Elsie Rutan (1881-1965) was the daughter of well-known Brookline architect Charles Rutan. She grew up at 111 Davis Ave. and married another Brookline resident, Sydney Talbot Strickland, in 1905. The newlyweds lived with her parents at 111 Davis Ave. for several years as Sydney, a newly-minted architect, apprenticed at her father’s firm of Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge. Sydney’s mother had been living at 15 Hedge Rd. and Sydney was involved in designing four new houses there from 1913-1923. The couple first moved to #57 Hedge Rd. when it was built circa 1913 then moved next door to #43 Hedge Rd. (interior photos are on file) when it was built circa 1917.

Gift of Chris Hussey