Mary Baker Eddy’s Home
I have written about Mary Baker Eddy and her life in the Concord, New Hampshire posts, where the founder of Christian Science built the church headquarters that would become the center of a worldwide movement. But this house in Newton tells the final chapter of her story. Located at 400 Beacon Street in Chestnut Hill, the Mary Baker Eddy Historic House was her last residence and the place where she spent the final years of her life before her death in 1910.
Set on a hill overlooking the Boston area, the large stone home reflects both the success and controversy that surrounded Eddy during her later years. By the time she moved here in 1908, she was already an internationally known religious leader, author, and founder of the First Church of Christ, Scientist. Her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures had spread far beyond New England, and the movement she created had established churches throughout the United States and abroad.
The house itself is substantial and protected with its heavy stone exterior and commanding position above the street. It also reflects the privacy Eddy increasingly sought during the final years of her life. Much of her work continued from within these walls through correspondence, church leadership and oversight of the movement she founded. Even while largely secluded, she remained deeply involved in directing Christian Science and protecting the future of the church.
The property is historically significant not only because Eddy lived here, but because important events in the development of Christian Science occurred during her residence. From this house, she continued publishing writings, meeting with trusted associates and shaping the direction of the faith she had established decades earlier after her own experiences with illness and healing.
Newton’s home is the closing chapter of a remarkable and unconventional life. Mary Baker Eddy became one of the most influential religious figures in American history and this house stands as the place where that long journey came to an end.
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