Tileston House Study Report

The Tileston House is a historically and architecturally significant building in the Mattapan neighborhood of what was historically the town of Dorchester, now part of Boston.

The house is historically significant for its association with the early industrial history of the Milton/Dorchester Lower Mills industrial and residential area. It also has a connection with important individuals in two prominent skilled trade and artisan families, the Badlams and Tilestons.

The property was once owned by the Badlam family. Brothers Stephen and Ezra Badlam served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, then returned to Dorchester and their cabinet and carriage-making businesses. Stephen Badlam is one of Massachusetts’ highly regarded furniture makers, and his work is curated in the collections of major American museums.

The house currently on the site was built ca. 1797 by Euclid Tileston who learned cabinetry from Ezra Badlam, his father-in-law, and later became a carriage maker. The property then passed to his son Charles, a tin smith. The property was owned by the Tilestons for a century, until Charles’ death in 1897.

Architecturally, the house is a rare surviving example of a gambrel-roof, Georgian-style house. It is one of the oldest buildings in Boston and is also one of only two extant buildings of its style and form identified in Dorchester. Few buildings from this time period survive in cities such as Boston due to rapid urban growth and replacement of older buildings.

Read the Tileston House Study report

(Report amended as of September 2, 2022)

The proposed designation will be discussed and voted upon at a public hearing on September 13, 2022. Please look for the meeting notice in the public notices section of our website.