Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1695
10 Alpha Road
Postcard of 10 Alpha Road with handwritten note that the house was the home of Martha Dana Shepard, who died July 18, 1914. Postally unused. Martha Dana Shepard was a noted pianist who had earlier lived in Clam Point.
The following is from the Codman Square House Tour Booklet 1999
Year Built: circa 1895
Style: Queen Anne / Colonial Revival
Architect: Unknown
A former Boston Sunday Globe “Home of the Week,” this house was adaptively restored by its previous owners. As a result it combines historic features with a modern outlook that is respectful of the original architecture but not enslaved by it. Entering the front hall, one is greeted by an oak staircase whose offset newel is carved with Classical acanthus leaves. To the left is a pleasant living room, beyond which is the oak-trimmed dining room, whose fireplace features a beveled-mirror overmantel and tile facing which depicts a shepherd boy playing the pipe to his sheep. Visitors to last year’s tour may recall an identical set of tiles at 31 [i.e., 11] Tremlett Street. A pass-through to the kitchen, at the left of the mantel retains its original hardware. At the rear is a modern kitchen whose ceiling has been opened to the rafters, creating a space that is both dramatic and flooded with light from the clerestory windows above the cabinets. Note the plant ledge in the breakfast area. Returning to the front hall the stair rises past a pair of stained-glass windows whose laurel-wreath motif repeats the Classical theme of the newel. Like the kitchen, the master bedroom ceiling has been opened to the roofline. No significant historic fabric was disturbed in the process, and the decorative dormers that ornament the exterior of the house have been reclaimed as an interior focal point.
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