Kirkland Place Historic District

Kirkland Place is a quiet cul-de-sac of seven houses close to Harvard University in Mid-Cambridge. The street was platted in the mid-1850s by local architect and builder Isaac Cutler, who designed four Bracketed Italianate houses there. The earliest house, a Greek Revival dwelling built by John Ware in 1839 for his daughters, was moved back on its lot to make room for Cutler's work. The best-known building is the Loring-Pierce House of 1856, an early Mansard-style design by amateur architect Henry Greenough and the only survivor of four Mansard houses he designed in Cambridge. Early owners included a judge and a mathematics professor, though most were not connected with Harvard. A small brick house of 1921 is the only later addition and is not intrusive because of its size and setback. Sheltered from busy Kirkland Street, the street keeps its mid-nineteenth-century residential character and is the only intact enclave surviving from Professors' Row.