Helen Read Curtis

53 Marlborough was designed by architect Carl Fehmer and built in 1883 by James Smith and Levi Whitney, builders, as the home of real estate broker James Freeman Curtis and his wife, Helen Read (Gardner) Curtis. He is shown as the owner on the original building permit application, dated April 24, 1883. They previously had lived at 258 Beacon.

The house was completed and the Curtises had made it their home by the 1883-1884 winter season. However, they did not take title to the land until March 3, 1885, when Helen Curtis purchased it from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The land had been sold previously by the Commonwealth at a public auction and, presumably, either the Curtises were the successful bidders or acquired the right to purchase the land from the successful bidder.

Click here for an index to the deeds for 253 Marlborough.

James Curtis died in January of 1888. Helen Curtis continued to live at 253 Marlborough and also maintained a home in Prides Crossing.

In the early 1900s, Helen Curtis was traveling abroad.

253 Marlborough was not listed in the 1903 and 1904 Blue Books, but by 1905 it once again was the home of Helen Curtis and her unmarried children, Francis Gardner Curtis and Mary Curtis. Francis Gardner Curtis was assistant curator in Chinese and Japanese art for the Museum of Fine Arts.

Francis Gardner Curtis married in April of 1913 to Mary Winchester Barnard, and they moved to 27 Brimmer for the 1913-1914 winter season and then to 143 Beacon.

Helen and Mary Curtis continued to live at 253 Marlborough. Helen Curtis died in May of 1927 and Mary Curtis moved soon thereafter.

https://backbayhouses.org/253-marlborough/

Provenance

November, 1904, probably sold by the artist to Helen Read Gardner (Mrs. James F.) Curtis (b. 1839 - d. 1927), Boston [see note]; 1927, gift of the estate of Mrs. Curtis to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 1, 1927)

NOTE: This was very likely purchased by Mrs. Curtis from the artist at an exhibition and sale of his work in Cambridge, MA, in November 1904. However, it is also possible that the painting was acquired by or through her son, Francis Gardner Curtis, who had studied and exhibited with the artist from 1898 to 1902.

http://www.mfa.org/collections/object/waterfall-28996