FOR SALE BY OWNER
Greater Boston's old houses hold a wealth of history within their walls. To fi nd out who used to own your home and what they paid for it, visit your county's registry of deeds. Investigate past owners through newspaper obituaries at your local library and on ancestry.com (access to this website, which allows you to search such things as city directories and war records, is free at some libraries). Your city or town's annual reports can provide information about your street, and historical maps can give you an idea of when your house was built. This is the story of my house (left) at 15 Buckingham Street in Somerville. – Kristen Green
1887 Edwin B. Buckingham of Brookline, president of the manufacturing company American Tube Works, owns a swath of land between Dimick and Beacon streets.
He sells this parcel and others to John Elston, a Somerville carpenter and builder, for $3,570. Elston subdivides the land and builds this house, which is hooked up to city water and sewer.
1888 Elston sells the house for $2,900 to Frank D. Marchand, a Cambridge man who works in a machine shop and is married with two kids. Buckingham Street is constructed from Beacon to Dimick at a cost of $274.
1889 Sidewalks are constructed along Buckingham Street. Marchand sells the house for "one dollar and other valuable considerations" to Louisa J. Fillebrown, a housekeeper and the wife of Samuel A. Fillebrown, a night watchman. The couple has three children, and the house stays in the family for the next 78 years.
1967 The conservator of the estate of Anna L. Fillebrown, Louisa and Samuel's daughter, sells the property to Mary and Peter Lobovich for $9,500. The Loboviches move into the house with daughters Helen and Carol. They remodel the kitchen - installing brown paneling and a brown stove - have the wood floors sanded and refinished, and hang new wallpaper.
1971 Two pine trees, a gift from Carol to Mary, are planted in the backyard. Mary dies. Peter grants ownership to Helen.
1974 Peter dies. Helen, who is unmarried, lives there for the next 32 years.
2004 (approximately) Helen has the now-huge pine trees removed.
2006 Helen moves into an assisted living facility. My husband, Jason Hamilton, and I purchase the home for $415,000. We have the floors refinished and the electrical updated and begin stripping wallpaper and painting.
2007 We install a showerhead for our claw-foot tub and prepare for other jobs. 