at Billerica June 10 before Frederic A. Morey, recorded June 18, 1898, after an assignment of another of his mortgages to Pamelia. The record shows that John O. Richardson had died with a will between 1896 and 1898, his widow Pamelia acting as executrix; she lived on in the front half of the house until 1917, and the homestead came to their daughter Fannie, whose will left it to her daughters Eva R. and Florence A. Colby (Book 925, Page 119).
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| April 21, 1928 | Easement | John A. Richardson and Ella B. Richardson, and Homer H. Colby and Fannie P. R. Colby, all of Billerica | New England Power Construction Company | 1928: John O. Richardson's son and daughter grant a power line easement over their land by the railroad | 762/73 |
With warranty covenants, "the perpetual right and easement" to build and maintain lines of towers or poles for the transmission of electric current and for telephone use "over, across and upon a strip of our land 250 feet in width, in Billerica," from land of the Boston and Maine Railroad to land of Albert H. Richardson, "crossing intervening highway," to be fixed by the company's final survey. Dated April 2, 1928. The grantors are John O. Richardson's son and daughter with their spouses, who then held his land beside the railroad together; a companion grant on the next page covers their land in Tewksbury. The later deeds of the five-acre house lot do not mention this easement.
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| January 6, 1939 | Quitclaim Deed | Eva R. Colby and Florence A. Colby, both of Billerica, unmarried | Jessie E. Hinds of Medford and Marion A. Warren of Billerica, joint tenants | 1939: the Colby sisters sell the homestead to Jessie E. Hinds and Marion A. Warren | 925/119 |
For consideration paid ($3.00 in stamps), with quitclaim covenants, "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, containing five acres, more or less," beginning at "the Road leading to Tewksbury by land of Wm. Gray," south 76 degrees 45 minutes east 270 feet and south 85 degrees 45 minutes east 429 feet by Gray "to a bound at the ditch," southerly by the ditch to Content Brook, by the brook "to the R.R. land," westerly by land of the Proprietors of Boston and Lowell Railroad to the Tewksbury Road and northerly by the road to the start. "Our title is derived under the will of Fannie P. R. Colby, late of said Billerica." Recorded January 6, 1939 (page 119 to 120), with the buyers' mortgage of $2,300 back to the Colby sisters (page 120).
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| January 6, 1939 | Mortgage | Jessie E. Hinds of Medford (unmarried) and Marion A. Warren of Billerica | Eva R. Colby and Florence A. Colby of Billerica | 1939: purchase-money mortgage back to the Colby sisters | 925/120 |
Purchase-money mortgage to secure $2,300, payable $12.50 a month and the whole in two years at six percent, on a note also signed by E. Maybelle McBee, of "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, containing five acres, more or less," the same bounds as the deed of the same day. A marginal note refers to the discharge.
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| June 13, 1949 | Taking | Middlesex County Commissioners, for the Town of Billerica | Town of Billerica (highway and slope easements) | 1949: county layout of Gray Street at the railroad bridge; highway and slope easements | 1117/161 |
On the selectmen's 1947 petition that "the bridge and approaches thereto, carrying Gray Street, in Billerica, over the tracks of the Boston and Maine Railroad, at the East Billerica Station, should be altered," the commissioners laid out the altered road and took easements for highway and sloping purposes, among them Parcel 2 from "Leopold C. and Phyllis B. Tappey about 800 square feet" and Slope Parcel 3 from the Tappeys about 1,700 square feet, with "Trees, walls, and fences" within the limits, and ordered a new five-span timber bridge with a 24-foot roadway and a four-foot walk. Dated April 29, 1949; recorded June 13, 1949. Middlesex North Book 1117, pages 161-164.
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| May 28, 1976 | Executor's Deed | Eva Maybelle McBee of Billerica, Executor under the will of Marion A. Warren, late of Billerica | A private buyer, of 73 Gray Street | 1976: Marion A. Warren's executor sells the five acres and house, $42,000 | 2196/457 |
Under a license to sell real estate of the Middlesex Probate Court, docket no. 478455, for $42,000, "the land in Billerica ... with the buildings thereon, containing five acres, more or less," bounded by the road leading to Tewksbury, land of Wm. Gray (275 and 429 feet), a ditch, Content Brook and the land of the Proprietors of Boston and Lowell Railroad. "For my title see deed of Eva R. Colby etal to Jessie E. Hinds, etal dated January 6, 1939 ... Book 925, Page 119; see also probate of the estate of Marion A. Warren." Subject to the 1949 taking for highway and slope easements (Book 1117, Page 161). The buyer held it until the mortgage foreclosure of 2003.
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| September 23, 2003 | Foreclosure Deed | Chittenden Trust Company d/b/a Mortgage Service Center, of Burlington, Vermont, mortgagee | Litchfield Company Inc., of 126 Cambridge Street, Burlington, Mass. | 2003: mortgage foreclosure sale to Litchfield Company Inc., $302,000 | 16253/295 |
Holder of a mortgage given by a private owner on December 10, 1997 (Book 8951, Page 245), the bank sold the property at public auction on the premises on August 19, 2003 to Litchfield Company Inc., the highest bidder, for $302,000. "The land in Billerica ... with the buildings thereon, containing five acres, more or less," beginning at the road leading to Tewksbury by land now or formerly of Wm. Gray, by Gray 275 and 429 feet to a bound at the ditch, by the ditch to Content Brook, by the brook to the railroad land, westerly by the Proprietors of Boston and Lowell Railroad to the Tewksbury road. "Meaning and intending to convey those premises described in deed dated January 6, 1939, from Eve R. Colby et al to Jessie E. Hinds and Marion A. Warren," Book 925, Page 119; "For title reference see Deed recorded in Book 2196, Page 457." Property address 73 Gray Street.
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| May 21, 2004 | Quitclaim Deed | Litchfield Company, Inc., of 126 Cambridge Street, Burlington | Two private buyers of 73 Gray Street, as tenants in common | 2004: Litchfield Company sells the five acres and house, $375,000 | 17340/150 |
For $375,000, with quitclaim covenants, "The land in Billerica ... with the buildings thereon, containing five acres, more or less," by the road leading to Tewksbury, land of Wm. Gray, the ditch, Content Brook and the Boston and Lowell Railroad, "Meaning and intending" the premises of the Colby deed of 1939 (Book 925, Page 119). "For Grantor's title, see Deed of Chittenden Trust Company d/b/a Mortgage Service Center of New England ... Book 16253, Page 295." Signed for the company by its president, May 10, 2004. Four days later the buyers conveyed the property to their company, 73 Gray Street, LLC (Book 17356, Page 51).
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| May 25, 2004 | Quitclaim Deed | The two owners of 2004 (private individuals), of Billerica | 73 Gray Street, LLC, a Massachusetts limited liability company, of 661 Main Street, Malden | 2004: to 73 Gray Street, LLC | 17356/51 |
For $1, with quitclaim covenants, the same five acres "with the buildings thereon," bounded by the road to Tewksbury, Wm. Gray, the ditch, Content Brook and the Boston and Lowell Railroad, meaning the premises of the 1939 deed (Book 925, Page 119). "For title see deed of Litchfield Company, Inc., dated May 10, 2004 ... Book 17340, Page 150."
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| June 9, 2006 | Master Deed | 73 Gray Street, LLC, of 661 Main Street, Malden, declarant | The John O. Richardson House Condominium (The John O. Richardson House Condominium Trust) | 2006: master deed of the John O. Richardson House Condominium, three units | 20182/276 |
Master deed under Chapter 183A creating "THE JOHN O. RICHARDSON HOUSE CONDOMINIUM" at 73 Gray Street: "one (1) building having a basement and two (2) stories above and an attic, containing three (3) Units": 73A, the front section of the building, 2,233 square feet and 11 rooms (37 percent); 73B, the middle section, 1,350 square feet (32 percent); and 73C, the rear of the building, 1,201 square feet (31 percent). Exhibit A describes the land as the five acres "with the buildings thereon" of the 1939 Colby deed (Book 925, Page 119), title by Book 17356, Page 51. The three units were sold to private owners from June 2006 (Books 20197, 20198 and 20636), and they have since changed hands privately, unit B through a mortgage foreclosure in 2015; the assessor dates the house to 1843.
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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.