This house was built in 1760 and is the oldest in Jamaica Plain in its original form. It is a two-story country mansion with clapboard siding, a hipped roof with balustrade (widows 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 type of house 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 retired to his house in Jamaica Plain. Despite his Tory sentiments, Loring was well liked by the residents of JP but when he was appointed to the Governor’s Council, 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.On April 19, 1775, the house was taken over by the colonists and used to quarter American troops who plundered it. Then it was commissioned as a military hospital, one of the first in the American Revolution. Some of those wounded at the Battle of Bunker Hill were treated here and it is the only surviving structure used for this purpose in the Boston area.
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 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 the Fifth died and the house was eventually purchased for $16,000 by the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club to save it from demolition. The Tuesday Club continue as the stewards of the Loring Greenough House and the 2 acres of land remaining. The Tuesday Club is a social organization. Originally, it was a women’s club and met on Tuesdays. The house is open for tours on Sundays in the summer and is operated as a community asset. They host concerts and other events throughout the year.