the three-deckers of dorchester

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TheThree Deckersof Dorsheste

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BostonLandmarksCommissioostonRedevelopmentuthori Y



Three-Deckers of Dorchester : An Arch i tec tura l H is tor ica l survey

by

Ar t hu r J . K r im

December30, 1977

NorE: This is submi t ted to the Mayor 's of f ice of Program Developmentin fu l f i l lment of ob l igat ions estab l ishedunder a grant to the BostonRedevelopment uthor i ty . Th is paper is par t o f a larger s tudy ent i i led"Dorchestery'MattapanPreservation Study" which is administered by theBoston LandmarksCommiss ion nd is funded in par t by the BostonRedevelopment uthor i ty and in par t by the Massachuset tsHis tor ica lCommission,Off ice of the Secretary of State, through matching grant-in-a id program for h is tor ic preservat ionof the Nat ional Park Serv ice,Depar tmentof the Inter ior . Edi tor ia l ass is tancewas prov ided by Judi thMcDonough, Rober t Burke, and Mat thew Kiefen. Researchass is tancewas prov ided.by Joan Richandson,Boston Univers i ty In tern.



C O N T E N T S

P R E F A C EDemocrat icArchitecture

D E V E L O P M E N TF T H E T H R E E . D E C K E RThree-decker RootsStreetcar SuburbsCommunity of BuildersThree-Decker- Three Fami ly - Tr ip le-Decker

P E R O D S

Prototypes

l. Formative Periodl l . V ic tor ian Per iodl l l . Ea r l y C las s i cPe r i odlV. Late Class ic Per iodV. Functional Period

Conc lus ion

PRESERVATIoNRECOMMENDATTONSnd OppORTUNtT tEs

A p p e n d i x l - T h r e e - D e c k e r B u i l d e r sAppendix l l - Three-Deckers lmageryAppendix l l l - Survey Methodology

B B L I O G R A P H Y



PREFACE

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A ca r w inds h ie l dv iew o f t h ree -dec k e rs bov e he h ' i ghw ay .

SoutheastExpresswayt ColumbiaRoad.

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P R E F A C E

The three-deckers of Dorchester : you see them in the dr ive

cross ing the Neponsetmarshes nto Boston, ta l l and narrow wi th the i r

woodenporches peer ing above the Southeast Expressway(p. 1) .x You

see them again beyond the l imits of the downtown into South Boston,

wooden porches perched high above concrete walls. They l ine their

backs against the Red Line tracks to Ashmont and their fronts on the

sandy beach at Mal ibu. They r ise to meet the s teeple of Meet ing House

Hi l l and s t re tch out towards Mat tapan. The three-deckers are a large

part of the identity of Dorchester and define its sense of place.

What are these three-deckers? As architecture, they are curious

forms/ par t urban and par t suburban. They look l ike apar tments

transformed into houses, or perhaps houses overgrown into apartments.

They have the f lat roofs of the city, but the wooden walls of the country.

They appear as rowhouses ransplanted into the suburbs .

And the i r porches, f ront and back. T iers o f porches, ga l ler ies of

porches, decks of porches, for s i t t ing down and look ing out , w i th

co lumns and ra i l ings on every f loor . Verandahs and balconieshigh

above the s t reet , grandstand piazzas n the a i r . A lways there are

three porches in the back, one for each fami ly . In f ront , f ine decor-

ated porches wi th grand columnsand fancy ra i l ings , somet imes ne/

sometimes wo, sometimes hree stories high.

At t imes i t seems hat a l l Dorchester s three-deckers , and indeed

a large par t o f i t is . Over f ive thousand stand today, the largest

c o l l ec t i onany w here . R a re l y a lone , o f t en i n pa i r s , us ua l l y i n g roups ,

three-deckers form ent i re ne ighborhoodsextending as far as the eye

x Photos were taken bv the author.

- ' i i -



can see. A hypnot ic rhy thm of repeated orms: porches and bays,

shadow and l ight , deta i l and tex ture/ an endless ar ray of three-

deckers , over the hi l ls and across the pla ins of Dorchester they ex-

tend, from South Cove to Neponset, from Andrew Square to Lower

Mi l ls , f rom UphamsCorner to Adams Vi l lage, f rom Columbia Road to

Gal l ivan Boulevard, f rom Boston St reet to Blue Hi l l Avenue, f rom Ronan

Park to Frank l in F ie ld , f rom Popes Hi l l to Mount Bowdoin. Nowhere

else is there such a landscapeof three-deckers . l t is one of

Dorchester 'sg lor ies .

The three-decker is democrat icarch i tec ture. l t was bu i l t to g ive

the average fami ly the benef i ts o f suburban l i fe whi le l iv ing c lose to

c i ty jobs . l t was ne i ther tenement nor mans ion, but ra ther good sol id

hous ing. l t was large enough to ra ise a host o f ch i ldren around the

dining room table, but small enough to keep a pot of f lowers on the

back porch.

The three-decker was af fordable, for the new fami ly who rented

the top f loor , for the owners who occupied the middle f loor , and for

the re t ined couple downsta i rs whose rent pa id the mortgage. l t was

at t rac t ive l each f loor had i ts own par lor bay and own piazza, i ts own

sta ined glass and oak pant ry / and i ts own v iew. This was the appeal

that dnew the fami l ies out on the t ro l leys in to Dorchester .

Today the three-decker is s t i l l democrat ic , s t i l l a f fordable, and

sti l l attract ive architecture for those who want the benefits of the

s ubu rbs w h i l e l i v i ng c l os e o t he c i t y - i nc l ud ing t he porches !

- i i i -



D E V E L O P M E N TF T H E T H R E E . D E C K E R

Three-Decker Roots

The roots of the three-decker l ie deep wi th in the t rad i t ions of

Boston, and are as ingra ined as the c i ty 's accents . l ts or ig ins can be

t raced to the Colon ia lwood bui ld ing t rad i t ion in such landmarks as the

Paul Revere House. Here the basic elementsof the three-decker may

be seen in the i r or ig ina l form: a three-s tory wooden house bui l t on the

s ide-ent ry rowhouseplan.

The basic architectunal characterist ic of the thr"ee-decker s its

wood frame construct ion. In most other American cit ies, the rowhouse

developed n br ick or s tone. ln Boston, however , the wood bui ld ing

technology brought by the sett lers remained the norm among colonial

craftsmen and was continued into the 19th century industrial period.

Thus, when the post-civi l war f lood of immigrants created a need for

mul t ip le- fami lyhous ing, new house types developedwi th in th is wood

bui ld ing t rad i t ion. The f i rs t areas of three-decker developmentwere

South Boston and Roxbury , where the cent ra l c i ty 's f i re laws prohib i t -

ing wood const ruc t ion did not apply .

The three-decker fo l lowed the he ight s tandards set by the houses

of the Colon ia lper iod; two f loors and an at t ic . Th is three-s tory

Colon ia l raming system, jo in ing large wood beamswi thout nai ls (mor t ise

and tenon) , was eas i ly t rans fer red to suppor t the main f rame of the

new three-deckers . For the res t of the s t ruc ture ( in ter ior wal ls , e tc . )

ba l loon raming techniques wi th nai ls and studs were used; these had

been adopted by bu i lders af ter the Civ i l War becauseof e f f ic iency and

- i v -



DEVILOPMENTF THE THREE.DECKER

Three-deckers er ived the i r name rom the three-s tory rear porches hatserved he fami ly 's domes t i cneeds .

46-48 RobinsonSt reet , F ' ie lds CornerI 890- 894



reduced costs o f const ruc t ion. Thus the ant ique const ruc t ion methods

of mor t ise and tenon jo inery were cont inued by thr ee-decker bui lders '

in to the 20th century .

The narrow shape of the three-decker a lso is based on long t ra-

d i t ion, the town house plan of El izabethanEngland. Here the best

room/ the ' rpar lourr " faced the st reet w i th the door set of f to one s ide

and the k i tchen at the back. In Boston th is became he standard plan

of the ci ty rowhouse, wi th i ts s ide-ent ry doorway and k i tchen el l . In

the ear ly 19th century the fash ionablehouseson BeaconHi l l were

des igned wi th e legant bow front par lors , and th is p lan was adopted in

the nowhouses f the new south End by the c iv i l war . Thus, when the

f i rs t three-deckers were bui l t , they took af ter the fami l iar s ide-ent ry

rowhouse plan complete with parlor bay. Often two rowhouses would be

bui l t s ide-by-s ide as a double house, and th is bas ic form was adopted

by ear ly three-decker bui lders in const ruc t ing s ix - fami ly houses.

The funct ional or ig in of the three-decker l ies in the pr inc ip le of

mul t ip le- fami lyhous ing and the solut ions developed n Boston before the

c iv i l war . There were two obv ious antecedentsat e i ther end of the

soc ia l spect rum, each bui l t in the cent ra l c i ty and each conta in ing

renta l un i ts for severa l fami l ies . one was the apar lment house or

"French Flat i l that had been in t roduced to pol i te soc ie ty with the Hote l

Pelham n 1857. At the other ex t reme was the tenement house, with

few domest icconvenienceswhatsoever . These were s imply bui l t and

lvere chief ly occupied by the l r ish immigrants n the 1850,s .

The back porches are the tnue arch i tec tura l innovat ion of the

three-decker , for i t is they that g ive i t the d is t inc t ive charac ter of a

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South Boston-uflat roof2 story porch

Roxburysuburbanhip or gable roof3 story porch



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"porch house" (p. v) . The rear decks developedwhen the rowhouse

was d i v i ded in to t h ree - f am i l yun i t s , one on each f l oo r . T hus , t he

t rad i t ional k i tchen el l had to be mul t ip l ied for each fami ly f loor , re-

su l t ing in the format ion of the " three-decker . ' ,

s ince the three-decker developed at the edge of Boston, between

the c i ty and i ts new suburbs , there developed wo types of three-

deckers; those charactenist ic of the city with f lat roofs in South Boston,

and those charac ter is t ic of the suburbs w i th p i tched roofs in Roxbury .

Each area had i ts own set o f bu i lders , who carr ied the two types down

through Dorchester along the main streetcar routes; those from south

Boston a long Dorchester Avenue, and those f rom Roxbury a long Blue

Hi l l Avenue. The two three-decker forms commingled ver t ime, each

borrowing from the other a roof or a porch, unti l in the end both

look ed he same p . v i i ) .

Streetcar Suburbs

The agent for d i f fus ion of the three-decker in Dorchester was the

stneetcar . The noted urban his tor ian SamuelBass Warner has cal led

Dorches te r t he f u l l f l ow e r i ng o f t he s t ree t c a rs ubu rb r r t and in a v e ry

rea l sense the three-decker and the t ro l ley were par t and parce l of the

samesuburban landscape. Or ig ina l ly both were qui te independentof

one another , each develop ing separate unct ional ident i t ies dur ing the

Civ i l War era. By the turn of the 20th century the i r paths had crossed,

and Dorchester became he essenceof the s t reetcar suburb (p. ix

a n d x i .

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Boston was among the first cit ies in the world to have a complete

met ropol i tans t reetcar sys tem. Fol lowing he o ld count ry s tage l ines

that rad ia ted f rom the center c i ty , ra i lway technology was adapted in

the 1850rs ,and by the Civ i l War these horse ra i lnoad ines fanned out

to Bostonrs l imits, to Lynn on the north, Watertown on the west and

Quincy on the south. In Dorchester the most impontant route ran from

South Boston through F ie lds Corner to Lower Mi l ls , a long the fu l l

length of Dorchester Avenue, and through the f irst neighborhoods of

three-decker development. Other horsecar routes operated along

Boston, Hancock, and Bowdoin Streets, and from Roxbury to Codman

Square along Washington Street.

The Depression of 1873 halted further expansion of the horse

rai lroad system in Dorchester, and even caused the abandonmentof

several l ines including the one on Freeport Street. With economic

recovery in the 1880 's he car l ines were again ex tended. The new

routes provided vital cross town service that l inked Dorchester with

Roxbury and the South End, inc lud ing a loop f rom F ie lds Corner a long

Geneva Avenue to Upham'sCorner , f rom r .oxbury a long Dudley St reet

through Upham's Corner to Dorchester Avenue at Sav in H i l l , and f rom Edward

Everet t Square to the South End a long Massachuset ts venue. By 1889

other l ines opened a long Blue H i l l Avenue connect ing he South End

with Frank l in Park , and Por t Nor fo lk w i th F ie lds Corner a long Neponset

Av enue .

Horses, whi le handsome nimalson the steeplechase,were inef -

f ic ient as mot ive power for met ropol i tan rans i t sys tems, and much

experimentat ion was conducted after the Civi l War to devise a new

power source for the horse cars. After several attempts with steam,

- x -



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gas, and cable, e lec t r ic i ty was per fec ted by the la te 1880rsus ing over-

head tnol ley w i res to power the cars . Again, Boston was among he

f i rs t c i t ies to adopt the new t ro l leys, which ran fas ter and cheaper

than the horse cars , and thus opened up whole new suburban areas for

development .

The meeting of the electr ic trol ley and the three-decker occured

about 1890. At this point both had been perfected; their combined

presence began to create a new landscapeof the streetcar suburb in

Dorchester . Dur ing the 1890'snew t ro l ley l ines were bui l t in to the far

reaches of pract ical service, from Fields Corner down Adams Street to

Adams Vi l lage, f rom CodmanSquare down Washingtonand Nor fo lk

Streets and from Lower Mil ls along River Street to Mattapan.

By the turn of the 20th century a new web of streetcar l ines were

cut across Dorchester creating a completegrid of trol ley routes l inking

every major corner w i th each other , f rom Uphams Corner a long Columbia

Road o Frank l in Park , f rom Frank l in Park down Talbot Avenue to

PeabodySquare in Ashmont , f rom Mat tapan o Ros l indalea long Cummins

Highway, and the f ina l thrus t down Blue Hi l l Avenue to Mat tapan.

These were the s t reetcar routes that d i rec ted the bu i lder 's minds

and formed the three-decker neighborhoods of the early 20th century.

Dur ing rush hours , tno l leys ran every two minutes , and for 50 carr ied

passengers rom Dorchester to every corner o f Boston. Th is universe,

the t ro l ley and the: hree-decker , las ted for a generat ion. Thei r era

f ina l ly conc luded wi th the automobi le nd the economic o l lapseof the

Great Depress ion. St i l l Dorchester t ro l leys ran for another generat ion,

as t rack less . t ro l leybus es , un t i l t hey too were d i s m an t l ed n t he 1960 rs .

- x i i



Today the yel low MBTA buses run along the old car l ines and

mainta in he fabr ic of the t r ip le-decker neighborhoods,whi le the Red

Line and the Southeast Expresswayprov ide the modern t ranspor t l inks

from Dorchester to the rest of Boston.

A Communi tyof Bui lders

Since the bui ld ing of three-deckers was a compet i t ivebus iness

which d id not requi re large amountsof capi ta l , the bui lders themselves

tended to be drawn from the ranks of local tradesmen. Evidence sug-

gests the existence of a community of builders - an informal al l iance of

tradesmen and speculators who worked for and with each other, bor-

rowing and invent ing des igns. l t is they who were most respons ib le

for the lively vernacular quality of the streetscapes of porches and

cornices that are the delight of Dorchester today.

While some of these builders were Yankee carpenters, most of the

three-deckers were constructed by newly emergent immigrant groups -

l r ish, Canadians, Jews and l ta l ians , the very people he t r ip le-deckers

were meant to attract on the trol leys.

Usual ly there were three ro les invo lved in the bu i ld ing of a

three-decker ; the landowner , the bui lder and the arch i tec t . Of ten they

would, in fac t , be three separate men. Qui te f requent ly , however , the

bui lder would a lso own the land, des ign the three-decker , and con-

struct i t . Often the roles would be switched so that the same group or

ind iv idual would per form di f ferent func t ions in d i f ferent ne ighborhoods.

Not surpr is ing ly , bu i ld ing three-deckers was most ly the work of men,

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but of ten women, w idows and spins ters , would buy the land and d ic ta te

the number and type of three-deckers const ruc ted. And at leas t one

three-decker was des igned by a womanarch i tec t .

There were no b luepr in ts or p lans for the ear ly three-deckers and

bui lders fo l lowed the t rad i t ional measurements nd methodsof const ruc-

t ion, repeat ing the bas ic rowhouseplan that had been handed down

over generat ions. After the turn of the century, the three-decker

des igns becamemore complex , requi r ing arch i tec t rs b luepr in ts . But

these were s imply an outgrowth of the menta l p lans in the bui lder 's

head, of ten drawn in quick penc i l sketches o sat is fy the Ci ty Bui ld ing

Department. There were few professionally trained architects, and most

men who gave themselves he t i t le were neal ly bu i lders turned des igners .

Thus, the three-deckers were bui l t by a repet i t ion of successfu lmethods

and forms, fo l lowing examples n the loca l ne ighborhoods, so that very

d is t inc t ive three-decker types developed n var ious par ts of Dorchester .

Eventual ly , the s ty l is t ic ind iv idual i ty o f loca l groups disappearedas

builders from different parts of Dorchester crossed each otherrs paths

and exchanged deas and des igns. At the same ime, these loca l groups

themselveswere absorbed in to a larger , more homogenous u i ld ing

communi ty . Thus, by the end of the F i rs t Wor ld Wan hree-deckers

throughout Dorchester showed a great s imi lar i ty of des ign.

N.B. Major groups of Dorchester bu i lders and the i r respect ive areasoperat ion are d iscussed n greater deta i l in Appendix l .

- X l V -



T hree -D ec k e r T r i p l e -D ec k e r - T h ree F am i l y

Or ig in of the Term

The three-decker is a un ique hous ing type charac ter is t ic of New

England c i t ies in the ear ly 20th centur"y . Genera l ly def ined, the three-

decker is a free standing, wood frame structure on its own narrow lot,

three s tor ies h igh, w i th one fami ly uni t on each f loor . Or ig ina l ly ca l led

" three-deckers , r rthese houses were also known as three- fami l iesand in

very recent years , have been ca l led ' r t r ip le-deckersr ' ra term unknown

to t he i r o r i g i na l bu i l de rs .

The antique term reveals the origin and funct ion of the form. The

three-decker is not simply a random term invented for the Dorchester

tr iple-decker. Rather, the roots of the word can be traced to

El izabethanEngland and the great naval warsh ips bu i l t to protec t the

Br i t ish ls les . The most impress iveman-of -war , the ' rsovere ignof the

Seasr" launched n 1637/ was ca l led a " three-deckerr rin re ference to

the three decks of guns that sat above the water l ine. By the t ime of

the Amer ican Revolut ion he impress ivequal i t ies of a r r three-deckerr l

were appl ied in popular speech to anyth ing of great s ize or impor tance.

As a common igure of Amer icanspeech, ' r three-decker t rwas qui te

natural ly borrowed to describe the new three family, wooden houses

evolv ing in New England c i t ies during the la te 19th century . The f i rs t

t rue appl icat ion of the term, l ike the f i rs t three-decker , cannot be

prec ise ly dated. The ear l ies t re ference s f rom Worcester n 1893,

impor tant because t ind icates hat th is Massachuset tsndust r ia l c i ty

was an ear ly three-decker center , and more s ign i f icant ly because t

occurs jus t at the t ime when the f i rs t Dorchester hree-deckers were

be ing bu i l t i n l a rge num bers .

. X V -



As an architectural tenm, the 'rthree-deckerrr has a certain appro-

pr ia te qual i ty . Most obv ious ly i t descr ibes the three-s tory rear porches

t ha t s i gn i f y t he t h ree f am i l i es i v i ng i n t he bu i l d i ng . As in ther rdecks t l

o f the old Engl ish sai l ing sh ips , the term also re fers to the unique

wooden quality that def ines the three-decker as a New England housing

type.

'rThree-deckerf i was the common erm unti l quite recenfly, used by

both carpenter and scholar al ike. In the last decade the old term

f ina l ly gave way to the modern " t r ip le-decker . r r L ike every th ing, i t

loses something in translat ion but the term is the one that many people

now understand to be proper for off ic ial reports.

the three-deckers of dorchester

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