This house was built in 1760 and is the oldest in Jamaica Plain still in its original form. It is a two-story Georgian mansion with clapboard siding, a hip roof, a balustrade (widow’s walk) and 6-over-6 windows. (The Greek Revival porches were later additions.) The framework was milled in England and the widow’s walk harkens back to the original owner’s naval history. It’s a good example of the substantial houses that dotted the area in the eighteenth century.
The house was built for the British naval officer Commodore Joshua Loring who was severely wounded in the capture of Quebec from the French in 1759 and then retired to his house in Jamaica Plain. Despite his Tory sentiments, Loring was well liked by the residents of JP. Alas, when he was appointed to the Governor’s Council by a writ of mandamus (not elected), the locals turned against him. He and his family fled the estate in August of 1774 never to return. Tradition has it that after he left his fine horses and cattle ran wild, as no one wanted to care for them for fear of being considered a Tory.
The house was taken over by the colonists and used to quarter American troops who plundered it. By June 1776, it was commissioned as a military hospital, one of the first in the American Revolution. Those wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill were treated here. In 1779 as the General Court of Massachusetts was disposing of confiscated Tory properties the estate was divided in half. Eventually, the larger 54 acre parcel containing the house was sold to the widow Anne Doane of Wellfleet in April 1784. Interestingly, just a month later, the widow was married to David Stoddard Greenough, a lawyer and ardent patriot.
The Loring Greenough House remained in the Greenough family until 1924 when David Stoddard Greenough V died. Then the house was purchased for $16,000 by the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club to save it from demolition. The Tuesday Club has maintained the Loring Greenough house, and the 2 acres of land remaining, until the present day. The Tuesday Club was a women's social organization which met on Tuesdays. Now it’s open to men too and the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club continues to be a wonderful steward of the property. The house is open for tours (check sign for details) and hosts various events throughout the year and the highly popular ‘Thursdays on the Lawn’ event throughout the summer months.