Dudley Foster House
Dudley Foster House
| Address | 377 Boston Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.51 |
| Built | 1838 |
| Tenants | |
| Arthur H. Giles, D.P.M. (2003 - 2018) | |
The Dudley Foster House stands on the west side of Boston Road in Billerica Center, a short way north of the meetinghouse. Its lot was once part of the three acres "the west side of the road leading from Boston to Chelmsford and about twenty five rods north of the meeting house" that belonged to Capt. Jonathan Bowers Jr. In a will written in 1799 while "being bound to sea", he left his widow Dorcas the use of half his real estate and his son Alexander Bowers "all the residue" (proved 1804). In 1810 Alexander, then a Charlestown merchant, and the widow Dorcas sold the three acres for $300 to Samuel Foster, a shoemaker who already lived on the adjoining strip to the north (see Samuel Foster House).
On Nov. 17, 1838 Samuel Foster deeded to his son Dudley Foster for $150 "one and a quarter acres" off the south side of his land: eight rods on "the great road leading from Boston to Lowell", running back about 26 rods between Justin Smith's land ("formerly Joseph Locke") on the south and Samuel's own land on the north, "reserving the shop thereon". The deed names no house, so the present house was most likely built that year. Dudley had married Louisa Pollard in 1835. The 1974 MACRIS survey credits the house to Edward Mansfield, who later married Dudley's sister; its recessed doorway is typical of his Billerica houses.
Dudley Foster, long the town clerk and treasurer, was executor of his father's will in 1857, and in 1858 he bought out his brothers' and sisters' shares of the old homestead next door. In September 1892 he divided the two lots between his family. The north 185 feet, with the old Samuel Foster house, went to his wife Mary A. Foster, and the south 210 feet on Main Street, "with a house and barn thereon", went to Ellen L. Foster, the wife of his son John H. Foster. Dudley died in 1895. John Howard Foster, who had been a merchant in Springfield, came back to Billerica and lived here.
Ellen L. Foster died on March 12, 1903, aged 56, and John H. Foster on Sept. 21, 1917, aged 73. No deed of the house was recorded after 1892. It passed by inheritance to their adopted niece Lucy Bryant, who married Forrest Foster Collier of Chelsea in 1903. The Colliers made the house their home. About 1915 or 1916 they added the bay north of the front door, and its first-floor room became Forrest Collier's law office. Lucy B. Collier served the town for years on the finance committee, the planning board and other boards. In 1940 she bought the old homestead lot to the north, and in 1946 the Colliers sold its north 140 feet (today's 373 Boston Road, Plan Book 68, Plan 83A). They kept the south 45 feet with their own house, which brought the lot to 253 feet on the road.
Lucy B. Collier died in 1947. That September her four children put all her Billerica land into a family trust they named "The Foster Trust". Forrest Collier kept his own interest in "the land and homestead located on the westerly side of Boston Road" until 1954, when he moved it into the trust through a pair of deeds that call the house "now numbered 377". In January 1962 the trustees, Dudley F. Collier and Abram T. Collier, sold the house and about 120,000 square feet to a podiatrist and his wife. MACRIS dates this sale "about 1960". The new owners kept a professional office here and later added an office wing on the north side.
A 1998 plan (Plan Book 199, Plan 60) divided the land into Lot 1, about 59,100 square feet with "Existing House #377", and a second lot behind and north of it. In 2019 the family sold Lot 1 for $600,000 to 377 Boston Road Realty LLC. The town took the property for unpaid fiscal 2024 taxes in 2025 and released it the same year, and in August and September 2025 it passed to Green Valley Realty LLC. The assessor lists it as a four-unit building on 1.357 acres. It lies within a local historic district designated in 1990.
References
- MACRIS BIL.51
- Billerica assessor (Patriot Properties), 377 Boston Rd, parcel 51-13-1: 1.357 acres, four units, FY01 subdivision of 51-13-0 (Plan 199-60 Lot 1), sales history
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| June 5, 1804 | Will | Estate of Jonathan Bowers Jr. of Billerica, gentleman | His widow Dorcas Bowers (use of half the real estate while a widow); his son Alexander Bowers (residue) | 1804: Capt. Jonathan Bowers Jr.'s will leaves the land to his son Alexander, with his widow Dorcas's life interest in half | Probate #2293 |
Will dated July 8, 1799, made when he was "bound to sea": to "my beloved wife Dorcas Bowers, the improvement of the one half of all my Real Estate" while she remained his widow, and a third of the personal estate; to "my son Alexander Bowers & to his heirs & assigns forever all the residue". Executors Isaac Stearns Esq. and Alexander Bowers; witnesses Isaac Wilkins, Elizabeth Abbot, Nancy Simonds. Proved at Concord June 5, 1804. Jonathan Bowers, Billerica's first postmaster (appointed Oct. 7, 1797), had married Oliver Abbot's daughter Dorcas, who took her father's homestead in 1797; mother and son joined in selling it to George Bruce in 1810.
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| May 10, 1810 | Deed | Alexander Bowers of Charlestown, merchant, and Dorcas Bowers of Boston, widow (Mary Bowers releasing dower) | Samuel Foster of Billerica, yeoman | 1810: Samuel Foster buys the 3 acres north of the meetinghouse that include this lot | 188/344 (South) |
For $300, "a certain tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid the west side of the road leading from Boston to Chelmsford and about twenty five rods north of the meeting house", "three acres more or less", east on the road, north on James Sumner, west on William Bowers, south on other land of the grantors, "all the lines are as the walls now stand". No buildings named. Dated Jan. 1, 1810. Billerica town book 10, pages 541-542. The main body of the Foster homestead.
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| November 20, 1838 | Deed | Samuel Foster of Billerica, gentleman (wife Anna releasing dower) | His son Dudley Foster of Billerica, yeoman | 1838: Samuel Foster deeds this 1 1/4-acre lot to his son Dudley, "reserving the shop" | 378/272 (South) |
For $150, "a certain tract or parcel of land situate in said Billerica on the westerly side of the great road leading from Boston to Lowell containing one and a quarter acres", beginning at the southeast corner at the road and land of Justin Smith "formerly Joseph Locke", west by Smith about 26 rods to the heirs of Doct. William B[owers], north by them 8 rods, east "by my own land" about 26 rods to the road, and south by the road 8 rods, "reserving the shop thereon". Dated Nov. 17, 1838; witnesses Marshall Preston and Joseph Foster. Billerica town book 14, pages 495-496. Cut from the south side of the homestead for the Dudley Foster House (377 Boston Road); Samuel kept the old house to the north.
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| September 1, 1857 | Will | Estate of Samuel Foster of Billerica | Widow Anna Foster (life estate), then his legal heirs; Dudley Foster executor | 1857: Samuel Foster's will; Dudley as executor and heir | Probate #32131 |
Will dated March 26, 1850 (witnesses Gardner Parker, Theodore L. Haynes, Elmira Pollard), allowed at Lowell Sept. 1, 1857: to "my beloved wife Anna Foster, the use and improvement of all my real estate" for life, and at her decease "my real Estate ... be equally divided among my legal heirs"; son Dudley Foster sole executor. Inventory Aug. 27, 1857 (Lyman Haynes, Gardner Parker, Amasa Holden): "Homestead of said deceased" $2,000, "Parker Lot" $350, "Plain Land" $175, "Cove Land" $100; personal estate $1,744.46 including hay in the barn, a cow, wagons, and boots and shoes. First account allowed Dec. 7, 1858, assented to by James and Sally F. Damon, Elizabeth A. Foster, Joseph Foster, Sumner Foster, and Dudley Foster as guardian of Anna L., Edward M. and Francis H. Foster.
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| March 27, 1858 | Deed | James Damon and Sally F. Damon (in her right), Elizabeth A. Foster, all of Charlestown; Joseph Foster of Billerica; Sumner Foster of North Reading (heirs of Samuel Foster) | Dudley Foster of Billerica | 1858: Dudley Foster buys four sixths of his father's homestead next north, bounded south by this lot | 13/530 |
Conveys "four undivided sixths" of "the homestead of Samuel Foster late of Billerica deceased, containing about four acres with the buildings thereon standing", beginning at the northeast corner at land of Joseph Foster on the road from Billerica to Lowell, west by Joseph to the heirs of Dr. William Bowers, south by them to land of Dudley Foster, east by Dudley to the road and north on the road, "as the wall now stands"; with four sixths of the Parker lot, a 5-acre lot on the Tewksbury road and 15 acres of plain land (S.393/155), all "as legal heirs" of Samuel Foster. Acknowledged March 25, 1858 before Thomas Sumner; wives Lydia A. and Elizabeth P. Foster release dower. Middlesex North 13/530-532.
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| April 8, 1858 | Quitclaim | Francis D. Foster of Billerica | Dudley Foster of Billerica | 1858: Dudley Foster completes his purchase of the homestead next north | 14/39 |
For $500, quitclaim of "one undivided sixth part" of "the Homestead of the late Samuel Foster situate in said Billerica containing about four acres with the buildings thereon standing", same bounds (Joseph Foster on the north, heirs of Dr. William Bowers on the west, Dudley Foster on the south, the road to Lowell on the east), with a sixth of the Parker lot and the other lots. Recorded April 8, 1858. Middlesex North 14/39. With the heirs' deed of March 1858 and his own sixth, Dudley Foster now held the whole homestead.
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| November 9, 1894 | Quitclaim | Dudley Foster of Billerica (wife Mary A. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | Ellen L. Foster of Billerica, wife of his son John H. Foster | 1892: Dudley Foster gives the house "with a house and barn thereon" to his son John H.'s wife Ellen L. Foster | 259/399 |
For $1 and other valuable consideration, quitclaim with covenants against his own acts of "a certain tract of land situated in said Billerica with a house and barn thereon": beginning at the southeast corner at land of George E. Stearns 2nd on Main Street, north on Main Street 210 feet to a bound in the wall at land of Mary A. Foster, west on the Foster land to a bound in the wall at land of Martin Lane, south by Lane 210 feet to Stearns, and east by Stearns to the start. Dated Sept. 12, 1892, acknowledged the same day before Frederic A. Morey; recorded Nov. 9, 1894. Middlesex North 259/399-400. The same week Dudley gave the 185 feet north of it, the old Samuel Foster homestead, to his wife (262/125, 262/127): this deed carried the 1838 house lot and a strip of the homestead.
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| March 6, 1895 | Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica (wife Mary A. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | His son Frank D. Foster of North Andover | 1892: Dudley deeds the 185-ft homestead north of this lot to his wife Mary A. (via their son Frank) | 262/125 |
For $1 and other valuable consideration, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica with a house & barn thereon": from the northeast corner at land of Arthur S. Cook on Main Street, south on the street about 185 feet to a bound in the wall at "my other land", west by that land to a bound in the wall at Martin Lane, north by Lane 185 feet to Cook, and east by Cook to the start. Dated Sept. 6, 1892, acknowledged before Frederic A. Morey; recorded March 6, 1895. Middlesex North 262/125-126. The first half of a conveyance from Dudley Foster to his wife through their son.
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| December 18, 1940 | Trustees' Deed | Frederic H. Sexton of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Union Old Lowell National Bank, trustees under the will of Clara E. Sexton | Lucy B. Collier of Billerica | 1940: Lucy B. Collier buys the old Foster homestead lot next north (south abutter "John Foster") | 955/134 |
For $2,250, "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon": beginning at a stone bound on the westerly side of the Boston Road at land of John Foster, north along the road about 185 feet to Frank L. Day, west 446 feet to a stone wall at land of one Lane, south 186 feet, east along Foster 443 feet. "Being the same premises conveyed to said Clara E. Sexton by the Middlesex National Bank of Lowell by deed dated May 7, 1932" (Book 813, Page 132). Under a Probate Court decree of Dec. 9, 1940 and a bank trust committee vote of Dec. 5, 1940. Dated Dec. 10, 1940. Middlesex North 955/134-135. The Colliers, who lived next door in the Dudley Foster House, reunited the old Foster homestead lot with it.
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| July 12, 1946 | Quitclaim | Forrest F. Collier and Lucy B. Collier, husband and wife, in her own right, of Billerica | Wilfred T. Greenaway and Thelma R. Greenaway, husband and wife, of Somerville | 1946: the Colliers sell the north 140 feet of that lot and keep 45 feet with their house | 1048/476 |
Quitclaim ($15 in revenue stamps) of "the land with the buildings thereon, shown on a 'Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass. surveyed for Forrest F. Collier, dated June 14, 1946, Merrill A. Brown, Reg. Land Surveyor, Carlisle, Mass.'" (Plan Book 68, Plan 83A): beginning on Boston Road 112.12 feet south of a County Bound at the southeast corner of Carl V. Sandberg, south along the road 140 feet, west along land of Lucy B. Collier 455 feet to a stone wall, north along the wall on land of Mary E. Lane 139.29 feet, and east along Sandberg 449.44 feet; 63,000 square feet. Dated July 12, 1946. Middlesex North 1048/476-477. The Colliers kept the south 45 feet with their own house (377 Boston Road); this 140-foot lot is today's 373 Boston Road. The Greenaways mortgaged it the same day for $12,000.
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| October 6, 1947 | Declaration of Trust | Forrest F. Collier Jr. of Chatham, N.J., Dudley F. Collier of Billerica, Janet C. Clark of Rutland, Vt., and Abram T. Collier of Wellesley, heirs at law of Lucy Bryant Collier | Forrest F. Collier of Billerica, trustee of "The Foster Trust" | 1947: Lucy B. Collier's children put her Billerica lands into "The Foster Trust" | 1076/524 |
The heirs at law "of the late Lucy Bryant Collier, otherwise known as Lucy B. Collier, of Billerica" grant and release to Forrest F. Collier "all their right, title, and interest in and to all real property ... held in the name of the said Lucy Bryant Collier ... located in said Billerica", in trust "to be known as The Foster Trust"; on his death or resignation Dudley F. and Abram T. Collier become trustees; the trustee is to sell or improve and sell the land and pay the proceeds to the trustees of The Collier Trust. Spouses release dower and curtesy. Dated Sept. 27, 1947, acknowledged before Everett R. Brigham; recorded Oct. 6, 1947. Middlesex North 1076/524-527.
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| October 6, 1947 | Quitclaim | Forrest F. Collier of Billerica, widower | Forrest F. Collier Jr., Dudley F. Collier, Abram T. Collier and Janet C. Clark, tenants in common | 1947: Forrest F. Collier keeps his interest in "the land and homestead" on Boston Road | 1078/182 |
No money consideration: quitclaim of all his right, title and interest in "the land in said Billerica ... title to which has stood in the name of Lucy Bryant Collier, otherwise known as Lucy B. Collier, late of said Billerica", "but excepting therefrom all my right, title and interest in the land and homestead located on the westerly side of Boston Road, Billerica Center, and in land and two (2) cottages located on the easterly side of Cady Street, Nuttings Lake Park". Dated Sept. 27, 1947; recorded Oct. 6, 1947. Middlesex North 1078/182. Forrest kept his own interest in the 377 house for his lifetime use.
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| May 24, 1954 | Quitclaim | Forrest F. Collier of Billerica (wife Edna T. Collier releasing dower and homestead) | William B. Victorino of Billerica (straw) | 1954: Forrest F. Collier releases his interest in 377 (straw deed) | 1256/208 |
No money consideration: quitclaim of "all my right, title and interest in the land and homestead located on the westerly side of Boston Road, Billerica Center, now numbered 377 in the numbering of said Road, having excepted the same from a deed to Forrest F. Collier dated September 27, 1947 ... Book 1078, Page 182." Recorded May 24, 1954, 12:01 PM. Middlesex North 1256/208.
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| May 24, 1954 | Quitclaim | William B. Victorino of Billerica (straw) | Forrest F. Collier, Trustee of the Foster Trust | 1954: the whole of 377 now in the Foster Trust | 1256/209 |
No money consideration: quitclaim of "all my right, title and interest in the land and homestead located on the westerly side of Boston Road, Billerica Center, now numbered 377 in the numbering of said Road, which is conveyed to me by deed of Forrest F. Collier and which is to be recorded herewith." Recorded May 24, 1954, 12:02 PM. Middlesex North 1256/209. With 1256/208 this put Forrest Collier's own interest into the Foster Trust, which now held the whole of 377.
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| January 10, 1962 | Trustees' Deed | Dudley F. Collier and Abram T. Collier, Trustees of the Foster Trust | Private owners (a husband and wife of Billerica) | 1962: the Foster Trust sells 377 Boston Road out of the family | 1543/378 |
For consideration paid, quitclaim of "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon": from a stone bound on the westerly side of Boston Road at land of A. Warren Stearns, north by Boston Road by several courses 253 feet, west 455 feet by land of Mona Moon "as shown on Plan Book 68-83A", by land of the Town of Billerica and Mary E. Lane 274 feet, and by Stearns 444 feet to the start; "about one hundred and twenty thousand (120,000) square feet"; subject to the 1962 taxes. Dated and recorded Jan. 10, 1962. The buyers' $23,000 mortgage to The Central Savings Bank (1543/379) describes "the land ... now being numbered 377 Boston Road". Middlesex North 1543/378. The buyers, a podiatrist and his wife, kept an office in the house (MACRIS 1974); later transfers within the family (1982, 1991, 1994, 2018) are private.
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| January 23, 2019 | Deed | Trustees of a private family marital trust | 377 Boston Road Realty LLC | 2019: sold to 377 Boston Road Realty LLC for $600,000 (Lot 1 of Plan 199-60) | 32725/83 |
For $600,000, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" on the westerly side of Boston Road (the 253-foot, about 120,000 square foot lot of the 1962 deed) "less and except" Lot 2 (59,104 square feet, the north strip and rear land) on the "Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass. Boston Road" by Raymond Engineering Service, 1998, Plan Book 199, Plan 60. Title from the 2018 deed into the trust (32417/16). Recorded Jan. 23, 2019. Middlesex North 32725/83 (indexed as 377-379 Boston Road). The lot had been held by the 1962 buyers and their family since 1962 (transfers 1982, 1991, 1994 and 2018 between private owners).
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| March 3, 2025 | Tax Taking | Collector of Taxes of the Town of Billerica (assessed to 377 Boston Rd Realty LLC) | Town of Billerica | 2025: Town tax taking for fiscal 2024 taxes, later released | 39099/275 |
Instrument of Taking under G.L. c. 60, ss. 53-54, executed Jan. 27, 2025: the land assessed to 377 Boston Rd Realty LLC taken for fiscal 2024 taxes of $10,593.71 unpaid after demand of June 3, 2024, with interest of $1,493.90 and costs of $65, total $12,152.61. Recorded March 3, 2025. Middlesex North 39099/275. Redeemed and released later in 2025 (39702/20).
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| August 22, 2025 | Quitclaim | The manager of 377 Boston Road Realty LLC, individually and as manager | Green Valley Realty LLC of Woburn | 2025: to Green Valley Realty LLC (present owner) | 39472/179 |
For $1, quitclaim of "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" on the westerly side of Boston Road (the 253-foot lot, about 120,000 square feet) less Lot 2 on Plan Book 199, Plan 60; "Meaning to convey that property conveyed to the Grantor by Deed in Book 32725, Page 83." The LLC had been administratively dissolved as of Dec. 31, 2024. Recorded Aug. 22, 2025. Middlesex North 39472/179.
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| September 24, 2025 | Confirmatory Deed | 377 Boston Road Realty, LLC of Woburn | Green Valley Realty, LLC of Woburn | 2025: confirmatory deed to Green Valley Realty LLC | 39539/149 |
Confirmatory quitclaim deed for $1 of all of 377 Boston Road Realty LLC's right, title and interest in the same land, the 1962 lot less Lot 2 on Plan Book 199, Plan 60. Recorded Sept. 24, 2025. Middlesex North 39539/149. Green Valley Realty LLC is the owner of record (assessor parcel 51-13-1, 1.357 acres, four apartments).
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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.