"OAKLEDGE" HISTORY

  From cow barn to summer cottage and iconic Manchester residence is the unlikely but true journey of 10 Boardman Avenue. 

Originally part of Captain Robert Bennett Forbes’ estate, Benjamin Boardman purchased the building intended for a cow barn in 1865. Five years later his son, Dennie, decided he wanted a summer cottage and named it Chubbs after an early 17th-century settler. “Externally, it was an unpretentious structure with a small square tower on its appealing, home front and offered the seasonal visitor a modest house for a simple life by the sea.”

In 1873, the interior was considered a fine example of stick-style: simple but picturesque rooms heavily embellished by shelving and china. Organic wallpaper showed the influence of William Morris.

As the years passed, several additions changed the exterior dramatically. They included an east wing, the gambrel wing and then the long western wing which now encompasses the music room.