The following summary is derived from the inscription attending the photograph and involves some speculation. The house, on Walnut St. at the northeast corner with Warren St. at what is now addressed as 30 Warren St., is known by the names of some of its owners over the years, the “Gridley-Hulton” house and the “Gardner-Sumner house. The timeline is:

• 1740: built by Nathaniel Gardner, a Boston merchant
• Purchased as a summer retreat by notorious Tory, Henry Hulton, who entertained British soldiers at the house during the early years of the Revolutionary War.
• Hulton’s property is confiscated and the house is sold
• 1877: acquired by Moses Williams. It has to be assumed that the major alterations to the upper story of the sides of the house that appear in this photo were made by him. It is a possibility that, seated on the porch, are son, Hugh or Moses, Moses Williams, and wife, the former Martha C. Fininley.
• Circa 1886: Moses Williams builds the house that still stands at 30 Warren St. and demolishes this existing house.

[ref. Brookline by Hardwicke and Reed]

Image Courtesy the Brookline Preservation Department