When Wellesley runs out of nice homes, it simply plucks them from Burlington. See this grand $5.6M home at 99 Pond Road in Wellesley?
This stellar piece of New England Georgian architecture began life in 1732 at the corner of Newbridge Ave. and Winn Street in Burlington. It was known as the William Winn mansion. Here it is in 1938, just before being disassembled, piece by piece, brick by brick, and reassembled in Wellesley.
It housed many generations of Winns, including Timothy Winn, to whom Burlington owes its very existence. He cast the decisive vote to secede from Woburn in 1798. His opinion carried great weight because of his family’s prominence in Woburn politics. Also, because this home was so close to the proposed borderline, he was considered impartial and therefore more influential.
Unfortunately, Timothy Winn did not live long after Burlington’s incorporation in 1799. His last public appearance might have been in January of 1800, when the new town honored the memory of George Washington, who had died the previous December. Timothy Winn died at 87 on Feb. 4, 1800. The old burial ground near Simonds Park has no Timothy Winn tombstone. He might lie in the old Winn tomb yard located directly across Winn Street from his home, according to a 1979 article by Ed Fogelberg.
The Winns built an addition during WWI, turning the house into a multi-family dwelling. Then it caught the eye of a family far wealthier than the Winns. Mary Hunnewell, a granddaughter of railroad magnate and avid horticulturalist H.H. Hunnewell of Wellesley, wanted the house for her daughter. But not in Burlington. She wanted it in Wellesley, to become part of the sprawling Hunnewell estate.
It’s hard to fathom the importance of the Hunnewells in Wellesley. Both the town and the college are named for H.H. Hunnewell’s estate, “Wellesley,” which he named for his in-laws. The estate includes an arboretum of 325 specimen conifers, a complex of specialty greenhouses and America’s very first topiary garden.
Fast-forward to 2011. Wellesley College bought the property for $3.8M and refurbished the main house (2700 sq. ft.) and the addition (2400 sq. ft.). Among the many improvements was the installation of properly insulated walls in the attic, and a new doorway to separate it from the living space below. The property is now living space for college administrators and also a meeting/catering venue for up to 60 people. It’s not located in the “downtown” part of Wellesley College, but it’s pretty close — just across Lake Waban.
Don’t bother driving to Wellesley to visit the place, unless you’re brazen enough to venture down this driveway.
Yes, it’s one of those properties. The kind you can’t see from the street because you’re not worthy. After all, you’re from humble Burlington.
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