Dupee Estate
Why it's listed
Dupee Estate is a brick and stone house with a carriage house at 400 Beacon Street in Chestnut Hill, Newton. It was built in 1880-1881 to designs by the architectural firm Peabody & Stearns. The house shows Queen Anne characteristics in its irregular mass and broken roofline, while blunt pointed arches and masonry construction give it Ruskinian Gothic overtones. This quasi-Medieval mode was usually used for monumental masonry buildings, and only a few domestic examples exist around Boston, including this one. Few masonry houses of the period survive in Newton. The land was owned by the Woodman family for most of the 19th century, and nearby farms were divided into suburban houses and large estates in the 1880s and 1890s. William Dupee, a Boston wool merchant, lived here. A wing was added and the entrance remodelled in 1907. Mary Baker Eddy later owned the house, and the Christian Science Church she founded now holds it. The house remains in very good condition.
Significance in brief: The estate is significant as a work of the noted firm Peabody & Stearns. It is also an unusual example of the quasi-Medieval, Ruskin-influenced mode of the Queen Anne movement, adapted for a house instead of a monumental institutional building. Few masonry houses of this period exist in Newton.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 86001790, listed September 4, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 400 Beacon St., Newton |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 4, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86001790 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Peabody & Stearns |
| Architectural style | Stick Style variant; quasi-Medieval mode of the Queen Anne movement with Ruskinian Gothic overtones |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition described as very good; the property is currently a dwelling and is owned by the Christian Science Church. |
| Acreage | 8.4 |
| Coordinates | 42.33250, -71.17405 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 86001790.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5315919
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.