Coit’s Medley – 85 Clifton Street, Belmont

This home, built in 1920, was designed by a true master with a range of architectural styles at their disposal.  Robert Coit, an architect who designed many residences in the area was conversant in all the past styles up to that point and he melded them beautifully in this home.

This home was built at a time when modernism was just forming, and most architects looked to the past for their inspiration.  Before the depression, the early 1920s was a grand period of building which is difficult to replicate today. The best, like Coit, could converse and combine to create harmonic structures, eclectic, yet rooted in tradition. 

In this large home, built for discerning patrons, there are elements of different popular styles of the time in use – Colonial Revival, Arts & Crafts, French Revival and Tudor.  Coit was able to be combine them seamlessly because they are all based on the laws of classical design. 

The interior, largely intact for the next owner to appreciate, is 95% Colonial Revival. Stairs, Mantles and Moldings are all a mixture of colonial era details with a just sprinkle of Arts and Crafts mixed in.

On the exterior, a typical rectangular 2 story colonial would be overpowering at 6,000 SF and so Coit innovated.  The expansive branch-like massing is familiar to large estate homes of the time yet is grounded in Colonial Revival symmetry.  

 Around it one sees Arts and Crafts details in its shutters with crescent moon cutouts, roof lines and bracketed eaves, beside a Tudor material palette of brick, stucco and wood.  The front entry portico also shows hints of Tudor arches with what I would describe as an eclectic French Revival arched roof.  

 A fitting entrance for whoever is the next lucky homeowner of this classic estate.  They will have many period features to enjoy from this incredible era of building – gum wood paneling and decorative mantels to name a few.  I trust they will build their own story as they continue the narrative of this incredible home forward.

This wonderful estate is currently on the market, being listed by Liz Mintz & Terry McCarthy: