5 Linebrook Rd., the Richard Lane house (1851)

Until the 20th Century, this section of Linebrook was called Boxford Road. This house first appears in the 1856 map. The building has a simple Greek Revival frontispiece with plain frieze and projecting cornice. Windows on the facade are finished with similar friezes and projecting caps.

This closeup of the 1856 Ipswich map shows the R. E. Lane house.

Arthur Rishi is a former owner of the house at 5 Linebrook, and wrote the following history:

In 1839 John Lane sold some of his land to the railroad. In December of 1851 John Lane sold some of the land (bordering the railroad’s land) “with the buildings thereon” to his younger brother, Richard Rogers Lane, for $1000. According to the 1850 Census, Richard Lane lived with John and his family. Both were wheelwrights.

My supposition is that Richard Rogers Lane, perhaps with his brother, built the house during the year 1851, and when it was completed, he purchased the new house and the land it stood on from his older brother. We found the word “Rogers” written in the plaster of our house when we removed wallpaper.

Richard Lane died in 1858, and his only child, Etta, inherited the house. This is mentioned in the 1898 deed when she sold it to Charles W. Woodbury. The paper trail of deeds from Etta Lane to the present is clear. Therefore, I propose that the date of construction is 1851 or c. 1851 and the name of the builder should be “Richard Rogers Lane.”

Sources: