The mid-Georgian mansion that served as a Continental Army hospital

The Loring–Greenough House stands at 12 South Street in Jamaica Plain, at the edge of Sumner Hill. This mid-Georgian mansion was built in 1760 as a country residence and farmstead for Commodore Joshua Loring, a wealthy British naval officer and Loyalist. The house was originally situated on an 80-acre estate on the site of John Polley's estate from the 1650s, but Loring abandoned the property in 1774 and fled Boston in 1776.

Following the start of the conflict, the house was confiscated by colonial forces. In 1776, it served as a headquarters for General Nathanael Greene and shortly thereafter became a hospital for Continental Army soldiers following the Battle of Bunker Hill. The property later passed to Isaac Sears, a rebel leader from New York, in 1780. In 1784, it was purchased by Ann Doane, a rich widow who married David Stoddard Greenough.

The Greenough descendants lived in the house for five generations until 1924. At that time, the Jamaica Plain Tuesday Club purchased the house and almost two acres of landscaped grounds to save it from development. The club has since been careful to preserve the structure, which is nearly 4,500 square feet, and its grounds of lawns, flower beds, and trees.

The property is still owned and operated by the Tuesday Club, which offers tours and programming. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated both a Massachusetts Landmark and a Boston Landmark in 1999. A recent restoration, funded by a $350,000 grant, included painting and other repairs to maintain the well-preserved structure.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons