Richardson/Lyons Bungalow

Richardson/Lyons Bungalow Only one of two Arts&Crafts Bungalows in Boxborough was built in 1930 by Harlan Richardson, grandson of Amasa Richardson, well-known Boxborough farmer.

05/06/2026

MAY IS "PRESERVATION MONTH"!!!
The Harlan Richardson and Frank Lyons Bungalow is 4 years short of being 100 years old.
Let us preserve this house and property for everyone who will appreciate it now and in the future.
Spread the word...

In this post I wanted to go back to 61 Stow Road, the "Yellow" building previously on this page described by Jo...
03/07/2026

In this post I wanted to go back to 61 Stow Road, the "Yellow" building previously on this page described by John Lyons and wife, Elizabeth. Again, the section to the right/north side of the house was brought here by John from North Grafton, New Hampshire. It is the oldest section of the building with an atrium of early, rough, exposed, beams ("The Quilted Crow").
The center section of the building at one point was a 24-seat restaurant headed by Chef Rene Bustomimi. Rene's house is still at the confluence of Littlefield Road/Depot Road in Boxborough.
The third section of the building was from a town in Maine.
The building is almost 4,000 sq. ft. and 2,200 sq. ft. basement, screaming for commercial re-use. Specifically, the 600 sq. ft. former right/northern section of the building (formerly the "Quilted Crow") was originally a "general store," having the opportunity to be reborn as such for a town center in need for a similar usage.
The property has a separate septic, parking and Stow Road frontage useable for outdoor tables in good weather. It also has a row of Honey Lucust trees mirroring the Richardson/Lyons house across the street.
John Lyons again made sure it fit into the overall New Town Center theme by giving it a Federal-style facade.

A family member's recollection of the bungalow layout.The front of the house is on the left boasting the open veranda. ...
02/17/2026

A family member's recollection of the bungalow layout.
The front of the house is on the left boasting the open veranda. Entering the building you are in the living room with fireplace at the upper wall of this sketch (w/ built-ins). Further to the right are two stair units, one leading the second floor (1/2-story) which, during the Lyons ownership, is where the children slept. The other set of stairs goes to the basement. To the right of that is the primary bedroom and a full bath across the hallway. Again, to the right is the kitchen and dining room finishing the original building's back wall.
The left bottom section of the house consisted of an enclosed porch with doors leading to the exterior of the home. Fieldstone stairs replicate the front entrance stairs.
This family member remembers the clothesline which led from the house toward the side yard.

The same year John Lyons moved the parsonage to this site (1981), he expanded a natural water source at 25 Stow Road/111...
02/11/2026

The same year John Lyons moved the parsonage to this site (1981), he expanded a natural water source at 25 Stow Road/111 creating a "Fire Pond." Purpose: to fill the tank fire truck prior to any potential fire. Not having a municipal water system, it is always possible that trucks answering calls in Boxborough may not have a near-to-the-fire water source. I am assuming it is not a mistake to have a fire pond directly in the middle of the Boxborough New Town Center seeing that we have no hydrants.
John Lyons' obituary informs us that he was "instrumental in the application of concrete on the 'Big Dig'". John was on the Boxborough Planning Board for several years as well as Select Board.

On September 22, 1990, John and Elizabeth Lyons opened the "Marketplace"; Phase 1 of their New Town Center concept. It ...
02/10/2026

On September 22, 1990, John and Elizabeth Lyons opened the "Marketplace"; Phase 1 of their New Town Center concept. It was created as a shop for the sale of Boxborough artists' work. Elizabeth was a prime mover in the creation of this idea. The location was what today we call "The Yellow Building" at 61 Stow Road. That building was seamlessly created by John Lyons from three sections of other buildings in New England, dismantled, brought to Boxborough by John and creatively melded for commercial purposes. When I came to town, it was the home of the "Quilted Crow." Another part of the structure was a 24-seat restaurant.
It sits there today abandoned, anticipating resurrection as a receptacle for new commercial assets to our New Town Center.

Frank Lyons and wife, Rita E. Goulet-Lyons, had six children. John Lyons was the second child born. John is the next s...
02/05/2026

Frank Lyons and wife, Rita E. Goulet-Lyons, had six children. John Lyons was the second child born. John is the next subject of our history of the house and property. (I mean no slight to any of Frank and Rita's other children, but John's contribution is very relevant to the Lyons family's history here and I look forward to any potential historical info from any/all family members.)

Frank and wife, Rita E. Goulet-Lyons, had six children. John Lyons was the second child born. John is the next subject of our history of the house and property. (I mean no slight to any of Frank and Rita's other children, but John's contribution is very relevant to the Lyons family's history here and I look forward to any potential historical info from all family members.)

John was born in Cambridge, but obviously moved with his parents to Boxborough in 1951. He was in the first class to graduate from Blanchard Memorial Elementary. He also graduated from A-B Regional High School. He, too, was a volunteer firefighter and worked for Ray Vorce like his father, Frank (see previous post). According to his obituary he was involved in the town’s acquisition of Flerra Field and Meadows
John “began a lifelong ambition of developing a mixed-use Historic Village-type town center.” He definitely followed-up on that dream.
In 1981, he saved, moved and restored the original UCC parsonage from (ca.1832) (Paul Hayward, Jr. house – 1832). He moved the structure to the southwest side of the brick building ( the SW corner of Stow Road and Rt. 111. See: photo below). He restored the abandoned building in the federal style to match the brick building at the corner of Stow and Mass Ave. to which he also made some restorations. He did this on his own “dime”.
The bottom photo is what the Old Parsonage looks like today, fully restored.

THIS IS A GOOD ONE! Frank Lyons and Boxborough entrepreneur, Ray Vorce.(I have to present this sidebar because of the c...
02/05/2026

THIS IS A GOOD ONE!
Frank Lyons and Boxborough entrepreneur, Ray Vorce.
(I have to present this sidebar because of the connections between these two men.)

RAY VOCE
Ray moved to Boxborough in 1953, two years after the Lyons family bought the Harlan Richardson home/property. Ray and his wife, Mariana, raised 10 children in Boxborough.
Ray began his business career in Cambridge, MA and moved to Boxborough and became the New England distributor of innovative new admixtures for concrete and waterproofing materials.
Ray's home in Boxborough at some point was threatened by fire and was saved by the Boxborough volunteer fire department. He became an advocate of that public safety entity, as well as a participant. Ray and Boxborough firefighter volunteers (I am going to editorialize here and say that this is probably one way Frank Lyons participated in building the fire department building) used Ray's new concrete innovations to build the original Boxborough fire department we see every day. He also contributed equipment to our fire department.
This was the meeting of Frank Lyons and Ray Vorce. At one time, Frank Lyons was a driver of Ray's trucks promoting his products throughout New England.
They were both located in Cambridge, they both moved to Boxborough, they were both Boxborough volunteer firefighters, they both contributed equipment to the entity, and they helped build the present building with Ray's new building materials technology; and Frank drove for Ray's business.
The photo below is from "A Portrait of a Town" (authors: Talmadge, West, Calhoun & DeStephano). It show's construction of the first fire station on its present site; only 3 bays. The land was purchased in 1957 for $2,000 and the Town appropriated $4,000 for its construction which took 5 years to complete beginning in 1958. Which workers in this photo are Frank Lyons and/or Ray Vorce? Possibly, none, but one can imagine. Thank you volunteer firefighters!

FRANCIS G. LYONS died on June 21, 2006 at age 91. Ironically, he was born in Somerville, MA (Dr. Harlan Richardson's ho...
02/03/2026

FRANCIS G. LYONS died on June 21, 2006 at age 91. Ironically, he was born in Somerville, MA (Dr. Harlan Richardson's home/office when he built the house at 72 Stow Road, which Frank Lyons was to purchase in 1951.)

Frank was a Cambridge, firefighter for 37 years retiring in 1980. In 1953 (having moved to Boxborough) a story is told in the book "Portrait of A Town (1983 "Bicentennial Celebration" history book put together by Katherine Talmadge, Elizabeth West, Janet Calhoun and Susan DeStefano) about Frank fighting a local fire valiantly.
The photo below shows in the early 1950's storage of the town's new fire truck at the garage on the Richardson/Lyons property. The photo on the right is the fieldstone garage today.
The Lyons family eventually had a semi-private/community garden of strawberries, blueberries, vegetables and Christmas trees. It is my understanding that some, if not all, of these items were available to neighbors to "YouPick". (An idea to recreate for the property as an historical destination in the future.)

02/03/2026

I am now going to go foreword with the second owners of the house; the Frank Lyons family. They completely round out the last half of the historical narrative of this property.
STAY TUNED

Dr. Harlan Richardson and his wife, Ruth, were buried in Boxborough's South Cemetery. Their headstone is in the cemeter...
02/02/2026

Dr. Harlan Richardson and his wife, Ruth, were buried in Boxborough's South Cemetery. Their headstone is in the cemetery at the corner of Stow Road and Burroughs Road. It is directly across from the major headstone marking the patriarch, Amasa A. Richardson, and subsequent Richardson family. It is the FAMILY PLOT.
Harlan and Ruth were not buried in Somerville or any other place. I emphasize this because Harlan has always honored Boxborough and his family's heritage here.
The Amasa A. Richardson headstone mentions Amasa, wife Huldah, son Lewis Richardson and wife, Augusta S. Richardson (Harlan's mother and father.)
The headstone below which is entitled "Foster" is actually on the back of the Harlan/Ruth headstone. Their adopted daughter married William Foster. It lists William Foster and his birth date and then Paula A. Foster and her birth date. There is no deceased dates. They clearly decided to be buried elsewhere.

Address

72 Stow Road
Boxborough, MA
01719

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