Travel Back in Time to Winchester's Sanborn House

To many, it's just that old building, along High Street, that sits next to the And it has that boarded up house that looks like a garage next to it.

And then you have the grand, old estate - the Sanborn House  - named after Oren Sanborn. Oren's father, James, co-founded the Chase and Sanborn Coffee.

The house had a purpose for a while.

After the Sanborn's lost their fortune, the house was sold in the 1920s to the Downes family who made their money in lumber. And after that, the Religious of Christian Education took it over and made it the Mary Cliff Academy.

Eventually the school closed down and the town bought the property and even had a few town offices located in the building, like the . But then in 2005 the took stewardship over the home.

It's not the oldest home in Winchester. Built in 1907, it barely passed its hundredth birthday. There are homes in town that pre-date the Civil War, but it's the Sanborn House that has become one of the unique homes in Winchester.

According to of the society, it's not the age of this home that's significant, but what it means. It's what Beaulieu calls a "country home" that's a "fantastic example of Beaux Art."

"At this time, during the turn of the century, there was a significant population of wealthy people that were moving out of the city and to the suburbs," Beaulieu said. "They wanted more land and to distance themselves from the masses."

With transportation improving, people didn't need to live in Boston in order to work in Boston. 

Until the early 1900s, Beaulieu said that the main objective of a home was to be lived in. 

"A country house is designed to be lived in, but also for leisure," she said. "At the start of the 20th century it was the first time you had a real middle class and people had leisure time."

The Sanborn House has plenty of bedrooms, kitchen, fireplaces, everything you would need to get through a day. But the difference Beaulieu said is the music room or the entertaining room, which is one of the reasons it cost $250,000 to build.  

"If you look at a house 100 years before, it's designed for food and shelter," she said. "Now this home is designed for entertainment; to show off your wealth. This is one of the only country homes in the Boston area in this good of shape."

According to Beaulieu, technology was another aspect of the home that set it apart. The Sanborn House had an elevator, along with multiple heating systems. 

"They wanted to show off their wealth and their knowledge," Beaulieu said. "This is the time when people started using architecture to show their place in society."

The home has since been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and the society continues to update it. The first floor, with ramps and a new bathroom, is fully ADA (American with Disabilities Act) compliant, Beaulieu said.

The society wants to continue to improve the house, make it compliant and restore the original architecture. But in the meantime, interested parties can rent the home for functions or meetings.