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As a Cambridge real estate agent, the city squares of Cambridge, Somerville and Medford and the town centers of Arlington, Watertown and Belmont, Massachusetts are my home turf. And as a lifelong New Englander who’s lived within twenty miles of Boston most of my life, I can introduce you to other nearby towns as we search for your new home. If you’re planning to sell your home in Cambridge, MA or nearby you’ll find plenty of info about the home selling process here too. Questions? Send me an email or call me at 617-504-1737.

Follen Street – Cambridge Real Estate, History and Architecture

Follen Street – Cambridge Real Estate, History and Architecture. Follen Street is one of the most charming streets in Cambridge Massachusetts. Tucked behind the Cambridge Common, close to Harvard Square, this one-block street is lined with trees and interesting and attractive homes.  Follen Street is anchored at one end by the Longy School of Music in the former Edwin Abbot mansion built in 1889 and at the other end by the Christian Science Church and the condominiums at 50 Follen Street, the former Puritan Arms Apartments. Follen Street is otherwise a street of single family houses.

Follen Street was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Bainbridge Bunting and Robert Nylander in their volume Old Cambridge in the Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge series describe Follen Street this way:

“… no quieter, more peaceful corner of Cambridge exists; it enjoys a splendid isolation, unity, and sense of neighborhood recalling the 19th century” and point out that  Follen Street was the last Cambridge street to give up its gas streetlamps just before World War II.

History of Follen Street, Cambridge

Part of Follen Street was laid out by Charles Follen in 1836.  Follen was dividing a parcel of land that he owned that had once been part of the Lower Common. The Lower Common encompassed some 63 acres that stretched from Mass Ave to Garden Street and from the Cambridge Common to what is now Linneaen Street.  Follen Street was extended to its present day end at Garden Street in 1848.

Architectural Styles on Follen Street in Cambridge

The houses that line Follen Street encompass an array of architectural styles and construction dates ranging from the 1830s to the 1950s.

  • Greek Revival houses from the 1830s – 29 Follen Street built in 1837, and from the 1840s – 9 Follen Street built in 1844. 
  • Mansard Victorians including an 1862 Mansard built on Waterhouse Street in 1862 and moved to 44 Follen Street in 1923 to accomodate the building of the Christian Science Church. 44 Follen is home to Harvard Law’s Lincoln’s Inn Society
  • Stick Style Victorian at 10 Follen Street 
  • Modernist houses including 22 Follen Street designed by Carleton Richmond in 1951
  • The former Edwin Abbot house at 1 Follen Street, was the first all stone house built in Cambridge, constucted of granite in the Richardson Romanesque style in 1889 and designed by the firm of Longfellow, Alden and Harlow

Follen Street Cambridge Real Estate Sales

 Recent real estate sales on Follen Street:

  • A townhouse built in 1986 sold in 2008 for $1,600,000
  • A 12 room single family built in 1853 sold in 2007 for $2,060,000
  • One-bedroom condos at 50 Follen Street sold in 2006 and 2007 for $369,000 and $330,000

Here are photographs of Follen Street Cambridge:

Follen Street slideshow

 

Use the following link to search the MLS for real estate for sale on Follen Street and then use the New Search link to expand or change your search criteria:

SEARCH FOR HOMES FOR SALE ON FOLLEN STREET

 

 

Check out these great Cambridge streets for more Cambridge real estate and architecture:

Orchard Street Cambridge
Garfield Street Cambridge

 

Follen Street – Cambridge Real Estate, History and Architecture was written by Elizabeth Bolton, a Cambridge real estate agent at Coldwell Banker on Huron Avenue, Cambridge.

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  1. Mike Rusciano

    I came across a paper which belonged to my dad. The paper had the name Richard Demers 9 Follen Street, Boston MA written on it. I believe Richard Demers returned to the US on a troopship with my father from Italy at the end of WW II. The timeframe would have been approximately November 1945. I also found a Richard H. Demers Army Serial No. 31352915 listed on a roster of Boston area inductees. If anyone has knowledge.of whether or not Richard Demers lived at this address before or after WW II I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

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