106 Grove
106 Grove, The Stevens House
Seven decades after the John R. Stevens House was built at 106 Grove in Margaret Place, current owners Dr. and Mrs. Bruce (Barbara) Wyman won a national award for their renovation of the classic bungalow.
Built by the Stevens in about 1920, the one-story bungalow was an extremely popular and fashionable smaller-type home to build shortly after the turn of the century through the 20’s.
Inspired by native dwellings of Bengal (Bangladesh) and favored by the British for their country homes the style was adapted for the United States by two California architects who were pioneers in the Arts and Crafts movement.
The Wymans, who bought the place in 1989, fastidiously followed Craftman guidelines in their extensive renovation project, which received one of 12 national awards among 8,621 entries in the 1990 Better Homes and Gardens Improvement Contest.
Identifying Craftsman features are a low-pitched gabled roof with a wide, unenclosed eaves overhang; spacious porch; exposed roof rafters; decorative false beams with triangular braces under the gables; square upper columns resting on more massive piers which continue to ground level without a break at the porch floor; exposed rafter tails; multi-pane transomed windows in a line of three or more; and small high windows on each side of the chimney.
The house was bought by Dr. and Mrs. Charles (Dottie) Hachette in 1941 as a home for her mother, Mrs. Charlotte McCann, who lived there until her death in 1956.
The Hachettes rented the house from 1957-1976.
The Wymans speculate that many have called the place home through the years because they’ve so often run across people who, on learning the Wymans address, say they had relatives or friends who had once lived there.
